Descriptive Study of Manchu Grammar

Kubo has studied (i)the phonology and morphology of Sive Manchu, which is now spoken in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, (ii)some grammatical aspects including the distinction between first person inclusive and exclusive pronouns in Sive. The Sive language has boundary phenomena seen in the structure [A=B], in compound boundary, noun=clitics boundary, on one hand, and stem-suffix boundary, stem-ending boundary on the other. The two types of boundaries show difference in vowel deletion. In the former boundary, [+high] vowels are deleted before voiceless consonants, whereas in the latter boundary, the deletion does not occur. Kubo has also revealed accentual phenomena in Sive. Sive has accentual distinction in words ending with [+high] vowels, i.e., /i,e,u/. Only word-final [+high] vowels have accented and unaccented distinction. The accent shifts to the preceding vowel when vowel coalescence occurs. Kubo has studied overall aspects of Sive phonology and morphology and some of … More the research results are included in the final report.Hayata has revealed several grammatical aspects of Manchu, the language spoken in China by the Manchu nationality in the Qing dynasty. He finished two large text databases, i.e., the Manchu version of 金瓶梅 (Golden Lotus) and the Manchu version of 三国志 (Record of the Three Kingdoms). Using these databases, he pointed out that the distinction of first person plural inclusive/exclusive distinction is not based on whether the hearer is included in the speaker's side or not. Rather, the exclusive pronoun refers to the subset of the whole set in question. The speaker is always included in the subset, but the hearer is not. Hayata also studied the distinction of demonstrative pronouns and revealed that the demonstrative ere and tere, which has been said to be equivalent to English this and that, function as both single and plural demonstratives. Concerning the aspects of phonology, Hayata published a paper on the vowel system of Manchu, which is simpler and more convincing than the systems in foregoing studies. Less

Kubo has studied (i)the phonology and morphology of Sive Manchu, which is now spoken in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, (ii)some grammatical aspects including the distinction between first person inclusive and exclusive pronouns in Sive. The Sive language has boundary phenomena seen in the structure [A=B], in compound boundary, noun=clitics boundary, on one hand, and stem-suffix boundary, stem-ending boundary on the other. The two types of boundaries show difference in vowel deletion. In the former boundary, [+high] vowels are deleted before voiceless consonants, whereas in the latter boundary, the deletion does not occur. Kubo has also revealed accentual phenomena in Sive. Sive has accentual distinction in words ending with [+high] vowels, i.e., /i,e,u/. Only word-final [+high] vowels have accented and unaccented distinction. The accent shifts to the preceding vowel when vowel coalescence occurs. Kubo has studied overall aspects of Sive phonology and morphology and some of … More the research results are included in the final report.Hayata has revealed several grammatical aspects of Manchu, the language spoken in China by the Manchu nationality in the Qing dynasty. He finished two large text databases, i.e., the Manchu version of 金瓶梅 (Golden Lotus) and the Manchu version of 三国志 (Record of the Three Kingdoms). Using these databases, he pointed out that the distinction of first person plural inclusive/exclusive distinction is not based on whether the hearer is included in the speaker's side or not. Rather, the exclusive pronoun refers to the subset of the whole set in question. The speaker is always included in the subset, but the hearer is not. Hayata also studied the distinction of demonstrative pronouns and revealed that the demonstrative ere and tere, which has been said to be equivalent to English this and that, function as both single and plural demonstratives. Concerning the aspects of phonology, Hayata published a paper on the vowel system of Manchu, which is simpler and more convincing than the systems in foregoing studies. Less