Erromangan Nominal Phrases

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Erromangan Nominal PhrasesCrowley, T. (1998). An Erromangan (Sye) grammar. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications 27: 158 ² 185.

Nominal phrases are quite well defined in Erromangan. The head in a nominal phrase is normally the

first element in the phrase, with modifiers following the head. There is, however, a restricted set of pre-head

constituents permitted in noun phrases.

1.1 Noun Phrases

The stylistically preferred sequence of constituents within a noun phrase is set out in the following

schema:

(PREMODIFIER)NOUN (POSS. PRONOUN ) (POSTMODIFIER) ( NOUN (RELATIVE POSSESSOR) CLAUSE)

That is, there is an optional single premodifier, and an optional postmodifier, with a relative clause

appearing at the periphery of the phrase. If there is a possessive pronoun, this appears before any other

postmodifiers, though with a noun possessor, this appears after other postmodifiers.

While only one premodifier is permitted, it is possible for more than one postmodifier to appear,

though there is a strong preference for a second post modifier to be expressed in a relative clause. While the

order just presented reflects the stylistic preference of Erromangan speakers, some variation is possible, as

described in the following sections.

1.1.1 Premodifiers

These are only seven noun premodifiers, which come from the following mutually exclusive set: h ai

'indefinite', ovon 'plural', ndve 'how much?, how many?', mei 'which?', imo 'this, these (near speaker)', nagku 'my',

iror 'plural'. The following illustrate the use of these forms (with square brackets surrounding the noun phrase

being illustrated):

Kandvi (<ko-andgv-i) [ h ai nei].

2SG:FUT-MR :cut-CONST INDEF stick

'You will cut a stick.'

Kole-nompi [ovon syame iyi h ].

lPL.lNCL:FUT-MR :do PL things this

'We will do these things.'

Koc-vai [ndve nvat]?

2SG:RECPAST-BR :get how.many stone

'How many stones did you get?'

Utwoni (<u-etu-en-i) [imo noki enyau].

2PL:lMP-NEG-BR :eat-CONST this coconut POSS:lSG

'Don't eat these coconuts of mine.'

[Nagku nimo] cam-ante ra ntelgo-n nu.

my house 3SG:PRES-MR :stay LOC side-CONST river





Non-adjectival postmodifiers are all forms which appear after a noun in a noun phrase. Such forms

therefore include numerals, demonstratives, as well as a number of non-numeral postmodifiers. These forms

differ from adjectives in that they are able to occupy a noun phrase slot with no accompanying noun. Thus,

note the following, in which non-adjectival modifiers can function alone in noun phrases :

Yac-ampai [itoc]? Coc-vai [nduru-su].lSG:FUT-MR :take which 3SG:RECPAST-BR :take two-every

'Which will I take?' '(S)he took them both.'

1.1.3 Possessive Constructions

Free nouns, as well as bound nouns with noun possessors, express possession at the phrase rather than the

word level.

(i) Possession wit h Free Nouns

When a free noun is associated with a pronominal possessor, the possessed noun is followed by apostposed possessive pronoun. The only exception is that when the form nagku 'my' is used, it appears before

the noun. When a postposed possessive pronoun is associated with a noun that is associated with a

postmodifier, the possessive pronoun appears directly after the noun, with the postmodifier following the

NOUN + POSSESSOR sequence. Thus:

kuri enyau viroc *kuri viroc enyau

dog POSS.lSG little dog small poss:lsg

'my little dog'

(ii) Possession wit h Bound Nouns

When a bound noun appears with a nominal rather than a pronominal possessor, the possessor

directly follows the possessed noun which is marked in exactly the same way as when it expresses a third

person singular pronominal possessor. Because this suffix is the same whether the possessor has singular or

plural reference, it is treated as a construct suffix, in line with the general literature on Oceanic languages.

Thus:

nompu-n natmonuc nompu-n ovatmonuc

head-CONST chief head-CONST PL:chief

'the chief's head' 'the chiefs' heads'

1.1.4 Prepositionally Linked Nouns

Nouns can also be linked into a complex noun phrase by means of the prepositions ( o)gi, ra, (na)ndu, ndal and

nimsi- .

(a) About (o)gi



The oblique preposition (o)gi links nouns where the first noun expresses a locution and the second

noun phrase expresses the content of the locution. Thus:

uvuvu gi natma h ntampi gi yau

myth OBL devil story obl lsg

'myth about a devil' 'story about me'

(b) Part-W h ole ra

The locative/goal preposition ra can be used to express a part-whole relationship between the

referents of two nouns where the noun expressing the whole is a free noun rather than a bound noun, for

example:

nivsog ra uvreimpin

midrib LOC sago

'midrib of sago (leaf)'

(c) Accompanitive (na)ndu and ndal

These forms both express accompaniment, with (na)ndu meaning 'with (one other)', and ndal meaning

'with (two or more others)'. Both can be used to link two nouns to form complex noun phrases which are

synonymous with coordinated phrases. Thus:

Yalimyau nandu Tapyau Yalimyau im Tapyau

Yalimyau ACC.SG Tapyau Yalimyau and Tapyau

'Yalimyau and Tapyau' 'Yalimyau and Tapyau'

Yalimyau ndal ov-nevyarep Yalimyau im ov-nevyarep

Yalimyau acc.pl PL-boy Yalimyau and PL-boy 'Yalimyau and the boys' 'Yalimyau and the boys'

(d) Purposive nimsi-

The nominal preposition nimsi- in its construct form can be used to indicate a purposive relationship between

the referents of two nouns, for example:

ki nimsi-n nondvat

key PURP-CONST car

'car-key'

1.1.5 Multiple Postmodification

Although the preference in Sye is for nouns to be associated with only a single lexical postmodifier,

there is no principled restriction on the number of postmodifiers which can appear in a noun phrase. Thus, it

is grammatically acceptable to say :

Yoco-nomonki [nacave ndomo ginma h ].



lSG:FUT-MR :drink kava strong much

'I will drink a lot of strong kava.'

1.2 Coordinate Noun Phrases

The clausal coordinators ku 'or' and im 'and' are also used to coordinate noun phrases, for example:

K-ompai [nelat ku noki].

2SG:FUT-MR :take meat or coconut

'You will take some meat or coconut.'

1.3 Apposition

Appositive noun phrases involve two structurally equal and unmarked noun phrases in which one

semantically modifies the other. In appositive constructions in Sye, the first noun phrase invariably consists of

just a simple unmodified head, while the second noun phrase exhibits the full range of structural possibilities

for any noun phrase as described in this section.

Personal names are often apposed to kin terms. This is most frequently encountered with words for

'father' and 'mother', allowing people to distinguish their biological parents, with whom the kin term is used

with no apposed personal name, from classificatory mothers and fathers, with whom the kin term is used in

apposition to a personal name. Thus, nate '(biological) father' contrasts with nate Nompwat 'Nompwat (who is

my father's brother)'. This construction can also be used with ave-...- h ai 'same sex sibling' when the

relationship is classificatory rather than biological. Thus, avug h ai 'my (biological) brother' contrasts with avug h ai

Torilwo 'Torilwo (who is my classificatory brother)'.

In the written register though not in speech a noun referring to a person's position in society or

kinship relationship with the addressee can be apposed to a pronoun referring either to the writer of the

message or the recipient. Thus:

yau apmu- h ai kik tavsogi ra nur igko

lSG brother:2SG-brother 2SG TEACHER POSS place here

'I, your brother' 'you, the teacher from this place'

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Erromangan Nominal Phrases