Phonology
Consonants
Notes: * Post-alveolar ͡ʃ, d͡ʒ, ɲare palatalized versions of their alveolar counterparts , d, nand occur when following a diphthong ending in high front vowel The has been deleted in some cases, resulting in new minimal pairs contrasting alveolar and post-alveolar variants. The extent of this sound change differs between speakers and Robinson and Haan only consider ͡ʒto have become a fully separate phoneme. Because it is the result of a process limited the syllable coda, this new phoneme only occurs syllable-finally. * In certain dialects /l/ is deleted following a diphthong ending in * /g/ occurs in syllable-initial position, but the only cases in which it does syllable-finally are onomatopoeic forms. * /s/ only occurs syllable-finally in loanwords. * /f/ never occurs in syllable-final position.Vowels
Diphthongs are /ai/, /oi/, /eu/, /au/ and /ou/. Vowel sequences that begin with a lax mid vowel (i.e. /ɔ/ or /ɛ/) cannot be diphthongs and are always disyllabic.Phonotactics
AdangGrammar
Syntax
Clauses in Adang are predicate-final: intransitive verbal predicates have Subject-Verb order and transitive predicates follow Agent-Patient-Verb order. In ditransitive constructions the theme precedes the recipient. Adang hasNegation
A clause is negated by placing negator ''nanɛ'' or ''nɛnɛ'' after the predicate. Besides ''nanɛ'' there are two negative particles: ''ʔɛ'' and ''haʔai''. ''ʔɛ'' is used to limit the scope of negator ''nanɛ'' by placing ''ʔɛ'' in front of the negated element. In this case ''nanɛ'' must still succeed the predicate: ''Nanɛ'' may also be used on its own for rules or general prohibitions. Alternatively, ''ʔɛ'' at the end of a clause expresses a negative imperative (without ''nanɛ''). Compare: To make a negative imperative more polite add ''haʔai'' to the beginning of the sentence. Lastly, the verb ''aʔai'' negates existence or possession.Questions
Adang question words are ''anɔ'' ‘who’, ''naba'' ‘what’, ''tar''ɔ'''' ‘where’, ''tar''ɔ''ni'' ‘how/why’ and ''den'' ‘how many/when’. They remainNouns
The structure of the Adang noun phrase:(possessor + possessive.pronoun) N V CLF V numeral quantifier REL DEM/DEF (Robinson & Haan 2014:242)
Determiners and demonstratives
A demonstrative or the definite determiner ''ho'' is placed at the end of the noun phrase. The demonstrative paradigm shows a distinction between proximal (''hɔʔɔ'') and distal, and distal demonstratives further distinguish between location above the speaker (''hɛtɔ''), below the speaker (''hɛpɔ'') and level with the speaker (''hɛmɔ'').Possession
Nouns are divided into three classes according to their behavior concerning possession: the first class must with occur possessive pronominal prefixes at all times (Attributes
Adang uses intransitive verbs to modify nouns, as it has no separate word class of adjectives. In the noun phrase they may occur before or after the classifier (CLF in noun phrase template above). Locative or directional verbs also occur in this position (see Location and direction).Classifiers
Classifiers occur between a noun and a number larger than one. They classify nouns by their size, shape and flexibility, but some nouns may take different classifiers to gain different interpretations. Out of the many Adang classifiers, ''paʔ'' is the most common and is used for many different kinds of objects. Other examples include ''pir'' (used for small, round objects), ''beh'' (flat, flexible objects) and ''ʔafail'' (small, rigid objects).Pronouns
Adang has many independent pronouns, organized in six paradigms. Two of these paradigms are of independent possessive pronouns, one occurring with alienable nouns and another fulfilling a contrastive function in combination with alienable nouns (with or without regular possessive pronoun) or inalienable nouns (with a possessive prefix). Contrastive possessive pronouns are also used without a noun. Besides regular possessive pronouns and contrastive possessive pronouns (seeSubject pronouns
Subject pronouns are used for the subjects of transitive or intransitive verbs. They can be used to refer to any animate subject, human or non-human. Only in very limited circumstances can they refer to inanimate subjects.Object pronouns
An object pronoun indicates the object of a transitive verb. Some verbs do not use object pronouns, but use prefixes instead (see Object prefixes). Object pronouns and object prefixes cannot co-occur. ''Supi'' can precede third person ''ʔari'' to make clear that it had plural meaning.Numbered pronouns
A numbered pronoun is used when a pronoun is modified by a number greater than one or the question word ''den'' (‘how many?’). It can be used for both subjects and objects, either on its own or following a regular subject pronoun or object pronoun.Alone pronouns
Alone pronouns refer to a person or a group of people doing something on their own. They can refer to the subject or the object of a clause. If an alone pronoun refers to a subject it may co-index a preceding argument, but this is not necessary. If it indicates an object it has to occur together with an object pronoun.Verbs
Verbs in Adang may take pronominal and/or valency-increasing prefixes. Pronominal prefixes mostly serve to mark objects on (di)transitive verbs. For some verbs object-marking is obligatory, while for others it is optional, and some verbs are never marked for object. Verbs that do take object-prefixes are a closed class. Whether a verb selects a pronominal object prefix or an independent object pronoun is a lexical property of the verb, and the two cannot occur together. Even so object-marking is influenced somewhat by the animacy of the object. It is not necessary for a marked object to be animate, or for an animate object to be marked on the verb, but in the majority of cases object-marking goes together with an animate object. The transitive verbs that always remain unprefixed include verbs that only appear with inanimate objects, verbs that only appear with animate objects, and verbs that may appear with either. There are four series of pronominal prefixes (some of which also increase a verb’s valency), and two separate prefixes that increase valency. Adang makes use of serial verb constructions and also uses verbs to indicate direction and location.Pronominal prefixes
Object prefixes
Some transitive verbs that select object prefixes instead of object pronouns, cannot occur without them. While the majority of these verbs have animate objects, a few verbs that always take inanimate objects belong to this class. Some verbs that may have objects of varying animacy are also included. Example of an object prefix: It is possible for a verb to select an object prefix for an animate object, but remain unprefixed when it has an inanimate object. Compare: -''puɲ'' ‘catch/hold someone’ and ''puɲ'' ‘hold something’.Allative prefixes
With anAblative prefixes
Valency-increasing prefixes
Applicative prefix
Applicative prefix ''u-'' increases a verb’s valency by introducing a theme to a sentence. Other possible roles of an added argument are goals or beneficiaries. If it occurs together with a pronominal prefix, the applicative suffix precedes the pronominal suffix. Example:Causative prefix
The causative prefix adds a ‘causer’ to a proposition, thereby increasing a verb’s valency. There are only ten intransitive verbs that may carry a causative prefix. These include ''muj'' ‘fall down’, ''mih'' ‘sit’ and ''t''ɔ''h'' ‘stand’. The prefix almost always occurs together with a pronominal prefix, which precedes it. The only exception is ''ʔ''ɔ''l'' ‘fall over’. An example:Serial verb constructions
Comitative SVCs
Causative SVCs
In causative constructions the causative verb also precedes the main verb. Three verbs can be used in a causative SVC. These are ''-n''ɔ''ʔ'' ‘affect’, ''-hou'' ‘command’ and ''-ɛn'' ‘give’. ''-ɛn'' means ‘help’ in a causative SVC:Directional SVCs
In a directional serial verb construction an intransitive directional verb (e.g. ''sam'' ‘go (far)’, ''ma'' ‘come’) indicates the direction of an event. The directional verb precedes the main, open-class verb.Instrumental SVCs
The instrumental serial verb construction is the only way in Adang to introduce an instrument argument. It uses the verb ''puin'' ‘hold’:Theme SVCs
ALocation and direction
Verbs are also used to indicate direction or location, often in serial verb constructions. They cannot be intransitive, as they must have a subject and a location argument. The verb ''lɛ'' ‘to, towards’ also forms a part of directional and locational compound verbs, for instance ''talɛ'' ‘up on’ and ''adaŋlɛ'' ‘away from the speaker toward the mountain’. LocativeAspect
Adang expresses aspect with aspectual particles at the end of the predicate. Aspects that are grammatically marked in Adang are progressive, perfective and inceptive. The progressive particle is ''eh'', the perfective particle is ''am,'' and the inceptive particle is ''eham''. These particles do not have to be combined with a verbal predicate; they may also be used with a nominal predicate.Kinship terms
Adang kinship terminology features no obligatory distinction between siblings, parallel-cousins and cross-cousins. There is a distinction between younger and older siblings/cousins, respectively ''diʔ'' and ''matu'', and a single term for the same group: ''-uding.'' These terms are all gender-neutral, but can be modified with ''ob'' ‘female’ or ''lote'' ‘male’ (e.g. ''no’uding lote'' ‘my sister’). For biological siblings ''matu'' or ''diʔ'' is preferred, but ''-uding'' is also acceptable. Conversely, parallel-cousins are generally called -''uding'' but may sometimes be called ''matu/diʔ''. Cross-cousins are almost exclusively referred to as ''-uding.''Notes
Further reading
* * Robinson, Laura C. & Haan, John W. (2014). Adang. In Schapper, Antoinette (Ed.). ''The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1: Sketch Grammars''. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 23–96.External links