Tongan Ways of Talking

Authors

  • Melenaite Taumoefolau University of Auckland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15286/jps.121.4.327-372

Abstract

In this article I distinguish six different "ways of talking" (after Grace 1981, 1987) in Tongan: kingly, chiefly, polite, self-derogatory, everyday and abusive ways of talking.  I address the problem of words being traditionally ascribed to three speech levels of king, chiefs and commoners by recognising the existence of ways of talking in which the three categories of words are re-distributed. Ways of talking are not just "lexical" but full expressive systems about conventionalised subject matters. They are linguistic resources to be selected for use depending on the speaker's purpose and the social context.

Author Biography

Melenaite Taumoefolau, University of Auckland

Melenaite Taumoefolau received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of Auckland and then joined the University's Centre for Pacific Studies, where she has been teaching Tongan language and Pacific Studies for the past 16 years. She has written on various problems in lexicography based on her dictionary work on the Tongan language. Her wider research interest is in Pacific Studies as an interdisciplinary subject with a focus on Pacific languages and indigenous knowledge.

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Published

2013-01-18

Issue

Vol. 121 No. 4 (2012)

Section

Articles

License

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