Oceanic languages: A comparative investigation of pre-clausal constructions

Macdonald, Daryl Eveline

Oceanic languages: A comparative investigation of pre-clausal constructions

dc.contributor.advisor	Daly, Nicola
dc.contributor.advisor	Barbour, Julie Renee
dc.contributor.author	Macdonald, Daryl Eveline
dc.date.accessioned	2017-10-01T21:10:31Z
dc.date.available	2017-10-01T21:10:31Z
dc.date.issued	2017
dc.date.updated	2017-09-05T03:05:35Z
dc.description.abstract	This thesis presents an investigation of pre-clausal phenomena in the lesser-studied languages of the Oceanic language family. The study is innovative in that the pre-clausal structure of interest, hereinafter labelled as a PRE construction, is analysed in its entirety, and found to exhibit prototypicality in regards to its structure and function. In regards to structure, the prototype possesses pre-clausal sequencing, and an intonation break longer than 0.2 s between the pre-clausal nominal constituent and its associated simple, complex, or non-verbal clause. Also attested in the prototype is a coreferencing relation distributing syntactic and semantic meaning between the pre-clausal constituent and either a free form nominal or pronominal, and /or a verb phrase index from the associated clause. The functional explanation of PRE constructions offered in this work is also distinctive, being developed with recourse to the models of Conceptual Blending (Fauconnier and Turner 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003) and the Greater Attentional System (Oakley 2004, 2009), as well as the typology of conceptual blends proposed by Brandt (2013:415–422). Accordingly, it is argued that PRE constructions are expressions of a schematic intraspace blend [PRE,ASC], the function of which is to foreground information via the human attention system. This schematic structure [PRE,ASC] provides the template for the creation of novel interspace blends, characterised by the nature of the meaning relations created during the conceptual integration of the PRE construction components. For prototypical blends, the integration is such that the conceptual counterparts represented by the pre-clausal constituent and the associated clause are perceived as identical in the resulting blend. Additionally, in response to the difficulties associated with determining the status of pre-clausal constructions within the larger linguistic system, it is proposed that such structures exemplify a new linguistic unit of analysis referred to as an expanded clause. An expanded clause is defined as a type of complex clause, where the distributed meaning relations between the parts characterise the notions of dependency and expansion.
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.citation	Macdonald, D. E. (2017). Oceanic languages: A comparative investigation of pre-clausal constructions (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/11363	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10289/11363
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher	University of Waikato
dc.rights	All items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subject	Oceanic
dc.subject	pre-clausal
dc.subject	typology
dc.subject	comparative
dc.subject	prototype
dc.subject	conceptual blending
dc.subject	greater attentional system
dc.subject	schematic blend
dc.subject	expanded clause
dc.subject	complex clause
dc.subject	distributed meaning
dc.subject	dependency
dc.title	Oceanic languages: A comparative investigation of pre-clausal constructions
dc.type	Thesis
pubs.place-of-publication	Hamilton, New Zealand	en_NZ
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Waikato
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)