Bangduo La Distr. Language Syntax

Based on the theory of modern linguistics and methodology of reference grammar, it gives a comprehensive, detailed and systematical description and analysis on Bangduo Lahuna dialect (abbr:Bangduo Lahu) within the following seven chapters.Chapter â… . Preface, several matters are introduced in this chapter, mainly about survey of Lahu people on their distribution, name and source of Lahu, social economy, culture, language, spoken and written. A review of the research on Lahu is also mentioned. furthermore, the designing, meaning and value are discussed. At last, it comes to framework of theory and methodology, source of language material.Chapter â…¡. Phonological System. It gives a detailed description to initials, finals, tones and syllable structure, especially on their constitutions, numbers, characteristic and classification.Chapter â…¢. Word formation and loan words are discussed in this chapter. Word formation are described and analyzed from two aspects, syntax and morphology.It is discussed mainly on the ways that how to form loan words.Chapter â…£. Part of speech are discussed in ten parts:noun, pronoun, verb, numeral, classifier, adjective, adverb, relative particle, aspect particle and mood particle, each of which is extensively described. For example, affix, gender, name, relatives appellation are discussed in noun, and of classifiers, we discussed their classification, formation and evolution. The relationship between adjective and verb is discussed, and also the reduplication, nominalization and causative mood. The relative particles that connect different constituents, structures are mainly discussed.Chapter â…¤. Syntax is formed by phrase, sentence element, simple sentence and compound sentence.Phrase consists of twelve parts:phrases of coordinate, subject and verb, modifying, predicate and object, predicate and complement, numeral, appositive, comparative, two-function and DE. The key point is to analyze the constituents of each part, and also the semantic characteristics. Sentence element are a set of linguistic units, which are described and analyzed in this chapter, and semantic types are also discussed.Simple sentence can be divided into two types, sentence pattern and sentence type. According to mood, sentence pattern can be divided into four kinds:declarative sentence, interrogative sentence, imperative sentence and exclamatory sentence. Sentence type includes subject-predicate sentence and non-subject-predicate sentence. Subject-predicate sentence consists of verb as predicate, adjective as predicate nominal phrase as predicate and subject-predicate as predicate.Compound sentences are described comprehensively, and clarified into two main parts, combined compound sentence and modifier-head compound sentence. Combined compound sentence can be subdivided into coordinate, selective, coherent, interpretive, progressive compound sentences. Modifier-head compound sentence includes two subgroups, sequence and transition. Sequence compound sentences are formed by four types:cause-effect, purpose, condition and hypothesis. Transition compound sentence contains two parts:transition and concession. Each type of compound sentence also have sub-types.Chapter VI. Several special syntactic structures are discussed in this chapter including topic sentence, passive sentence, comparative sentence, existential sentence, judgement sentence, serial-verb sentence, numeral-classifier sentence and predicate-complement construction.Chapter VII It came to the conclusion, in which the characteristic of Bangduo Lahu grammar is summarized as follow:first, strong analytic character manifested in settled word order and developed particles. Second, it lacks inflections, most of which found in Lahu are not typical. Third, verb is more important than any other one in Lahu, because verb has more inflections and grammatical meanings. Four, rhyme is a factor that affects Lahu grammar. Five, the grammaticalization reflects the evolutionary chain of Lahu grammar. Different category differ from their levels of grammaticalization, while a certain category also reflects different levels of grammaticalization. Grammaticalization is closely related to constituent and function.As for the innovation of this dissertation, it can be concluded as below. It is a new work that gives a synchronic description and analysis on Lahu language research. All material that is about350thousand words are collected from field research in Yunnan Province during the years that the author studies for master and doctor's degree. The combination of traditional grammatical and modern linguistic theory is another attempt on methodology. Traditional research method is applied on synchronic description and diachronic analysis. Modern linguistic theory is used to explain some language phenomenon. Special constructions like numeral classifier construction, predicate-complement construction and existential sentences are discussed under theory of typology. Theory of grammaticalization is used to discuss some constructions or the development of marks, like serial verb construction, mark of objective case, mark of comparative sentence and dominant mark of passive voice.Deficiencies and suggestions for the future research:the analysis of parts of this dissertation is unbalanced, some subject need to discuss deeply. The distribution of language material is also unbalanced, some phenomenon are listed without explanation.Appendix:Two thousand common words of Bangduo Lahu and seven Lahu stories.