Grammatical description of Melanau

Abstract

The thesis presents a description of" the Dalat dialect of the Melanau language which, amplified by reference to the other known dialects, serves as representative of the language as a whole. The description is given in six chapters and a short appendix.

CHAPTER 1: is introductory to the thesis, giving (with the aid of sketch maps) a general picture of the Melanau way of life and the geographical setting of their habitat, an outline of their history, numerical distribution, social organisation and customs. Previous work on the language is reviewed and the methods of eliciting and processing the data on which the analysis is based are described.

CHAPTER 2: treats on the Phonology of Melanau, reviewing such previous attempts as there have been to write it down. A Phonemic analysis is given to justify a practical orthography for all the known dialects, which is used in the description.

CHAPTER 3: deals with the Morphology from the level of morpheme itself to the formation of words. Four classes of words are distinguished, Kominals, Verbals, Adverbials and the remainder called Particles. Each class is described in separate detail; particular attention is paid to the Verbs, in which separate classes of bninflected verbs and tivo distinct classes of Inflected verbs are described. These verbs are formed on stems by quite different systems of affixation, referred to mnemonically as the MNP and the UIE paradigms after their principal morpheme forms.

CHAPTER 4: treats on Syntax in a Tagmemic framework, working upwards through an ordered hierarchy from the Phrase level to the Discourse. Nominal, Verbal and Adverbial Phrases are set out as the main constituent tagmeme fillers for Clauses. Most interesting are the range of Transitive Clauses in which either the grammatical Subject, Object, Indirect Object or the Verb may be brought into locus; the choice typifies that clause construction. Sentences, Paragraphs and Discourse are analysed to show their distinctive structures, and a text fragment is set out at all levels in the description.

CHAPTER 5: is concerned with a description of Style, in which Narrative, Didactic, Poetic and Conversational are shown to have certain distinctive characteristics.

CHAPTER 6: goes at no great depth into three limited areas of Semantic enquiry that were relevant to the Anthropological studies for which the enquiry was commissioned.

Appendices contain: (1) A glossary of symbols and abbreviations used in the text. (2) Word lists from 11 of the 20 and more dialect samples taken during the field-study phase, and comparative text in five of them. (3) A Bibliography of relevant literature.