Word class classification in Tajio

Abstract

Unlike the “clear-cut distinction” between word classes in European languages, word class classification in Austronesian languages is not always straightforward. In these languages, word class classification on the lexical level may not always correspond to word class classification on the morphosyntactic level. Therefore, approaches based on either level may be misleading. Word class classification at the morphosyntactic level may not be able to explain why some lexemes of the same word class cannot always take the same morphological markers. Based on that fact, this paper adopts approaches that define word class classification on both lexical and morphosyntactic levels. On the lexical level, word classes are defined based on the morphological markers that can be taken by the lexical roots. Morphosyntactically, word classes are determined based on the syntactic distribution of the words. The data shows that with regards to the morphological potential of the lexical roots, Tajio has three types of roots: (a) single-class roots, (b) dual-class roots, and (c) triple-class roots. On the morphosyntactic level, Tajio consists of two major word classes: nouns and verbs. Verbs are further divided into intransitive verbs (dynamic intransitive verbs and statives) and dynamic transitive verbs. The word class analysis applied in this paper, especially on the lexical level (i.e. based on morphological markers) can be developed as a model for defining word classes in other Austronesian languages.