Information structure in Moklen

Abstract

This study investigates aspects of information structure in Moklen, an endangered Austronesian language of Southern Thailand. The two objectives were to study the syntactic and informational properties of intonation units and to study the relationship between information status and changes in word-form. With respect to the first objective, Hypothesis 1 held that clausal intonation units would conform to the one-new-idea constraint, while Hypothesis 2 held that variations in argument structure could be accounted for by the given-before-new principle. Regarding changes in word-form, Hypothesis 3 held that use of monosyllabic alternants would correspond to “given” information statuses. To assess these hypotheses, custom-designed picture-based stimuli were used in language elicitation tasks with 24 different Moklen speakers from 13 different Moklen communities across Phang Nga and Phuket provinces. Findings from the Stolen Fish picture book narration task showed that speakers’ intonation units conformed to the one-new-idea constraint. Results from the Transitive Event Picture Sequences task demonstrated that AVO (Agent - Verb - Object) was the preferred argument structure of transitive clauses, meaning that despite givenness conditions variation in argument structure is rare. Findings on changes in word-form showed that word-form alternations were not motivated merely by factors of givenness but instead corresponded to a broader informational shift towards topics. This suggests that minor-syllable elision is motivated at least in part by discourse-conditioned reductions in prominence. Overall, findings from the study reveal features of Moklen morpho-syntax and provide a picture of information structure phenomena in a lesser-described language.