New grammars from Australia and the Solomon Islands

[Malcolm Ross]

PACIFIC LINGUISTICS is happy to announce the publication of:

Robert Pensalfini
A grammar of Jingulu: An Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory

Kazuko Obata
A grammar of Bilua: A Papuan language of the Solomon Islands

These works are described below.

Prices are in Australian dollars (one Australian dollar is currently
equivalent to about US$ 0.66).

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Robert Pensalfini
A grammar of Jingulu: An Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory

This book is intended as a thorough description of the Jingulu
language as spoken by the handful of speakers remaining in the
Northern Territory ding the mid to late 1990s.  The description is
based on material which the author collected during three field trips
from 1995 to late 1998.
	Chapter 1 focuses on the socio-historical context in which he
language is spoken, including estimated of tradition area, number of
speakers, and genetic and cultural affiliations.  Chapter 2 is
devoted to Jingulu phonology, from the phoneme inventory and
phonotactics to a spectacular system of vowel harmony and some
interesting facts on reduplication.  Chapter 3 outlines the parts of
speech of Jingulu as understood by the author, and argues for the
particular labels and categories that the author assumes in following
chapters.  Chapter 4 discusses Jingulu syntax, from simple verbal and
non-verbal predication to the encoding of dependent and conjoined
clauses.  Chapters 5 and 6 are expositions of the morphology of
Jingulu nominal and verbal words respectively.  Chapter 7 contains a
few exemplary texts, glossed and translated into English.  Through
the grammar the author has preferred to provide more sentence
examples rather than fewer (particular where the author was less than
certain about the accuracy of his own description), to provide
readers with a sense of what Jingulu sentences are actually like
beyond what can be gleaned from prose description, and to provide
future researchers with organised material with which to build their
own hypotheses and analyses.
	This grammar contains no word list or dictionary.  A separate
Jingulu dictionary by the author is in preparation.
PL 536, 2003	ISBN 0 85883 558 4	xix + 262 pp
Australia A$64.90 (inc. GST)		International A$59.00
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Kazuko Obata
A grammar of Bilua:  A Papuan language of the Solomon Islands

This grammar of Bilua, a revision of the author's PhD thesis, is the
first comprehensive description of the language.  Bilua is spoken on
Vella La Vella island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.
According to the 1976 census there are about 85 vernacular languages
indigenous to the Solomon Islands.  The majority of these are
Austronesian, but among them are four Papuan languages, one of which
is Bilua.
The grammar presented here is based on the dialect of the Bilua area,
which is regarded as standard by local people, probably because
Methodist missionaries who arrived early in the twentieth century
regarded it as the language of the island.
In the past, the Austronesian language Roviana was used as a lingua
franca in the region and so older people on Vella La Vella speak
Roviana as well as Bilua.  However, the role of Roviana has been
taken over by Solomon Islands Pidgin which is used in primary schools
and in church ceremonies which are central to the lives of people in
Vella La Vella.   There is a high rate of intermarriage between Vella
La Vella people and people from other islands and mixed couples
communicate in Bilua, Pidgin, or one of the other Solomons languages.
Pidgin words are mixed into Bilua and sometimes people switch from
one language to another in their speech.  Thus the Bilua language is
changing because of the influence of Pidgin, and, although the
population of Vella La Vella is increasing rapidly, Bilua is
endangered.

PL 540,  2003		ISBN 0 85883 531 2		333 + xx pp
Australia A$77.00 (inc. GST)		International A$70.00
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Orders may be placed by mail, e-mail or telephone with:

Publishing, Imaging and Cartographic Services (PICS)
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 Australia

Tel: +61 (0)2 6125 3269 Fax:    +61 (0)2 6125 9975

mailto://Thelma.Sims@anu.edu.au

Credit card orders are accepted.

For our catalogue and other materials, see:

http://pacling.anu.edu.au (under construction)

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Other enquiries (but not orders) should go to:

The Publications Administrator
Pacific Linguistics
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 Australia

Tel: +61 (0)2 6125 2742 Fax: +61 (0)2 6125 4896

mailto://jmanley@coombs.anu.edu.au

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--
_____________________________________
Dr Malcolm D. Ross
Senior Fellow
Department of Linguistics
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
CANBERRA A.C.T. 0200
Australia

For international students:
ANU CRICOS Provider Number is 00120C