A Comprehensive Comparison of Lexemes in the ... - SIL International

15
(15) shelter N
Kwamera:
Lenakel:
N Tanna:
SW Tanna:
Vaha:
Whitesands:
nim̃ ə kvipəhe
nim̃ ə lətən
makeen
nim̃ ə kvipə
nim̃ ə kvihiə
nim̃ ə entəni
Another illustration is ‘demon-possessed’ in example (16). Kwamera forms
the idiom by combining ‘ghost’ + ‘lives’ + ‘in him’ whereas the other languages
use the combination ‘makes’ + ‘ghost’ + ‘TR.’
(16) demon-possessed, be V/A
Kwamera: yeremhə ramarə irən
Lenakel: ol yarmɨs in
N Tanna: o yərɨmɨs in
SW Tanna: or yahmhə kɨn
Vaha: ol yatɨmhiə kɨn
Whitesands: ol yerm̃ ɨs lan
The base word for forming uncommon or abstract meanings may vary from
language to language, further skewing the percentage of lexical similarity. The
uncommon lexical entry ‘entirely’ in example (17) serves as a good illustration.
Kwamera pam and Whitesands rafwin are both based on another, more common
lexical entry, ‘all.’ The Lenakel, N Tanna, SW Tanna, and Vaha forms for ‘entirely,’
on the other hand, are based on the lexeme for ‘be smooth, be tidy.’
(17) entirely ADV all ADJ smooth, be; tidy, be V/A
Kwamera: pam Kwamera: pam Kwamera: piəpiə
Lenakel: popiə Lenakel: pətɨm Lenakel: opiə
N Tanna: apiəpiə N Tanna: rafin N Tanna: apiə
SW Tanna: piəpiə SW Tanna: fam SW Tanna: piəpiə
Vaha: piəpiə Vaha: fam Vaha: piəpiə
Whitesands: rafwin Whitesands: rafwin Whitesands: piəpiə
2.2 Applications of a comparative analysis
There are a number of benefits of doing a comparative analysis of
languages. In this section I discuss four applications of a comparative analysis of
the languages of Tanna.
2.2.1 Determining degree of similarity between languages
First of all, a comparative analysis enables us to determine the degree of
similarity between the languages of Tanna. Table 2.3 (next page) shows the
degree of lexical similarity between each of the six languages of Tanna included
in this study. The lexemes of SW Tanna and Vaha are 90 percent lexically similar,