Positional and grammatical variations of time words in Takivatan Bunun

Abstract

丹社群布農語具有獨特用於指示時間;地點與方式之詞類。這些詞按其出現於句子中不同的位置;而有不同的語法屬性。本文探討四個用於表達時間指示之詞根及其變體;位置與語法功能;包含dip「那時」;qabas「早前」;laupa「現在」;haip「今天」。根據所蒐集的語料;我主張丹社群布農語時間指示詞在句中出現的位置與其語法屬性具有相當的關連性;並非是隨機變化的結果。最後;我認為本文所討論時間指示詞之不同功能的產生乃源自於多數台灣南島語所共有的功能動機以及歷史因素。

Takivatan Bunun, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan, has a dedicated class of words expressing time, place, and manner. These words can occur in various positions in the clause, each of which is associated with a distinct grammatical behavior. In this article, I discuss positional and associated grammatical variation of the four roots that most commonly express temporal location in the Takivatan corpus: dip `then`, qabas `in former times`, laupa `now`, and haip `today`. I conclude that the positional variability of Takivatan time words is grammatically meaningful and not the result of random variation. Finally, I suggest that it can be best explained in terms of functional motivations and historical factors that are common to various Austronesian languages in Taiwan.