Announcement: A grammar of Vinitiri: PhD by Sheena Van Der Mark

[Alexandra Aikhenvald]

Dear Typologists:

The following  PhD dissertation (completed at RCLT) has been approved:


Sheena Van Der Mark



A Grammar of Vinitiri
An Austronesian Language of Papua New Guinea

This thesis is a grammar of Vinitiri, an Austronesian language spoken in
East New Britain, Papua New Guinea by approximately 2,000 people. It is
based primarily on data collected in the villages of Kabaira and
Vunamarita during three fieldtrips between 2003 and 2006.
	The grammar consists of 17 chapters. It begins with an
introductory chapter describing the linguistic profile of Vinitiri, how
the language is used in everyday life and the fieldwork setting. Chapter
2 describes the Phonology and Phonetics followed by a chapter discussing
the notion of the 'word' in Vinitiri.
	Chapters 4 through 8 discuss the main word classes in Vinitiri.
Pronouns are discussed in Chapter 4, Demonstratives in Chapter 5, Nouns
(and the Noun Phrase) in Chapter 6, Adjectives (which are a small closed
class) are discussed in Chapter 7 and Verbs are discussed in Chapter 8.
	Chapters 9 through 12 describe the syntax of Vinitiri. The
structure of the predicate is presented in Chapter 9, basic clause types
are discussed in Chapter 10, sentence types (mood) are discussed in
Chapter 11 and interclausal relations (including complement and relative
clauses) are discussed in Chapter 12.
	The following three chapters examine aspects of the Vinitiri
grammar from a functional perspective. Chapter 13 looks at the concept
of number in Vinitiri, Chapter 14 examines spatial reference, and
chapter 15 discusses possession.
	Chapter 16 looks at the different types of reduplication in
Vinitiri, and also discusses repetition. The thesis concludes with a
chapter on the sociolinguistic factors surrounding Vinitiri, including
its relationship with the creole Tok Pisin and the related language
Kuanua.




Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald, 
PhD, DLitt, 
FAHA Associate Director and Postgraduate Coordinator
Research Centre for Linguistic Typology La Trobe University Victoria
3086
Tel: 61-(0)3-9479 6402
Fax: 61-(0)3-9467 3053
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/aikhenvald.htm