Tamambo language

Tamambo,[3] or Malo,[1][2] is an Oceanic language spoken by 4,000 people on Malo and nearby islands in Vanuatu.

Tamambo
Malo
Native to	Vanuatu
Region	Malo Island, Espiritu Santo
Native speakers	4,000 (2001)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic Northern Vanuatu Northeast Vanuatu – Banks Islands West Santo Tamambo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mla Malo[2]
Glottolog	malo1243  Tamambo[3]

Phonology

Vowels

Tamambo vowel chart, from Riehl & Jauncey (2005:257)

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Mid	e	o
Low	a

/i u/ become [j w] respectively when unstressed and before another vowel. /o/ may also become [w] for some speakers.

Consonants

Tamambo consonant phonemes[4]

		Bilabial		Alveolar	Postalveolar	Velar
		plain	labiovelarized
Nasal		m	mʷ	n		ŋ
Stop	prenasalized	ᵐb	ᵐbʷ	ⁿd	ᶮɟ
	plain			t		k
Fricative	voiced	β	βʷ			x
	voiceless			s
Trill				r
Lateral				l

The prenasalized postalveolar stop /ᶮɟ/ is often affricated and voiceless, i.e. [ᶮtʃ].

Younger speakers often realize /β/ as [f] initially and [v] medially, while /βʷ/ is often replaced by [w].

/x/ is usually realized as [x] initially, but some speakers use [h]. Medially, it may be pronounced as any of [x ɣ h ɦ ɡ].

Writing system

Few speakers of Tamambo are literate, and there is no standard orthography. Spelling conventions used include:

Phoneme	Representation
/ᵐb/	B initially, mb medially.
/ᵐbʷ/	Bu or bw initially, mbu or mbw medially.
/x/	C or h.
/ⁿd/	D initially, nd medially.
/ᶮɟ/	J initially, nj medially.
/k/	K.
/l/	L.
/m/	M.
/mʷ/	Mu or mw.
/n/	N.
/ŋ/	Ng.
/r/	R.
/s/	S.
/t/	T.
/β/	V.
/βʷ/	Vu or w.

Pronouns and person markers

In Tamambo, personal pronouns distinguish between first, second, and third person. There is an inclusive and exclusive marking on the first-person plural and gender is not marked. There are four classes of pronouns, which is not uncommon in other Austronesian languages:[5]

• Independent pronouns
• Subject pronouns
• Object pronouns
• Possessive pronouns.

Pronominal paradigm[6]

	Independent pronouns	Subject pronouns	Object pronouns	Possessive pronouns
1SG	iau	ku	-(i)au	-ku
2SG	niho	o	-ho	-m
3SG	nia	mo (realis) / a (irrealis)	-a / -e	-na
1PL.I	hinda	ka	-nda	-nda
1PL.E	kamam	ka	kamam	-mam
2PL	kamim	no	kamim	-mim
3PL	nira	na	-ra	-ra

Independent pronouns

Independent pronouns behave grammatically similarly to other NPs in that they can occur in the same slot as a subject NP, functioning as the head of a NP. However, in regular discourse, they are not used a great deal due the obligatory nature of cross-referencing subject pronouns. Use of independent pronouns is often seen as unnecessary and unusual except in the following situations:

• Indicate person and number of conjoint NP
• Introduce new referent
• Reintroduce referent
• Emphasise participation of known referent

Indicating person and number of conjoint NP

In the instance where two NPs are joined as a single subject, the independent pronoun reflects the number of the conjoint NP:

Ku	vano.
1SG	go
'I went.'

and

Nancy	mo	vano.
Nancy	3SG	go
'Nancy went.'

Thus, merging the two above clauses into one, the independent pronoun must change to reflect total number of subjects:

Kamam	mai	Nancy	ka	vano.
IP:1PL.E	PREP	Nancy	1PL	go
'Nancy and I went.'[7]

Introducing a new referent

When a new referent is introduced into the discourse, the independent pronoun is used. In this case, kamam:

Ne	kamam	mwende	talom,	kamam	ka-le	loli	na	hinau	niaro.
But	IP:1PL.E	particular.one	first	IP:1PL.E	1PL-TA	do	ART	thing	EMPH
'But we who came first, [well] as for us, we do this very thing'[8]

Reintroduction of referent

In this example, the IP hinda in the second sentence is used to refer back to tahasi in the first sentence.

Ka	tau	tahasi	mo	sahe,	le	hani.	Hani	hinda	ka-le	biri~mbiri.
1PL	put.in.place	stone	3SG	go.up	TA	burn	burn	IP:1PL.I	1PL-TA	RED~grate
'We put the stones up (on the fire) and it's burning. While it's burning we do the grating [of the yams].'[9]

Emphasis on participation of known subject

According to Jauncey,[10] this is the most common use of the IP. Comparing the two examples, the latter placing the emphasis on the subject:

O	vano?
2SG	go
'Are you going?'

and

Niho	o	vano?
IP:2SG	2SG	go
'Are you going?'[11]

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns are an obligatory component of a verbal phrase, indicating the person and number of the NP. They can either co-occur with the NP or independent in the subject slot, or exist without if the subject has been deleted through ellipsis or previously known context.

Balosuro	mo-te	sohena.
nowadays	3SG-NEG	the.same
'It's not like that nowadays.'[12]

Object pronouns

Object pronouns are very similar looking to independent pronouns, appearing to be abbreviations of the independent pronoun as seen in the pronoun paradigm above. Object pronouns behave similarly to the object NP, occurring in the same syntactic slot, however only one or the other is used, both cannot be used simultaneously as an object argument – which is unusual in Oceanic languages as many languages have obligatory object pronominal cross-referencing on the verb agreeing with NP object.

Mo	iso	ka	turu	ka	vosai-a
3SG	finish	1PL	stand	1PL	cook.in.stones-O:3SG
'Then we bake it in the stones.'[13]

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns substitute for NP possessor, suffixing to the possessed noun in direct possessive constructions or to one the four possessive classifiers in indirect constructions.

Direct possession

Tama-k'	mo	vora	bosinjivo.
Father-POSS:1SG	3SG	be.born	bosinjivo.area
'My father was born in the Bisinjivo area.'[14]

Indirect possession

ma-m	ti
CLFR-POSS:2SG	tea
'your tea'[15]

Negation

Negation in Tamambo involves the use of a negative particle; negative verb and negative aspectuals (semantics of time) to change positive constructions into negative ones.

Negation and the VP

The negative particle -te and negative aspectual tele ‘not yet’ and lete ‘never’ can appear in the same slot of the Verb Phrase, illustrated below:

Obligatory (bolded) and optional components of a VP in Tamambo[16]
1 Subject Pronoun	2 Modality markers of Realis mo FUT -mbo	3 Aspectual ta	4 Aspectuals le male Negative -te Negative Aspectuals tele lete	5 Manner modifiers	6 Head	7 Manner modifiers Directionals Non-resultative modifiers

Both the negative aspectuals appear to be derived from the tense-aspect marker le and the negative particle -te [17]. All the optional modifiers in the VP are mutually exclusive thus; the negative morphemes allow no modifiers between them and the head of the VP.[18]

Negative particle -te

The negative particle -te which expresses negative polarity on the verb[19] is a bound morpheme, meaning it must be attached to the subject pronominal clitic. The negative particle also occurs immediately before the verb noted in example [105].[20] Furthermore, example [105] demonstrates what Jauncey[21] terms a ‘negative progressive’; a way of expressing the negative in the present tense such as ‘he’s not doing it’ using the negative particle -te. 

Mo-te	loli-a
3SG-NEG	do-O:3SG
'He didn't do it'./ 'He's not doing it.' [105]

Negative aspectuals

The negative aspectuals are used to refer to different aspects of time. The aspectual lete ‘never’ is used to refer to event times that are prior to speech time noted in example [107] and [100].[22]

Mo	lete	loli-a.
3SG	never	do-O:3SG
'He's never done it.' [107]

Na	lete	skul.
3PL	never	school
'They never went to church.' [100]

The negative aspectual tele ‘not yet’ is used only where the events are referring to an event time prior to or simultaneous with speech time noted in example [106] and [103][20].

Mo	tele	loli-a.
3SG	not.yet	do-O:3SG
'He's not yet done it'. [106]

Mo-iso	na-le	ovi,	na-natu-ra	na	tele	suiha...
3SG-finish	3PL-TA	live	PL-child-P:3PL	3PL	not.yet	strong
'So then they were living there, (but) their children were not yet strong...' [103]

Negation and modality

In Tamambo, modality can be expressed through the future marker –mbo and the two 3SG subject pronouns, mo (realis) and a (irrealis). In Tamambo realis is ‘the grammatical or lexical marking of an event time or situation that has happened (or not) or is happening (or not) relative to speech time’ and irrealis refers to ‘the grammatical or lexical marking of an event time or situation that may have happened, or that may or may not happen in the future’.[23] In Tamambo, the negative particle -te and aspectual lete can be used in conjunction with the 3SG irrealis a to express that a situation or action is not known to have happened. This is used because the negative markers cannot occur next to the future marker –mbo, however they can occur separately in the same construction evident in example [101][24] containing lete.

Mo	matahu	matan	taura-na	a-te	mai.
3SG	frightened	SUB	uncle-P:3SG	3SG-NEG	come
'He is afraid that his uncle might not come.' [97]

Ne

are

sohen

a

lete

lai

na

manji,

a-mbo

turu

aie

a

hisi

a

mate...

but

if

like

3SG

never

take

ART

animal,

3SG-FUT

stand

there

3SG

touch

3SG

die

'But if it was such that he never caught any fish, he would stand there until he died...' [101]

In Tamambo, only the 3SG preverbal subject form has a irrealis, thus when -te is used with other preverbal subject pronouns, the time of event can be ambiguous, and phrases must be understood from context and other lexemes.[25] For example, [98][25] illustrates the various interpretations one phrase may have.

Mo	matahu	matan	bula-na	dam	na-te	sula
3SG	frightened	SUB	CLFR-P:3SG	yam	3PL-NEG	grow
'S/he is/was afraid that her yams didn't grow/are not growing/won't grow/mightn't grow.' [98]

Negative verb tete

The negative verb tete is a part of Tamambo's closed subset of intransitive verbs, meaning that it has grammatical limitations. For example, the verb tete can only be used in conjunction with the 3SG preverbal subject pronominal clitic. The negative verb tete can function with a valency of zero or one.[26] Valency refers to the number of syntactic arguments a verb can have.

Zero Valency

The most common use of the verb tete is illustrated in example [59][26], where the verb has zero valency. 

Mo	tete.
3SG	negative
'No.' [59]

The 3SG pronoun's of a (irrealis) and mo (realis) are used in conjunction with tete to respond to varying questions depending on whether the answer is certain or not. Example [60][26] illustrates the use of a and tete in a construction to answer a question where the answer is not certain.

A	kiri?		A	tete.
3SG.IRR	rain		3SG.IRR	negative
'Will it/might it rain?' [60]			'No.' [60]

However, if the answer is certain than mo and tete are used highlighted in example [61][26].

O-mbo	vano	ana	maket	avuho?		Mo	tete.
2SG.FUT	go	PREP	market	tomorrow		3SG	negative
'Are you going to the market tomorrow?' [61]						'No.' [61]

Valency of one

If tete functions with a valency of one, then the intransitive subject must precede the verb similar to a prototypical verb phrase. In this situation, 3SG marking can only represent both the singular and plural, highlighted in example [65][27].

Tuai,	bisuroi	mo	tete.
long.ago	bisuroi.yam	3SG	negative
'Long ago, there were no bisuroi yams.' [65]

Tete can also function with an ‘existential meaning’ illustrated in example [62][26], to express there was ‘no one/no people’.

Tuai,	Natamabo,	mo	tete	tamalohi...
long.ago	Malo	3SG	negative	person
'Long ago, on Malo, there were no people...' [62]

Ambient serial verb constructions

The negative verb tete can also be used following a verb in an ambient serial verb construction. In Tamambo, a serial verb construction is defined by Jauncey[28] as ‘a sequence of two or more verbs that combine to function as a single predicate’. Furthermore, the term ambient in this verb construction refers to the phenomena when a verb, which follows a transitive or intransitive verb, makes a predication concerning the previous event rather than the participant.[29] When the negative tete verb is used in an ambient serial verb construction, tete makes a negative predication regarding the event expressed by the previous verb highlighted in example [64] and [65].[30] Furthermore, in this instance it is ungrammatical to insert other words between the negative verb and the previous verb.

Tama-na	mo	viti-a	mo	re	"Tamalohi	na	dami-h	mo	tete"
Father-P:3SG	3SG	speak-O:3SG	3SG	say	person	3PL	ask-O:2SG	3SG	negative
'Her father spoke to her and said "Men ask for you to no avail." [64]

...ka-te	soari-a,	ka	sai-a	mo	tete
1PL-NEG	see-O:3SG	1PL	search-O:3SG	3SG	negative
'...we didn't see it, we looked for it (but) there was nothing.' [65]

Negation and realis conditional sentences

Negative realis conditional sentences express an idea that something will happen if the condition is not met, such as an imperative or warning. The sentence outlines the conditions, and includes an ‘otherwise’ or ‘if not’ component.[31] The condition and the ‘if not’ (bolded) component occur together before the main clause illustrated in example [124][31].

Balosuro

ku

vuro-ho

hina

hamba-ku

niani

o

laia-a,

ro

o

lai-a

ale

a-tete-ro

o

mate!

present.time

1SG

fight-O:2SG

PREP

wing-P:1SG

this

2SG

take-O:3SG

thus

2SG

take-O:3SG

if

3SG-negative-thus

2SG

die

'(So) now I'm going to fight you with these wings of mine and you defend yourself, so you defend yourself and if not then you're dead!' [124]

Abbreviations

1,2,3    first, second, third person

ART     article

CLFR   classifier

FUT     future

IRR      irrealis

NEG     negative particle

O         object pronoun

P          possessive pronominal

PL        plural

PREP   preposition

SG        singular

SUB     subject

TA       tense-aspect marker          

External links

• Materials on Malo are included in the open access Arthur Capell collections (AC1 and AC2) held by Paradisec.

References

1. Malo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: mla". ISO 639-3 Registration Authority - SIL International. Retrieved 2017-07-07. Name: Malo
3. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Tamambo". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
4. Riehl & Jauncey (2005:256)
5. Jauncey (2011:87)
6. Jauncey (2011:88)
7. Jauncey (2011:89)
8. Jauncey (2011:89)
9. Jauncey (2011:90)
10. Jauncey (2011:90)
11. Jauncey (2011:91)
12. Jauncey (2011:435)
13. Jauncey (2011:430)
14. Jauncey (2011:434)
15. Jauncey (2011:102)
16. Jauncey (2011:323)
17. Jauncey (2011:323)
18. Jauncey (2011:261)
19. Jauncey (2011:104)
20. Jauncey (2011:324)
21. Jauncey (2011:262)
22. Jauncey (2011:323)
23. Jauncey (2011:297)
24. Jauncey (2011:263, 323)
25. Jauncey (2011:263)
26. Jauncey (2011:254)
27. Jauncey (2011:255)
28. Jauncey (2011:325)
29. Jauncey (2011:341)
30. Jauncey (2011:343)
31. Jauncey (2011:416)

Bibliography

• Jauncey, Dorothy G. (1997). A Grammar of Tamambo, the Language of Western Malo, Vanuatu (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Australian National University. doi:10.25911/5D666220A63B3. hdl:1885/145981.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Jauncey, Dorothy G. (2002). "Tamambo". In Lynch, J.; Ross, M.; Crowley, T. (eds.). The Oceanic Languages. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. pp. 608–625.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Jauncey, Dorothy G. (2011). Tamambo: the Language of Western Malo, Vanuatu (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 622. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. hdl:1885/29991. ISBN 9780858836334.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Riehl, Anastasia K.; Jauncey, Dorothy (2005). "Illustrations of the IPA: Tamambo". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 35 (2): 255–259. doi:10.1017/S0025100305002197.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)