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Article published In: Lexical flexibility in Oceanic languages
Edited by Eva van Lier
[Studies in Language 41:2] 2017
► pp. 521–542

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Describing lexical flexibility in Caac (New Caledonia)

 | University of Manchester
Published online: 5 October 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.41.2.09cau
Abstract
Like other New Caledonian languages (see Ozanne-Rivierre, Françoise. 1998. Le Nyelâyu de Balade (Nouvelle-Calédonie). Paris: Peeters Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 33–34 for Nyelâyu; see Bril, Isabelle. 2002. Le nêlêmwa (Nouvelle-Calédonie): analyse syntaxique et sémantique. Paris: Peeters Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 89–95, . 2009. Categories and fluid categoriality in Nêlêmwa (Oceanic, New Caledonia). Conference paper for the ALT-8, Workshop on Polycategoriality, 22nd–26th of July 2009. Berkeley: University of California., this volume for Nêlêmwa; see also Moyse-Faurie, Claire. 2004. Recherches En Linguistique Océanienne. Habilitation à diriger des recherches. Paris: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 15–61), Caac displays little categorial flexibility and, based on formal grounds, one can clearly identify two main syntactic categories: nouns and verbs, in addition to other small classes such as adverbs, adjectives or prepositions. Nouns, however, have the ability to be polyfunctional, and can function as the head of referential expressions as well as the head of predicative expressions in equative constructions, and in a certain type of presentative and spatial constructions, without undergoing any morphological change. By contrast, verbs require deverbal derivation in order to function as the head of referential expressions, a process mainly used for word creation purposes. There is in addition a small number of lexical bases which can function as the head of predicative and referential expressions indifferently. An analysis of the syntactic context in which they occur enables us to interpret them in a particular utterance. Similar lexemes in neighbouring languages have been analysed as flexible lexemes (. 2009. Categories and fluid categoriality in Nêlêmwa (Oceanic, New Caledonia). Conference paper for the ALT-8, Workshop on Polycategoriality, 22nd–26th of July 2009. Berkeley: University of California.: 2; . In press. Lexical and syntactic categories in Nêlêmwa (New Caledonia) and some other Austronesian languages: fluid vs. rigid categoriality. In V. Vapnarsky (ed.), Lexical Polycategoriality: Cross-linguistic, cross-theoretical and language acquisition approaches. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. ). In this paper, I would like to explore the extent to which those lexemes can be differentiated from nouns (notably indirectly possessed free nouns) and verbs in Caac, depending on whether one puts the emphasis on formal or semantic criteria.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The Caac language
    • 1.2Issue and overview
    • 1.3Terminology and speakers’ perception of word classes
  • 2.Distinguishing nouns and verbs in Caac
  • 3.Functional flexibility in Caac
    • 3.1Nominalization of verbs
    • 3.2Lack of verbalization of nouns
  • 4.Categorial flexibility and heterosymy in Caac
    • 4.1 Pela
    • 4.2 Formally identical lexemes: huu, ot, kola, pilu and mweju
    • 4.3 Huu, ot, kola, pilu and mweju as flexible lexemes
    • 4.4 Huu, ot, kola, pilu and mweju as indirectly possessed nouns
    • 4.5Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

van Lier, Eva
2016. Lexical flexibility in Oceanic languages. Linguistic Typology 20:2 ► pp. 197 ff. DOI logo

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