MUSSAU-EMIRA
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Himmelreich, Anke, Melissa Jeckel, Katharina Hartmann, Johannes Mursell (2021): Agreement with Coordinated Subjects in the World's Languages [Data set]. Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main (Link: https://www.multivaluation.de/database.php)
Overview
| Language family: | Austronesian (Oceanic)
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| Countries: | Papua New Guinea (Islands of Mussau and Emira)
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| Number of speakers: | 5,000
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| Agreement features: | number, person
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| Attested word orders: | SV
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| Coordination types: | and (``or'' is used only as a clause coordinator)
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Data Collection
The data were entered via an online survey by a linguist who has worked intensively on the language.
Patterns for number
Coordination with ``and''
SV order
Pattern: Mussau-Emira has singular, dual, trial, paucal, and plural number. With two singular conjuncts, the verb is marked as dual. If one of the conjuncts is plural, number is resolved to plural. In general, the number is the sum of the numbers of the conjuncts.
| 1st | 2nd | sg | pl
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| sg | du | pl
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| pl | pl | pl
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Examples:
| (1) | Aliki | eteva | me | taita | ateva | lalu | ilou. |
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| boy | sg | and | man | sg | they.du | run.du |
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| `The boy and the man run.'
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| (2) | Aliki | etoa | me | taita | ateva | la | ilou. |
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| boy | pl | and | man | sg | they | run.pl |
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| `The boys and the man run.'
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| (3) | Aliki | eteva | me | taita | atoa | la | ilou. |
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| boy | sg | and | man | pl | they | run.pl |
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| 'The boy and the men run.'
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Patterns for person
Coordination with ``and''
SV order
Pattern: These constructions are ineffable. In combinations of 1st and 2nd person singular, the coordination is replaced by italu (``we''). In other combinations, entire clauses are coordinated. There is no person distinction in dual and plural. (The forms are syncretic.)
| 1st | 2nd | 1 | 2 | 3
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| 1 | | ineff | ineff
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| 2 | ineff | |
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| 3 | ineff | |
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Examples:
| (11) | Italu | ilou. |
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| we.1du.incl | run.du |
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| `You and I run.'/`I and you run.'/lit. `We run.'
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| (12) | Ita/ami | ilou | me | ila | tee | la | ilou. |
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| we.incl/we.excl | run.pl | and | they | also | they | run.pl |
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| `We and they run.'
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| (13) | La | ilou | me | ita/ami | tee | ita/ami | ilou. |
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| they | run.pl | and | we.incl/we.excl | also | we.incl/we.excl | run.pl |
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| `They and we run.'
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