Cover not available
Article published In:
Source-Goal (a)symmetries across languages
Edited by Anetta Kopecka and Marine Vuillermet
[Studies in Language 45:1] 2021
► pp. 75–108

Linguistic expressions of Goal, Source and Place in Polynesian languages

| UMR 7107 Lacito-CNRS
In Polynesian languages, as in many other Oceanic languages, the linguistic expression of Source and Goal is mainly express by (i) demonstratives and directional modifiers, which combine deictic and spatial information (toward speaker, addressee or third person, upwards, downwards, transverse axe), (ii) locative static and dynamic prepositions which may combine with body-part terms to introduce local and landmark nouns, or place names, and (iii) posture and motion verbs. We examine the occurrences of the Source and Goal prepositions on the one hand, and the directional modifiers on the other, taking into account their compatibilities, the spatial coding they convey, the position of the participants, and the verb meaning. In Polynesian languages, Goal and Source are of similar complexity, though in different ways, and a variety of resources can express fine-grained distinctions for Source vs. Goal depending on the position of the figure.
Keywords: Polynesian languages, East Uvean, East Futunan, demonstratives, directional adverbs, locative prepositions, position and motion verbs
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Locative prepositions
    • 2.1The source/ablative preposition
      • 2.1.1Source located in space
      • 2.1.2Fictive source without actual motion
      • 2.1.3Temporal source
      • 2.1.4Abstract or metaphoric source
    • 2.2The static/essive preposition
      • 2.2.1Spatial localisation
      • 2.2.2Temporal localisation
      • 2.2.3Expression of the source
      • 2.2.4Other functions of the static/essive preposition
    • 2.3The goal/allative preposition
      • 2.3.1Allative meaning
      • 2.3.2Other functions
    • 2.4Combination of two prepositions
    • 2.5Complex prepositions
      • 2.5.1Complex ‘nominal’ prepositions
      • 2.5.2Complex ‘verbal’ prepositions
    • 2.6Conclusion on the prepositions occurring in spatial relations
  • 3.Directionals
    • 3.1Personal/deictic directionals
      • 3.1.1The centripetal directional ‘hither’
      • 3.1.2The centrifugal directional ‘thither’
      • 3.1.3The transverse directional ‘away’
    • 3.2Local directionals
    • 3.3Main uses of directionals
    • 3.4Other uses of directionals
  • 4.Combination of prepositions and directionals
    • 4.1Combination of the centripetal directional and the source preposition
    • 4.2Combination of the centripetal directional and the Goal or static/essive prepositions
  • 5.Other constructions linked to spatial expressions
    • 5.1Constructions with the multifunctional conjunction/adverb mo
    • 5.2The faka- adverbial derivation
    • 5.3Incorporation of local nouns
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 14 December 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.00017.moy
References (28)
References
Bauer, Winifred. 1997. The Reed Reference grammar of Māori. Auckland, New Zealand: Reed Books.Google Scholar
Besnier, Niko. 2000. Tuvaluan. A Polynesian language of the Central Pacific. London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bourdin, Philippe. 1997. On Goal-bias across languages: modal, configurational and orientational parameters. In Bohumil Palek (ed.), Proceedings of LP’96, 185–218. Prague: Charles University Press.Google Scholar
Cablitz, Gabriele H. 2006. Marquesan: A Grammar of Space (Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs 169). Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Creissels, Denis. 2006. Encoding the distinction between location, source and destination: A typological study. In Maya Hickmann & Stéphane Robert (eds.), Space in languages. Linguistic systems and cognitive categories Typological Studies in Language 66, 19–28. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Du Feu, Veronica. 1996. Rapanui. London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
François, Alexandre. 2003. Of men, hills, and winds: Space directionals in Mwotlap. Oceanic Linguistics 42(2). 408–436. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Greenhill, Simon J. & Ross Clark. 2011. Pollex-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online. Oceanic Linguistics 50(2). 551–559. [URL] (Last access: 16 March 2020).
Henquel, Joseph R. P. 1910. Talanoa ki ‘Uvea nei. Histoires de Wallis. [Translated, annotated and presented by Daniel Frimigacci & Siolesio Pilioko. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Hooper, Robin. 2004. Perception verbs, directional metaphor and point of view in Tokelauan discourse. Journal of Pragmatics 361. 1741–1760. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ishibashi, Miyuki, Anetta Kopecka & Marine Vuillermet. 2006. Matériel visuel pour élicitation des données linguistiques. Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage, CNRS/Université Lyon 2. Projet de Fédération de recherche en Typologie et Universaux Linguistiques [URL] (Last access: 18 March 2020)
Kopecka, Anetta & Miyuki Ishibashi. 2011. L’(a)symétrie dans l’expression de la Source et du But: perspective translinguistique. Les Cahiers de Faits de Langues 31. 131–149. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lichtenberk, Frantisek. 2003. Directionality and displaced directionality in Toqabaqita. In: Erin Shay & Uwe Seibert (eds.), Motion, direction and location in languages. In honor of Zygmunt Frajzyngier (Typological Studies in Language 56). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mayer, Raymond. 1976. Les transformations de la tradition narrative à l’île Wallis (Uvea) (Publications de la Société des Océanistes 38). Paris: Musée de l’Homme.Google Scholar
Mosel, Ulrike & Even Hovdhaugen. 1992. Samoan reference grammar. Oslo: The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, Scandinavian University Press.Google Scholar
Moyse-Faurie, Claire. 1995. Le xârâcùù, langue de Thio-Canala (Nouvelle-Calédonie). Éléments de syntaxe (Langues et Cultures du Pacifique 10). Paris: Peeters.Google Scholar
. 1997. Grammaire du futunien. Nouméa: Centre de Documentation Pédagogique, coll. Université.Google Scholar
. 2010. (Dé)Grammaticalisation d’expressions spatiales dans des langues océaniennes. In Injoo Choi-Jonin, Marc Duval & Olivier Soutet (eds.) Typologie et comparatisme. Hommages offerts à Alain Lemaréchal (Orbis/Supplementa 28), 295–314. Leuven: Peeters.Google Scholar
. 2016. Te lea faka‘uvea – Le wallisien (Les langues du Monde 7). Paris: Peeters.Google Scholar
. 2019. Similarity, comparison of equality and verbal manner demonstratives in Polynesian languages. Faits de Langues 50(1). 135–156. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nikitina, Tatiana. 2009. Subcategorization pattern and lexical meaning of motion verbs: a study of the source/goal ambiguity. Linguistics 47(5). 1113–1141. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ozanne-Rivierre, Françoise. 1998. Spatial orientation in some Austronesian Languages. In Catherine Fuchs & Stéphane Robert (eds.), Language diversity and cognitive representations, 73–84. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pawley, Andrew. 1973. Some problems in proto-Oceanic grammar. Oceanic Linguistics 121. 102–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2003. Grammatical categories and grammaticisation in the Oceanic verb complex. Cornell Working Papers in Linguistics 191. 149–172.Google Scholar
Ross, Malcolm. 2004. The grammaticization of directional verbs in Oceanic languages. In Isabelle Bril & Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre (eds.), Complex predicates in Oceanic languages. Studies in the dynamics of binding and boundness, 297–329. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stolz, Thomas, Sander Lestrade & Christel Stolz. 2014. The crosslinguistics of zero-marking of spatial relations (Studia Typologica 15). Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Talmy, Leonard. 2017. Foreword. Past, present, and future of motion research. In Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano (ed.), Motion and space across languages, 1–12. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tsukamoto, Akihisa. 1988. The language of Niuafo‘ou Island. Canberra: Australian National University PhD dissertation.Google Scholar