Verbal Morphology in Kui ; a Non-Austronesian Spoken in the

Southwestern Parts of Alor, NTT BY.

MARCELINUS Y.F AKOLIakolimarcel@yahoo.com.au

UNIVERSITAS NUSA CENDANA - KUPANG

Trans New Guinean Language Phylum(Aikhenvald & Stebbins, 2007)

• 22 Other Language Families• 9 – 13 Isolate

West-Papuan Language Family (Reesink,2005:186-187)

5 Other Language Subfamilies

Timor-Alor – Pantar (TAP) Language

Subfamily

KUI

Kui Speaking Population

Wurm and Hattori : 5,000 speakers(1981 in Grimes et al, 1997: 63)

Shiohara (2010) : ± 4,000 speakers

Ethnologue (Lewis et al,2013) : 1,900 speakers

Katubi (2013) : 833 speakers

Map of Trans-New Guinea Languages

SYNTHETIC LANGUAGES

POLYSYNTHETIC LANGUAGES

Folley in Aikhenvald & Stebbins, 2007 : 252

Morphological Situations of Kui’s Neighbouring Languages

Language names

Sources Morphological Situations of Verb Phrases

Abui Kratochvil (2007)

1. Aspectual suffix2. Pronominal suffix3. Variation in Verbal Phrase

Sawila Kratochvil (2014)

Its verbal phrases are numerously modified by applicative prefixes.

Klon Baird (2008:198) It only has two applicative prefixes, partial and full reduplication, reflexive, reciprocal and intensifier markers.

Kui as a Morphologically Synthetic Language

Basic Structure of Kui Verbal Phrases

Applicative Prefix + Pronominal infix + Root + Perfective/Imperfective (4 Morphemes)

e.g : u-ga-bur-i (to fix something)

OR

Applicative Prefix + Reciprocal + Root + Perfective/Imperfective (4 Morphemes)

e.g : u-ta-taiʤ (to guess each other)

1. Aspectual Marking

Imperfective Perfective

Verb Verb + -i

mənam ‘to eat’ mənami ‘already ate’

Examples of imperfective and perfective markers in Kui

Imperfective forms Perfective FormsRoots Meanings Bases Meanings

akaaɭ To eat akaaɭi already fed

akaɭ To jump akaɭi already jumped

bag To paddle bagi already paddled

bareg To bear baregi already born

dagar To fry dagari already fried

gadul To open gaduli already opened

salaak To hang salaaki already hanged

Some of these perfective forms are characterized by alveolarization (Akoli, 2013)

Imperfective Forms Perfective FormsRoots Meanings Bases Meaningsgataɲ To release gatani already released

garoʤ To cut garoti already cut

galakaɲ To tie galakani already tied

ateʤ To slice ateti already sliced

gabaraɲ To kill gabarani already killed

aloɲ To write aloni already wrote

Yal pa to tag to baŋaɲ ?yal pa to tag to baŋaɲ Adv. 1Pl.(incl) Recipr. V.Imperf Recipr

.V.Imperf

Now We To greet To askLet us greet and ask each other.

Galel nabui naməsiɲ baŋani.galel na.bui na.məsiɲ baŋan-iAdv. 1sg.Poss.N 1sg.Poss.N V-PerfThen my betel my areca nut already askedThen, (he) asked for my betel and areca nut.

1.

2.

2. Applicative Marking

In applicative construction, the number of object arguments selected by the predicate is

increased by one with respect to the basic construction (Polinsky, 2015).

There are two morphemes functioning as applicative markers in Kui : u- and go-

Na gale anin gei umənami.na gale anin gei u-mənam-i

1sg.pron Adv. N Postp. Appl-V-PerfI already people for Appl-eat-Perf

I already fed the people.

Pai mənami.Pai mənam-i1pl.Pron (Incl) V-PerfWe Eat-alreadyWe already ate.

1.

2.

The presence of u- prefix in some Kui verbs

Verb Verb PhrasesRoots Meanings Bases Meaningsməna

mTo eat uməna

mTo feed sbd/sth

gataɲ release ugataɲ To release something at

garoiʤ To cut ugaroiʤ To cut something atsalaak To hang usalaak To hang something atbales To wind ubales To wind something atpəna

arTo touch upənaa

rTo touch something at

Na gəlel anin gei goakaaɭi. na gəlel anin gei go-akaaɭ-i1sg.Pron Linking

wordn Posp. Appl.V.Perf

I then people for 3sg.Obj-eat-alreadyThen, I already fed the people.

Og lol-lol si pi naŋal akaaɭ naŋate ?Og lol-lol si pi naŋal akaaɭ naŋate

Dem. Redup. Posp. 1Pl.Subj Quest. V Quest.This stay-stay like we what eat how

If we just stay like this, what do we eat ?

1

2

3. Causative Marking

The causative construction is a linguistic expression which denotes a complex situation consisting of two

component events (Comrie 1989: 165-166; Song 2001: 256-259): (i) the causing event, in which

the causer does or initiates something; and (ii) the caused event, in which the causee carries out an action, or undergoes a change of condition or state

as a result of the causer’s action (Song, 2015).

Example :The story made me sad.

the causer the causee

u- prefix as a causative markerRoots Bases

sanam hot u-sanam To make something hotsabay new u-sabay To make something newnabaan long u-nabaan To lengthen somethingkədin small u-kədin To make something smallbata large u-bat To enlarge something

Na er usanami.na er u.sanam.i1sg.Pro.Subj N Caus.Adj.PerfI water Make.Hot.alreadyI already heated the water.

ga- prefix as a causative marker

Roots Basesbur flat ga-bur To make something flatmen worried ga-men To make worrieddaŋan far ga-daŋan To make something far

kuɭ little ga-kuɭ To make lessbaka bad, ugly ga-baka To make something badnoka good ga-noka To make something good

O ogo mi sol tanei o anin gamen.

o ogo mi sol tanei o anin ga.men

N Dem. Posp. V V N N Caus.Adj

house this in enter add house people Become.worried

People become worried to enter to the house.

4. Imperative Marking

Kabii balo gatani.kabii balo gatan-iN Dem. V-Imperativegoat that Let goLet the goat go !

Nawol te mənami !nawol te mənam-iN Part. V-Imperativebanana Please Eat !Please eat the banana !

5. Derivative Marking

Mekalet nun beei namaani, gateki.mekalet nun beei namaan-i ga-teki.N Pl. V N-Deriv. 3Sg.pron.Obj-V.pastwoman go shellfish-Deriv. him-saw(When) the women went looking for shellfish, they saw him.

Conclusion

Morphemes Morphological aspects

Examples Meanings

u- applicative u-mənam To feed somebodycausative u-sanam To make something

hotgo- applicative go-akaaɭi To feed somebodyga- causative ga-bur To make something

flat-i perfective garot-i already cut

imperative sanami heat somethingderivative namaani look for shellfish

References

Aikhenvald, A. Y & Stebbins, T. 2007. 'Languages of New Guinea'. dalam Vanishing Languages of the Pacific, O. Miyaoka, O. Sakiyama and M. Krauss (eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.239-266.

Akoli, Marcelinus.Y.F.2014. Semivowelization and Alveolarization in Kui Language. Sebuah Paper yang dipresentasikan pada Kongres Internasional Masyarakat Linguistik Indonesia (KIMLI) di Bandar Lampung, 19-22 Februari 2014.

Baird, Louise. 2008. A Grammar of Klon : A Non-Austronesian Language of Alor, Indonesia. Canberra, A.C.T.: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.

Grimes,C.E.,Therik, T., Grimes,B.D.& Jacob,M. 1997. A Guide to the People and Languages of Nusa Tenggara. Kupang, Artha Wacana Press.

Kratochvil, Frantisek.2007. Grammar of Abui : A Papuan Language of Alor. a Ph.D thesis. LOT Publisher, Leiden University.

Kratochvil, Frantisek. 2014. Sawila ; Bab 7. Dalam The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar Volume 1: Sketch Grammars (ed. A.Schapper). Mouton de Gruyter. Hal. 352-436.

Polinsky, Maria. 2015. Applicative Constructions. Online Version. It was accessed on July 4th 2015.

Reesink, Ger. 2005. West Papuan languages: Roots and development. Papuan Pasts, Studies in the cultural, linguistic and biological history of the Papuan-speaking peoples, ed. by Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Jack Golson and Robin Hide, 185-218. Canberra, Pacific Linguistics.

Siohara, Asako. 2010. Penutur Bahasa Minoritas di Indonesia Timur : Mempertanyakan Keuniversalan Konsep Multibahasa. In M. Moriyama and M. Budiman,(eds). Geliat Bahasa Selaras Zaman: Perubahan Bahasa-Bahasa di Indonesia Pasca-Orde Baru. Jakarta : Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. p.168-206.

Song, Jung Jae. 2015. Periphrastic Causative Constructions. Online Source. http://wals.info/chapter/110. It was accessed on July 3rd 2015.