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Volume 49, Issue 2
  • ISSN 0378-4177
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9978
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Abstract

Abstract

This paper offers a description of the multifunctional morpheme in Toba Batak (Austronesian; Sumatra) — as the disjunctor, the interrogative complementizer, and a particle forming -based polarity items — contextualized within the broader semantic and typological literatures on such meaning expressions. I also observe a puzzle regarding its form: the form diverges substantially from its functional equivalent, , as described in H. N. Van der Tuuk’s pioneering grammar of Toba Batak (Van der Tuuk 1864–1867). I argue that consideration of this historical change supports the analysis of these various uses of as a case of functional polysemy, reflecting a common conceptual core.

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2025-02-13
2026-02-07

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Toba Batak manang
Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation “Foundations of Language” 49, 478 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.24067.erl
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.24067.erl
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.24067.erl
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): disjunction; indefinites; interrogatives; polysemy; sound change; Toba Batak

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