Marian Klamer Bücher

The series builds an extensive collection of high quality descriptions of languages around the world. Each volume offers a comprehensive grammatical description of a single language together with fully analyzed sample texts and, if appropriate, a word list and other relevant information which is available on the language in question. There are no restrictions as to language family or area, and although special attention is paid to hitherto undescribed languages, new and valuable treatments of better known languages are also included. No theoretical model is imposed on the authors; the only criterion is a high standard of scientific quality. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert.

Teiwa is a non-Austronesian ('Papuan') language spoken on Pantar island in eastern Indonesia, with around 4,000 speakers and is highly endangered. The Alor-Pantar archipelago's non-Austronesian languages share clear relationships, evidenced by cognates and similar pronominal paradigms, yet their genetic ties to other Papuan languages are debated. Situated about 1,000 km from their presumed Papuan counterparts on New Guinea, the Alor-Pantar languages represent the most westerly Papuan outliers. This grammar provides a comprehensive description of Teiwa, structured as a reference work. It begins with an introduction to the language, its speakers, and the linguistic context of Alor and Pantar, then progresses through phonology and word classes to larger grammatical elements like nominal phrases, serial verb constructions, and clauses. Notably, Teiwa is almost analytic, featuring only one object marking prefix paradigm and a single verbal suffix for realis status. Unique aspects include the presence of uvular fricatives and stops, the absence of trivalent verbs, and no morpho-syntactically encoded embedded clauses. The grammar is based on primary field data collected by the author from 2003 to 2007, and includes glossed and translated Teiwa texts across various genres, along with word lists.