The subject inflections of the Mek languages: a comparative reconstruction

The Mek languages are a family of Papuan languages spoken in the eastern highlands of the Indonesian province Papua. They have a rich verb morphology with subject and object indexation and numerous temporal, modal, and aspectual categories. In this paper, I focus on the subject inflections, which ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNusa Vol. 71; pp. 1 - 20
Main Author Edgar Suter
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 30.09.2021
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0126-2874
2187-7297
DOI10.15026/116867

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Summary:The Mek languages are a family of Papuan languages spoken in the eastern highlands of the Indonesian province Papua. They have a rich verb morphology with subject and object indexation and numerous temporal, modal, and aspectual categories. In this paper, I focus on the subject inflections, which are combined with tense or mood. Six paradigms of subject person-number endings are reconstructed. In addition, I reconstruct the personal pronouns. Shared innovations that emerge from the reconstructions are used to subgroup the Mek languages.
ISSN:0126-2874
2187-7297
DOI:10.15026/116867