MA Thesis Abstract
School of African and Oriental Studies
Language Documentation and Description
| Student: |
Mary Raymond |
| Submitted: |
2005 |
Kurap Sumai and Tool Mai: a comparative study of Arop-Lokep and Karnai,
two Austronesian languages of Papua New Guinea |
| Arop-Lokep and Karnai are two closely related Austronesian languages of Papua New Guinea. While sharing a high degree of lexical similarity (probably 70–80%), they exhibit considerable grammatical and semantic differences, particularly in the areas of possession in the noun phrase structure, the demonstrative paradigm, aspect and modality, and directional verbs in both space and discourse. Reasons for these differences include, most significantly, close Karnai contact with a number of other Austronesian and non-Austronesian languages; historical change as a consequence of Arop-Lokep migrations away from the Karnai area; and the influence of different (and, for Arop-Lokep, new) geographical contexts on the treatment of space in the language. |
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