Serial verbs in modern standard Arabic

This paper aims to discuss serial verb constructions in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It argues against the claim that this structure does not exist in MSA. We examined parallel structures in this paper: being verbs and what is called albadal ‘apposition’ in the traditional grammar of the Arabic language. This paper argues that the first structure should be analyzed as an auxiliary structure that contains two clauses, while the second structure should be analyzed as a serial verb structure as it denotes, among others, a complex situation, shares the same subject, and contains one clause. Finally, this paper provides a brief syntactic analysis for being verbs and serial verbs in MSA within the lexical functional grammar (LFG) framework, showing the differences between the two structures.

A Grammar of Nahavaq (Malakula, Vanuatu)

<p>This thesis is a descriptive grammar of Nahavaq, an Oceanic language spoken by about 700 people in the Sinesip cultural area of Malakula, Vanuatu. Nahavaq was previously undescribed, and this grammar is based on data collected by the researcher over a total of nine months in the Sinesip area. The thesis includes a sociolinguistic overview of the Nahavaq-speaking community and descriptions of phonetics, phonology, mophology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Noteworthy features of Nahavaq include: (i) two classes of bilabial consonants, which are distinguished by palatalisation and velarisation; (ii) two reduplicative verbal prefixes, which partially overlap in function; (iii) a base-20 numeral system with subbases of five and ten; (iv) nouns which include an accreted article; (v) serial verb constructions; and (vi) nine different surface forms for expressing possession relationships. The attached DVD contains a Nahavaq-English glossary, along with recordings and transcriptions of Nahavaq texts for reference purposes.</p>

A Grammar of Nahavaq (Malakula, Vanuatu)

<p>This thesis is a descriptive grammar of Nahavaq, an Oceanic language spoken by about 700 people in the Sinesip cultural area of Malakula, Vanuatu. Nahavaq was previously undescribed, and this grammar is based on data collected by the researcher over a total of nine months in the Sinesip area. The thesis includes a sociolinguistic overview of the Nahavaq-speaking community and descriptions of phonetics, phonology, mophology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Noteworthy features of Nahavaq include: (i) two classes of bilabial consonants, which are distinguished by palatalisation and velarisation; (ii) two reduplicative verbal prefixes, which partially overlap in function; (iii) a base-20 numeral system with subbases of five and ten; (iv) nouns which include an accreted article; (v) serial verb constructions; and (vi) nine different surface forms for expressing possession relationships. The attached DVD contains a Nahavaq-English glossary, along with recordings and transcriptions of Nahavaq texts for reference purposes.</p>

‘Path’ and ‘Manner’ in The Serialization of Motion Verbs

Verbs are one of the most basic vocabulary elements of the language. These words express the being, manners and movements of beings in the universe. However, in order to express the movements of living and non-living beings in the universe, the verb category creates syntactic and semantic situations by performing some combinations within itself. Because the many movements of many beings in the universe cause endless combinations to appear. In order to express this, the verb category creates various combinations within itself. The most typical example of this is seen between motion verbs, which is a semantic class, and serial verb structures, which are a syntactic and semantic class. Although there have been various studies on motion verbs, the limits of these verbs have not been determined in Turkish studies. Motion verbs, which can be considered as verbs expressing the displacement of beings in the universe, are closely related to serial verb structures, which is a syntactic and semantic category. Serial verb structures contain at least one motion verb in surface or deep structure. According to Talmy's typology, these verbs of motion mark the "way" where the movement takes place, or the "style", which is the way it takes place. In this study, the roles of "path" and "manner" in the serialization process of motion verbs are discussed in the Turkish context.

The issue of arbitrariness in syntactic reconstruction

Practitioners of syntactic reconstruction have not acknowledged that arbitrariness and iconicity influence syntactic change, and that they therefore need to be incorporated into methods of reconstruction. I argue that iconicity creates a directional tendency in syntactic change, privileging structures that are more iconic. I propose a method for incorporating this fact into methods of syntactic reconstruction. I demonstrate the application of this method on two pieces of reconstructed syntax: orientation serial verb constructions and left-peripheral topics. Both case studies are from Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages of Papua New Guinea. A third, briefer case study concerns Proto-Carib.

On the Translation Strategies of Chinese Verbs in Aerial China: Jiangxi from the Perspective of Chinese-English Comparison

Chinese is a verb-dominated language, while English is a noun-dominated language. In Chinese-English translation, Translators must deal with Chinese verbs based on the characteristics of English. Through analyzing the subtitle of Aerial China: Jiangxi, it found that translators have used different translation strategies to translate Chinese verbs into English. When dealing with Chinese verbs, translators mainly adopt the following strategies: translating Chinese verbs into English nouns, Translating Chinese verbs into English prepositions, and translating part of verbs of serial verb construction into English non-predicate forms. It is hoped that this article can provide reference for the translation of Chinese verbs in Chinese-English translation.

Bejalai in Iban: A Study on Translating Motion Verbs in Bup Kudus Baru

This study investigates the use of the Talmy-Slobin typology of semantic components of motion verbs as applied to Bible translation. Using the Bup Kudus Baru, a new Iban translation, in comparison with a framework formed by the Hebrew original, NRSV representing English translation, and occasionally a Chinese translation, the author demonstrates the key features of verb-framed, satellite-framed, and equipollently-framed languages. The analysis of two Hebrew motion verbs, yāșā’ (path verb) and hālak (manner verb), and their respective Iban translations in Bup Kudus Baru, shows that the Iban language, much like Malay and Urak Lawoi’ from the same language family, is of path-salient nature in principle, but at the same time displays the use of serial verb constructs, a feature of equipollently-framed languages when manner verbs are required. The author concludes with some suggestions of ways to apply the Talmy-Slobin model in Bible translation, from the point of view of translators, translation officers, and their institutions.