Reaffirming Māori negatives as verbs

Generative syntacticians often assume that sentential negatives in all languages are the content of a functional head Neg. Although negatives in many languages are amenable to such an analysis, negatives in certain Polynesian languages are not. This chapter first reviews the evidence presented by Hohepa (1969) and others that sentential negatives in Māori are lexical heads, either intransitive verbs or adjectives, which are the main predicate of a clause that excludes the negated clause. It then explores the question of why Māori negatives should differ from the crosslinguistic norm. The answer that is proposed appeals to syntactic-semantic typology and Māori prosody, and engages with the larger issue of how lexical and functional heads are realized in Polynesian languages.

Polynesian languages and their contributions to theoretical linguistics

This chapter introduces the volume on Polynesian syntax and its interfaces. It presents an overview of the Polynesian language family and outlines the key typological features of the languages. The history of research on Polynesian languages is reviewed, with a focus on modern research in theoretical syntax and semantics. This historical overview is followed by a summary of each chapter in the volume, in which the connecting theoretical issues are highlighted.

Syntactic ergativity as absolutive movement in Tongic Polynesian

We propose a unified account of the presence of syntactic ergativity and the availability of variable post-verbal word order in the Tongic branch of Polynesian languages. In Tongan, ergative subjects cannot freely extract, and both VSO and VOS word orders are possible. By contrast, ergative subjects in Niuean freely extract, but word order with two full DP arguments is strictly VSO. We argue that these differences stem from a single point of parametric variation in the syntax: the locus of absolutive case assignment (Bittner & Hale 1996; a.o.). In Tongan, absolutive is assigned by T0, such that the object must A-move past the ergative subject, giving rise to extraction restrictions and the availability of VOS word order. In Niuean, absolutive is assigned by v 0; as such, there is no object A-movement, hence no extraction restrictions, and VOS is not possible.

Polynesian Syntax and its Interfaces

This volume presents research in theoretical syntax and its interfaces with semantics and prosody within the Polynesian language family, with chapters focusing on Hawaiian, Māori, Niuean, Samoan, and Tongan. It includes in-depth analyses of issues within particular languages, as well as chapters that take a comparative-Polynesian approach. Theoretical issues addressed include ergativity and case systems, word order variations, modality and superlatives, causativization, negation, resumption and linearization, raising, the Extended Projection Principle (EPP), and the left periphery of both the sentential and nominal domains. The volume showcases the theoretical typology of Polynesian languages with their varying case systems, word orders, and isolating particle-based morphology.

Linguistic expressions of Goal, Source and Place in Polynesian languages

In Polynesian languages, as in many other Oceanic languages, the linguistic expression of Source and Goal is mainly express by (i) demonstratives and directional modifiers, which combine deictic and spatial information (toward speaker, addressee or third person, upwards, downwards, transverse axe), (ii) locative static and dynamic prepositions which may combine with body-part terms to introduce local and landmark nouns, or place names, and (iii) posture and motion verbs. We examine the occurrences of the Source and Goal prepositions on the one hand, and the directional modifiers on the other, taking into account their compatibilities, the spatial coding they convey, the position of the participants, and the verb meaning. In Polynesian languages, Goal and Source are of similar complexity, though in different ways, and a variety of resources can express fine-grained distinctions for Source vs. Goal depending on the position of the figure.

Obsidian and volcanic glass artifact evidence for long-distance voyaging to the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia

Reconstructing routes of ancient long-distance voyaging, long a topic of speculation, has become possible thanks to advances in the geochemical sourcing of archaeological artifacts. Of particular interest are islands classified as Polynesian Outliers, where people speak Polynesian languages and have distinctly Polynesian cultural traits, but are located within the Melanesian or Micronesian cultural areas. While the classification of these groups as Polynesian is not in dispute, the material evidence for the movement between Polynesia and the Polynesian Outliers is exceedingly rare, unconfirmed, and in most cases, nonexistent. We report on the first comprehensive sourcing (using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer) of obsidian and volcanic glass artifacts recovered from excavations on the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia. We find evidence for: (1) initial settlement followed by continued voyages between Tikopia and an island Melanesian homeland; (2) long-distance voyaging becoming much less frequent and continuing to decline; and (3) later voyaging from Polynesia marked by imports of volcanic glass from Tonga beginning at 765 cal yr BP (±54 yr). Later long-distance voyages from Polynesia were surprisingly rare, given the strong cultural and linguistic influences of Polynesia, and we suggest, may indicate that Tikopia was targeted by Tongans for political expansion.