A grammar of Paku: a language of Central Kalimantan

This thesis describes the phonology, morphology and syntax of Paku, a highly endangered East Barito language spoken in four villages in the southeast of Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia. It has currently about fifty speakers (conservative estimate, including semi-speakers) and since children, for a variety of reasons, no longer learn the language, it is classified as moribund. This thesis is part of a ARC-funded project The South East Barito languages in Indonesia and Madagascar: Safeguarding their past and future concerned with the documentation of Southeast Barito languages which Paku was thought to be a member of until the recent reclassification of languages in Borneo by Smith (2017). It is a contribution to the description of the rapidly declining linguistic diversity in Borneo and other parts of the world. In doing so, this thesis will also contribute data of Bornean languages to broader typological research. Like many other endangered languages Paku is virtually undescribed and one of the main aims of this part of the project is the thorough documentation of Paku and the compilation of an extensive corpus of data consisting of both narratives and elicited material. This will help create a record of the language before it disappears, a fate which at this stage seems inevitable. The examples used in this thesis are taken from the recorded materials as well as field notes. The data was collected during five field trips totalling nine months conducted between July 2013 and June 2017. Chapter one will introduce the Paku language and the people who use it. It will address the current linguistic situation and provide a brief overview of their traditions and customs. It also includes an overview of the methodology employed in both data collection and analysis and explain some of the conventions used in this thesis. Chapter two is concerned with the phonology in Paku and includes a description of the various and at times unusual phonological processes found in Paku. Chapter three describes word classes that need to be recognised in Paku while chapters four and five focus on nominal and verbal morphology respectively. They furthermore discuss the internal structure of phrases headed by nominals and verbs. Chapter six introduces prepositional phrases which can have various functions both at the phrase and clause level. Chapter seven is the beginning of the syntactic description of Paku and includes a discussion of grammatical relations and word order. It also identifies the different clause types found in the language. Chapter eight looks at question formation and chapter nine explores complex sentences. In Paku they include coordinated clauses, adverbial clauses, and complementation. The most intriguing features of Paku are found in the phonology of the language. For instance, Paku features extensive harmony systems. Firstly, there is comprehensive nasal harmony. This in itself is not unusual in the Austronesian world, but Paku has developed a mechanism of preventing nasal spread which is almost exclusively found in languages of Borneo nasal preplosion. Furthermore, the majority of affixes are subject to vowel harmony, a feature which sets Paku apart from other Barito languages in the area and which provides valuable insight for potential reconstruction work. Finally, Paku features nasal substitution and accretion.