Taba language

It is spoken mostly on the islands of Makian, Kayoa and southern Halmahera in North Maluku province of Indonesia by about 20,000 people.

[3] As of 2005, Ethnologue lists Taba as having a speaking population of approximately 20,000; however, it has been argued by linguists that this number could in reality be anywhere between 20,000 and 50,000.

There has also been continued migration of speakers to other areas of North Maluku due to frequent volcanic eruptions on Makian island.

Taba is, predominantly, a head-marking language which adheres to a basic AVO word order.

This is illustrated below in a response to the question 'Why did the Taba Jaya (name of a boat) stop coming to Makian?

'The Taba Jaya, a boat significant enough to be given a name, is accorded pronoun status similar to animates.

'The alternation between proclitic markers indicates number, where in (4) k= denotes the arrival of a singular actor, while in (7) a= indicates the arrival of first-person plural actors, exclusionary of the addressee, and is replicated in the change of prefix in the additional examples.

Plural marking is obligatory for humans and is used for all noun phrases which refer to multiple individuals.

Plurality is also used to indicate respect in the second and third Person when addressing or speaking of an individual who is older than the speaker.

[3] In Taba, it has been observed that many adults use deictic shifts towards the perspective of addressee children regarding the use of plural markers.

'In Taba, alienable and inalienable possession is not obligatorily marked by the use of different forms, though this is common in many related languages.

[20] In both cases the negative particles are clause-final, a placement which is posited to be the result of contact with non-Austronesian Papuan languages.

This marker expresses something about how the non-existence of the noun phrase's referent relates to the discourse context, or alternatively indicates the speaker's attitude towards the proposition.

In (20), it is used to emphasize the absolute nature of the prohibition against making alcohol in the Muslim community of the speaker: Maimaibutanea-neDEM-PROXlpeikl=pe-ik3pl=make-APPLsaguersaguerpalm.winetedo.te-doNEG-REALMai ane lpeik saguer tedo.mai a-ne l=pe-ik saguer te-dobut DEM-PROX 3pl=make-APPL palm.wine NEG-REAL'But here they don't make palm wine with it anymore.

'[29]Unlike the modal and aspectual markers which are used to form the other complex negative particles, su is not attested as a free morpheme elsewhere; however, it is likely related to the optional final -s of the modal verb -ahate(s) 'to be unable', which appears to be derived historically from te having fused onto the verb -ahan 'to be able'.

Although compared to other Austronesian languages[36] Taba is typologically unusual in that its grammar involves little morphology, this is not the case when it comes to demonstratives and directionals.

Both of these systems involve root morphemes which can occur either on their own or with affixes, creating a large variety of meanings.

[38] Examples of the root forms functioning as such can be seen below: pakakastoolnePROXpakakas netool PROX'this tool'[39]kurusichairdaDISTkurusi dachair DIST'that chair'[39]Demonstrative root forms in Taba, like in most other languages, can also be used to refer to concepts previously mentioned in a conversation, as per the following example: NdadindadisodukondukoneruptionnenePROXtauntaunyearhalimha=limCL=fivedo.doREALNdadi dukon ne taun halim do.ndadi dukon ne taun ha=lim doso eruption PROX year CL=five REAL'So the eruption was five years ago.

When this directional root is used deictically, it implies that both the speaker and hearer hold some common knowledge about the referent.

See below an example of ya functioning deictically: Malcomam=alcoma2sg=sendyakyak1sgnini3sg.POSSfotofotophotographyayaRECMalcoma yak ni foto yam=alcoma yak ni foto ya2sg=send 1sg 3sg.POSS photograph REC'Send me the photographs (that I have just referred to, and which we both know about'[41]Taba has four demonstrative pronouns, each formed through the affixation of a pronoun to the demonstrative root.

[37] This process, as well as the rough English translation for each pronoun is outlined in the table below: inei-neSG-PROXinei-neSG-PROX'this' (near speaker)idai-daSG-DIST///idiai-diaSG-DISTida / idiai-da / i-diaSG-DIST / SG-DIST'that' (away from speaker)sinesi-nePL-PROXsinesi-nePL-PROX'these' (near speaker)sidasi-daPL-DIST///sidiasi-diaPL-DISTsida / sidiasi-da / si-diaPL-DIST / PL-DIST'those' (away from speaker)Taba's demonstrative pronouns can also be used to refer to a concept previously mentioned in a conversation, or a series of previously described events, as shown in the next two examples: Idiai-dia3SG-DISTMingguMingguSundayIdia Minggui-dia Minggu3SG-DIST Sunday'That was Sunday'[42]Lailaijusttamt=am1PL.INCL=seeidiai-dia3SG-DISTLai tam idialai t=am i-diajust 1PL.INCL=see 3SG-DIST'We had just seen all of this (for the first time)'[42]Taba has two locative nouns, formed by the prefixation of a-.

The formation of these nouns and their rough English translations can be found in the table below: anea-neLOC-PROXanea-neLOC-PROX'here'adiaa-diaLOC-DISTadiaa-diaLOC-DIST'there'Here are two examples showing the locative nouns in use, occurring after the noun to which they refer: SiSi3PLanea-neLOC-PROXteteNEGSi ane teSi a-ne te3PL LOC-PROX NEG'He wasn't there'[42]Pedapedamacheteadiaa-diaLOC-DISTlokalokabanananini3SG.POSSumpoum-poNOM-downlemale-maland-VENPeda adia loka ni umpo lemapeda a-dia loka ni um-po le-mamachete LOC-DIST banana 3SG.POSS NOM-down land-VEN'The machete is there, landwards from the bottom of the banana tree'[43]Taba has eight similative nouns, which differ between the language's three registers.

Many other Austronesian languages have similative noun equivalents,[44] but Taba is unique in that it has such a high number.

The eight different forms can be found in the table below, where the labels ascribed to each register by Taba speakers are as such: biasa ('normal'), alus ('fine/respectful') and kasar ('coarse').

[37] Below is an example of a similative noun occurring naturally in a conversation: Napnapyapyapashumumhousenini3SG.POSSllolloinsideyayaRECmlonganmlonganbe.longtaneta-neSIM-PROXNapnap um ni llo ya mlongan taneyapyap um ni llo ya mlongan ta-neash house 3SG.POSS inside REC be.long SIM-PROX'The ash inside the house was as deep as this'[45]Similative nouns in Taba can also occur as single-word utterances and as adverbs, as in the following examples: Tadia!ta-diaSIM-DISTTadia!ta-diaSIM-DIST'It's done like that!

[43]Tittit1PL.INCLtpet-pe1PL.INCL.dotaneta-neSIM-PROXTit tpe tanetit t-pe ta-ne1PL.INCL 1PL.INCL.do SIM-PROX'We do it like this'[46]As for the directional system, Taba has five basic semantic categories.

This kind of morphology is unusual within Taba, but typologically common compared to many other Austronesian languages.

These forms are much freer in word order and can occur at many different places within a clause, serving to modify verbs, as seen in the next two examples: Nomano-mathere-VENnomano-mathere-VENturusturusdirectmanusiamanusiapeoplelwoml=wom3pl=comeNoma noma turus manusia lwomno-ma no-ma turus manusia l=womthere-VEN there-VEN direct people 3pl=come'From here and there the people came' [49]Nyoan=yoa3sg=search (almost)khank=han1sg=golama,la-masea-VENpolisisipolisi=sipolice-PLltahanl=tahan3pl=findyakyak1sgNyoa khan lama, polisisi ltahan yakn=yoa k=han la-ma polisi=si l=tahan yak{3sg=search (almost)} 1sg=go sea-VEN police-PL 3pl=find 1sg'I'd almost come back from Moti when the police found me'[45]Venitive forms can also occur in utterances without any verbs, such as in the following example: MotormotorboatPayahePayahePayahelemale-maland-VENyakyak1sgMotor Payahe lema yakmotor Payahe le-ma yakboat Payahe land-VEN 1sg'I came on the boat from Payahe'[49]The suffix -ma, used to form venitive directionals is likely derived from the word *maRi ('come'), that has been reconstructed for Proto-Austronesian.

SIM:simultaneous aspect PROX:proximal demonstrative ADMON:admonitive mood As is common with many Melanesian people, Taba speakers practice ritual name taboo.

This practice adheres to the Makianese belief that, if the names of the recently deceased are uttered, their spirits may be drastically disturbed.