A semantic account for the distribution of manner adverbials in Saek

Weijian Meng
University of Sydney

Manner adverbials in Saek (Northern Tai, Laos) may appear on either side of the verb that they modify. I argue that their distribution is governed by semantic principles. The position of a manner adverbial depends on the semantic dimension that it denotes, which then may be inverted conditioned by the aktionsart class of the main verb.

An ignorative analysis of sentence final particles in Bru

Angus Wheeler
University of Sydney

Sentence final particles are a class of words which occur in many languages, making a broad range of distinctions in meaning. Despite the predictable occurrence of sentence final particles at the end of a clause, many accounts propose that their semantic function is heterogeneous, some even suggesting that the category has no core function. Towards the goal of producing a descriptive grammar of Bru (Austroasiatic, Laos), I defend the idea that Wierzbicka’s (1980) notion of ‘the ignorative’ provides the conceptual structure for sentence final particles in Bru.

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