morphology, and ethnography. Any information as to phrase or clause structure must be gleaned from their examples. An additional limitation of the more recent studies is that
they were generally based on very limited fieldwork. Hickerson’s data were collected in a six-month period of work with speakers of the language and are combined with sometimes
questionable analysis and data from the de Goeje volume mentioned above Hickerson 1953:181. Van Renselaar and Voorhoeve’s article was based on three months of intermit-
tent work with an Arawak speaker in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, and two days in an Arawak village p. 328 footnote. Taylor’s data were collected in periods totaling about
15 months between 1967 and 1969 Taylor 1970a:199 footnote. Of all the recent studies, Taylor’s articles were particularly helpful to me in the initial phases of studying Arawak.
However, as work progressed, shortcomings became apparent. For example, several conclusions with regard to the phonology had to be revised see Pet 1979.
1.3 Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a general sketch of the Arawak language as it is spoken in Suriname, South America, and to do so with a broader scope than previous stud-
ies have. The hope is that this sketch will be of use to linguists in general, regardless of the theoretical frameworks within which they work.
The coverage of Arawak syntax in the dissertation version of this study assumed the prin- ciples of Government and Binding Theory e.g. Chomsky 1982a, 1982b. In this present
version little reference is made to theoretical issues, except where particularly relevant.
1.4 Overview
Because of the already mentioned deficiencies in currently available sources for Arawak lan- guage data, this study is based primarily on original data collected by me and compared with
previous works only as necessary. The data presented here were collected during periods of residence in two Suriname villages, Powakka and Cassipora, from 1972 to 1978 and from
1981 to 1984, under the auspices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics SIL International.
In accordance with the primarily descriptive nature of this study, the following chapters are organized to present a bottom-up sketch of Arawak—starting with some comments on
Arawak phonology and ending with some comments about Arawak discourse. The bulk of the description is in the area of syntax.
Chapter 2 consists of an overview of Arawak phonology and of lexical classes and mor- phology. The phonological system is discussed only briefly since it is adequately covered
elsewhere e.g. Taylor 1969; Pet 1979. The chapter presents a summary of the major lexi- cal classes of the language, derivational systems, and various inflectional categories.
Chapter 3 consists primarily of a description of Arawak phrase and sentence syntax. Par- ticular attention is paid to movement of question phrases, focused constituents, and rela-
tive pronouns to the left periphery of the clause. Such movement is clause-bounded and leaves an associated gap. It also involves the obligatory insertion of what I call a “dummy
verb” in sentences when the verb or a manner adverbial is the questioned or otherwise fronted constituent, but not when other constituents are fronted.
Chapter 4 continues the exposition of Arawak syntax by concentrating on the internal structure of relative clauses and on the classes of constituents in a sentence which may be
relativized. Chapter 5 returns to the consideration of some morphemes which cannot be adequately
described without reference to levels of the language above that of the sentence. In this 1.4 Overview
5
chapter, the use and the meaning of the Arawak tenseaspect suffixes and tense particles are investigated. Comrie 1976, 1985 is followed for the componential analysis of their
meaning, and narrative structure analysis e.g. Longacre 1976, 1984; Grimes 1975; Hopper 1979 is used for additional insights into their use and meaning.
Chapter 6 is the conclusion. In it, I summarize the major findings and discuss some of the limitations and inadequacies of the study.
Part 2 is a short lexicon of Suriname Arawak and an English-Arawak index. An appendix with six interlinearized narrative texts follows. A bibliography concludes the volume.
6 Introduction
