Abstract
This thesis is a descriptive grammar of Denjongke, or Sikkimese Bhutia (also known as Lhoke or Sikkimese) (ISO 639-3 sip), an endangered Tibeto-Burman, Tibetic language spoken in the Indian state of Sikkim. The study is based on original fieldwork conducted over more than six years. The theoretical framework is functionalist-typological and may further be characterized as an application of Basic Linguistic Theory. The discussion is data-oriented and aims to describe Denjongke in its own terms.
The thesis begins with an introduction to the language and the people who speak it and continues with a description of phonology and an introduction to word classes, suffixes and clitics. The remainder of the grammar presents a mainly functionally-oriented description, starting with phrase-level syntax and proceeding through clausal syntax to discourse. The last chapter on vocabulary and the texts in the appendix provide a cultural window into Denjongke speakers' life.
Denjongke is an incipient tone language with 43 consonants and eight vowels. Nasalization and length are contrastive in vowels. The analysis establishes four major word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) and eleven minor word classes. Many nouns and verbs have ordinary and honorific equivalents. Controlled vs. non-controlled verbs occur in phonologically related pairs. Unlike many Tibetic languages, Denjongke does not make a clusivity distinction in first person plural pronouns. There are five case-marking enclitics some of which may be stacked.
In syntax, the marking of A argument shows signs of both syntactic and pragmatic control. The marking of P argument is sensitive to animacy, specificity and affectedness. Denjongke has a rich array of copula forms, which mark three evidential values: personal, sensorial and neutral. The semantically oriented category “personal” differs from the more syntactically-oriented Lhasa Tibetan category “egophoric”.
Denjongke is a clause-chaining language and has a wide variety of adverbial clauses, which are expressed through various constructions, including ten converbs. Relative clauses are a subclass of genitive-marked constituent-modifying clauses. Denjongke is rich in ideophones, i.e. vividly descriptive words which are semantically, phonologically and morphologically distinct from other words.
The thesis begins with an introduction to the language and the people who speak it and continues with a description of phonology and an introduction to word classes, suffixes and clitics. The remainder of the grammar presents a mainly functionally-oriented description, starting with phrase-level syntax and proceeding through clausal syntax to discourse. The last chapter on vocabulary and the texts in the appendix provide a cultural window into Denjongke speakers' life.
Denjongke is an incipient tone language with 43 consonants and eight vowels. Nasalization and length are contrastive in vowels. The analysis establishes four major word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) and eleven minor word classes. Many nouns and verbs have ordinary and honorific equivalents. Controlled vs. non-controlled verbs occur in phonologically related pairs. Unlike many Tibetic languages, Denjongke does not make a clusivity distinction in first person plural pronouns. There are five case-marking enclitics some of which may be stacked.
In syntax, the marking of A argument shows signs of both syntactic and pragmatic control. The marking of P argument is sensitive to animacy, specificity and affectedness. Denjongke has a rich array of copula forms, which mark three evidential values: personal, sensorial and neutral. The semantically oriented category “personal” differs from the more syntactically-oriented Lhasa Tibetan category “egophoric”.
Denjongke is a clause-chaining language and has a wide variety of adverbial clauses, which are expressed through various constructions, including ten converbs. Relative clauses are a subclass of genitive-marked constituent-modifying clauses. Denjongke is rich in ideophones, i.e. vividly descriptive words which are semantically, phonologically and morphologically distinct from other words.
Translated title of the contribution | Denjongken eli sikkimin bhutian deskriptiivinen kielioppi |
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Original language | English |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisors/Advisors |
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Award date | 13 Apr 2019 |
Place of Publication | Helsinki |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 978-951-51-5138-4 |
Electronic ISBNs | 978-951-51-5139-1 |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
MoE publication type | G4 Doctoral dissertation (monograph) |
Fields of Science
- 6121 Languages