Word class classification in Tajio

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