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A Grammar of Semelai

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Semelai is a previously undescribed and endangered Aslian (Mon-Khmer) language of the Malay Peninsula. This book - the first in-depth description of an Aslian language - provides a comprehensive reference grammar of Semelai. Semelai intertwines two types of morphological system: a concatenative system of prefixes, suffixes and a circumfix - acquired through extended contact with Malay - and a nonconcatenative system of prefixes and infixes (including infix reduplication), inherited from Mon-Khmer. There are distinctive word classes - Nominals, Verbs and Expressives - the latter iconic utterances which simultaneously provide information about the predicate and its arguments. Semelai has many derivational processes which change word class or affect transitivity, and it combines both head-marking and dependent-marking profiles. It also has a rich phonemic system of 20 vowels and 32 consonants. Nicole Kruspe's discussion is complemented with a generous number of illustrative examples and texts, creating a reference work that will be welcomed by descriptivists and typologists alike.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Cambridge Grammatical Descriptions

Call Number

-

Publisher

: Cambridge University Press., 2004

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9780511550713

Classification

NONE

Content Type

text

Media Type

computer

Carrier Type

online resource

Edition

-

Subject(s)

Area Studies,
General Interest, Language and Linguistics
Other Languages and Linguistics,
Asian Studies, European and World Literature

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

Nicole Kruspe,

Other Information

Cataloger

Arin

Source

-

Validator

maya

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511550713

Journal Volume

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Journal Issue

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Subtitle

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