A GENERAL THEORY OF MULTIVALUATION A GENERAL THEORY OF MULTIVALUATION

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(Old Database about Coordination)

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MUSSAU-EMIRA

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Cite as

Himmelreich, Anke, Melissa Jeckel, Katharina Hartmann, Johannes Mursell (2021): Agreement with Coordinated Subjects in the World's Languages [Data set]. Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main (Link: https://www.multivaluation.de/database.php)

Overview

Language family:Austronesian (Oceanic)
Countries:Papua New Guinea (Islands of Mussau and Emira)
Number of speakers:5,000
Agreement features:number, person
Attested word orders:SV
Coordination types:and (``or'' is used only as a clause coordinator)

Data Collection

The data were entered via an online survey by a linguist who has worked intensively on the language.

Patterns for number

Coordination with ``and''

SV order

Pattern: Mussau-Emira has singular, dual, trial, paucal, and plural number. With two singular conjuncts, the verb is marked as dual. If one of the conjuncts is plural, number is resolved to plural. In general, the number is the sum of the numbers of the conjuncts.

1st | 2ndsgpl
sgdupl
plplpl

Examples:

(1)     Alikietevametaitaatevalaluilou.
boysgandmansgthey.durun.du
`The boy and the man run.'
(2)     Alikietoametaitaatevalailou.
boyplandmansgtheyrun.pl
`The boys and the man run.'
(3)     Alikietevametaitaatoalailou.
boysgandmanpltheyrun.pl
'The boy and the men run.'

Patterns for person

Coordination with ``and''

SV order

Pattern: These constructions are ineffable. In combinations of 1st and 2nd person singular, the coordination is replaced by italu (``we''). In other combinations, entire clauses are coordinated. There is no person distinction in dual and plural. (The forms are syncretic.)

1st | 2nd123
1ineffineff
2ineff
3ineff

Examples:

(11)     Italuilou.
we.1du.inclrun.du
`You and I run.'/`I and you run.'/lit. `We run.'
(12)     Ita/amiiloumeilateelailou.
we.incl/we.exclrun.plandtheyalsotheyrun.pl
`We and they run.'
(13)     Lailoumeita/amiteeita/amiilou.
theyrun.plandwe.incl/we.exclalsowe.incl/we.exclrun.pl
`They and we run.'