Department of Linguistics University of Hawai'i at Manoa 1890 East-West Road Honolulu, HI 96822 Office: Moore 582 Office phone: (808)956-5985 Department fax:(808)956-9166 e-mail: yotsuka@hawaii.edu Yuko Otsuka Associate Professor of Lingusitics Affiliate Faculty, Center for Pacific Islands Studies Book Review Editor, Language Documentation and Conservation Research My main research interests are syntactic theory (the Minimalist Program) and Austronesian languages, especially Polynesian. The focus of my work has been ergativity and other sytnactic phenomena in Tongan. I am also interested in language maintenance, especially in Polynesia and in Polyneisan diasporic communities. Download my D.Phil. Thesis: Ergativity in Tongan Recent Courses Spring 2013 Morphology Grammar Linguistics 420 Linguistics 622 Fall 2012 Polynesian language family Linguistics 445/640G Spring 2012 Morphology Areal linguistics: Polynesian Linguistics 420 Linguistics 770 Fall 2011 Grammar Issues in Austronesian sytnax Linguisitics 622 Linguistics 750X Spring 2011 Polynesian language family Introduction to the Minimalist Program Linguistics 445/640G LInguistics 750X Fall 2010 Morphology Professional development in linguistics Linguistics 420 Linguistics 750G Recent Publications Journal articles 2011 PRO and null SE: Case, tense, and empty categories in Tongan. Syntax 14(3): 265-296. 2010 NP ellipsis in Tongan: Is syntactic ergativity real? Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 28(2): 315-342. 2007a Fostering the growth of budding community initiatives: The role of linguists in Tokelauan maintenance in Hawai‘i. Language Documentation and Conservation 1(2): 240-256. (With Andrew Wong.) 2007b Making a case for Tongan as an endangered language. The Contemporary Pacific 19(2): 446-73. 2006a Niuean and Eastern Polynesian: A view from syntax. Oceanic Linguistics.45: 429-56. 2006b The phonetics and phonology of “definitive accent” in Tongan. Oceanic Linguistics 45: 33-53. (With Victoria Anderson.) 2001 Empty Categories in Tuvaluan: NP-trace, PRO, pro, or variable? A review of Tuvaluan, by Niko Besnier. Oceanic Linguistics 40: 342-365.   Book chapters 2011 Neither accusative nor ergative: An alternative analysis of case in Eastern Polynesian. In Claire Moyse-Faurie and Joachim Sabel (eds.), Topics in Oceanic morphosyntax, pp.289-318.  Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 2010 Genitive Relative Constructions and Agentless Transitives in Tongan. In Raph Mercado, Eric Potsdam, Joey Sabbagh, and Lisa Travis (eds.), Austronesian and theoretical linguistics, pp.117-140. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 2009 On the Eastern Polynesian 'direct object' marker i' In Alexander Adelaar and Andrew Pawley (eds.), Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift for Robert Blust, pp.247-266. Canberra: Pacific Lingusitics 2006          Syntactic ergativity in Tongan: Resumptive pronouns revisited. In, Alana Johns, Diane Massam, and Juvenal Ndayiragije (eds.), Ergativity: Emerging issues, pp. 79-107. Dordrecht: Springer 2005a Two passive-like constructions in Tongan. In I Wayan Arca and Malcolm Ross (eds.), The many faces in Austronesian voice system, pp.119-35. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 2005b Scrambling and Information Focus: VSO-VOS Alternation in Tongan. In Joachim Sabel and Mamoru Saito (eds.), The free word order phenomenon: Its syntactic sources and diversity, pp. 243-279. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 2005c Two derivations of VSO: A comparative study of Niuean and Tongan. In Andrew Carnie, Sheila Dooley-Collberg, and Heidi Harley (eds.), Verb first: On the syntax of verb initial languages, pp.65-90. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Conference Proceedings 2005       Syntax and/or pragmatics: PP-scrambling in Tongan and the thematic hierarchy. In Jeffrey    Heinz and Dimitrios Ntelitheos (eds.), Proceedings of AFLA 12, UCLA Working Papers in Linguistics, pp.343-357. 2004 Consequential ‘o-clauses and licensing of a null anaphor. In Hans-MartinGärtner, Paul Law, and Joachim Sabel (eds.), Proceedings of AFLA 11, pp.203-217. Berlin: ZAS 2003a VOS in Tongan: Passive or scrambling? In Anastasia Riehl and Thess Savella (eds.), Proceedings of AFLA9, Cornell Working Papers in Linguistics 19, pp.122-136. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications. 2003b Phonetic correlates of length, stress and definitive accent in Tongan. In Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, pp. 2047–2050. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (with Victoria Anderson) 2002 Syntactic ergativity and the nature of pronouns in Tongan. In Andrea Rackowski and Norvin Richards (eds.), Proceedings of AFLA8, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 44, pp.197-210. Cambridge, Mass.: MITWPL. Refereed Conference Presentations 2012a Verb serialization in Tongan and why it is not raising or control. Presented at the 19th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. June 2012. Academia Sinica, Taiwan. 2012b Lexical vs. syntactic causativization: A case of Amis causative pa-. Presented at the 19th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. June 2012. Academia Sinica, Taiwan. (With Cheng-Chuen Kuo) 2009 Inherent Case and symmetric voice in Eastern Polynesian. Presented at the 16th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. May 2009. UC Santa Cruz. 2007a Genitive relative constructions and agentless transitives in Tongan. Presented at the 14th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. May 2007. McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 2007b On the origin of the Eastern Polynesian “direct object” marker i. Presented at the 7th International Conference on Oceanic Linguistics. July 2007. Université de Nouvelle- Calédonie, Nouméa, New Caledonia. 2005 Syntax and/or pragmatics: PP-scrambling in Tongan and the thematic hierarchy. Presented at the 12th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. May 2005. UCLA. 2004 Consequential ‘o-clauses and licensing of a null anaphor. Presented at the 11th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. April 2004. Centre for General Linguistics, Typology and Universals Research (ZAS), Berlin. 2003a Two coordination patterns in Tongan: Is syntactic ergativity real? Presented at the 10th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. March 2003. University of Hawai‘i. 2003b Complementizers in Niuean and Tongan. Presented at the 10th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. March 2003. University of Hawai‘i. (With Diane Massam) 2003c Two derivations of VSO: A comparative study of Niuean and Tongan. Presented at the Workshop on the Syntax of Verb Initial Languages. February 2003. University of Arizona. 2003d Phonetic correlates of length, stress, and definitive accent in Tongan. Presented at the Fifteenth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. August 2003. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. (With Victoria Anderson) 2002a VOS in Tongan: Passive or scrambling? Presented at the 9th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. May 2002. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 2002b To raise or not to raise: a puzzle in Tongan. Presented at the 5th Conference on Oceanic Linguistics. January 2002. Australian National University, Canberra. 2002c Passive, Pro-drop, and Scrambling in Tongan. Presented at the 9th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics. January 2002. Australian National University, Canberra. 2002d Phonetic correlates of length, stress, and definitive accent in Tongan. Presented at the 9th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. May 2002. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. (With Victoria Anderson) 2002e Durational correlates of referential NPs in Tongan. Presented at the 5th Conference on Oceanic Linguistics. January 2002. Australian National University, Canberra. (With Victoria Anderson) 2002f Syntactic ergativity in Tongan: Resumptive pronouns revisited. Presented at the Workshop on Ergativity. October 2002. University of Toronto. 2001 Syntactic ergativity and the nature of pronouns in Tongan. Presented at the 8th meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association. April 2001. MIT, Cambridge, MA. Students Ph.D. Valerie Guerin (2008). Discovering Mavea: Grammar, texts, and lexicon. Dorinda Tsai-hsiu Liu (2011) Complementation in Three Formosan Languages - Amis, Mayrinax Atayal and Tsou Christopher Baker (2012) A-Class Genitive Subject Effect: A Pragmatic and Discourse Grammar Approach to A- and O- Class Genitive Subject Selection in Hawaiian Akiemi Glenn (2012) Wayfinding in Pacific Linguascapes: Negotiating Tokelau Linguistic Identities in Hawai'i James Hafford, in progress Mary Walworth, in progress Jake Terrel, in progress Fumiko Yamada, in progress MA Maihan Nguyen (2003) Phrase structure and empty categories in Vietnamese. Madonna Perez (2009) The perpetuation of the Chamorro language in Guam: An examination of government policies and Guam’s media. Portfolio Project, Pacific Islands Studies.