Siraya : : Retrieving the Phonology, Grammar and Lexicon of a Dormant Formosan Language / / Alexander Adelaar.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DGBA Backlist Complete English Language 2000-2014 PART1
• VerfasserIn: Adelaar, Alexander,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter Mouton, , [2011]; ©2012
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Series: Trends in Linguistics. Documentation [TiLDOC] , 30
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (413 p.)

Siraya is a Formosan language once spoken around Tainan City in southwest Taiwan. This comprehensive study is based on an analysis of the language of the Siraya Gospel of St. Matthew, which was translated from the Dutch in 1661. It contains a grammar, lexicon and extensive text with interlinear glossing as well as an introduction with detailed background information. Siraya has many unique linguistic features, which are of great interest to the study of linguistic typology in general. They include various reduplication patterns, orientation prefixes (adding the notions of motion, location or comitation to a verb) and anticipating sequences. The latter are (usually) formal elements of the lexical verb, such as a first consonant or a first syllable, which are prefixed to the auxiliary. Siraya is also of crucial importance for the prehistory of Taiwan because it is one of the first languages to branch off from the Austronesian language family, which has more than 1200 members. The volume is a major contribution to the Siraya people who are keen to rehabilitate Siraya culture heritage and are endeavouring to learn their lost language again. It is a unique achievement in the endeavour to revitalise the traditional languages of Taiwan.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Figures and Tables -- Acknowledgements -- Conventions -- List of abbreviations -- Part A: Introduction -- 1. General -- 2. Siraya primary sources and linguistic literature -- 3. Dialect variation -- 4. Some observations about authorship and spelling -- 5. Formosan languages: numbers of speakers and vitality -- 6. The linguistic classification of Formosan languages -- 7. Aboriginal Taiwan and Austronesian prehistory -- 8. The Dutch occupation of West Taiwan: historical setting -- 9. The Siraya people: some historical and ethnographic data -- 10. The Austronesian ethnic groups in the Taiwanese nationalist debate -- 11. A probable cause of the extinction of Siraya -- 12. Attempts at reviving Siraya -- Part B: A grammatical sketch of Siraya -- 1. A near-phonemic orthography -- 2. Siraya phonemics -- 3. Reduplication -- 4. The clause -- 5. Verbs -- 6. Quantifiers -- 7. Nouns -- Part C: Text -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- Chapter 7 -- Chapter 8 -- Chapter 9 -- Chapter 10 -- Chapter 11 -- Part D: Lexicon based on the Siraya Gospel of Saint Matthew and Catechism -- References -- Index (to Parts A and B)