Abstract
This dissertation is a reference grammar of Isbukun Bunun, spoken in the Dongpu village, Hsinyi Township, Nantou County. Isbukun is a language with rich morphology, whereby lexical prefixes and morphological processes are productive. Like most of the Formosan languages, Isbukun is predicate-initial. Case markers are omittable in Isbukun, and the order of arguments is quite important. The order of two free arguments in a canonical declarative clause is basically the actor preceding other arguments. There is a two-way voice system in Isbukun, actor voice (AV) vs. undergoer voice (UV), with the UV sub-divided into three voices (UVP, UVL, and UVC). An AV verb in Isbukun can be transitive or intransitive; a UV verb is never intransitive. This dissertation consists of fourteen chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the Bunun language, population, and the areas where this language is spoken; the background on the Isbukun dialect is also provided. Besides, the aim of this study and the methodology are also stated in chapter 1. Chapter 2 discusses Isbukun phonology and phonological processes. Morphological units and morphological processes like affixation and reduplication are addressed in chapter 3. Chapter 4 introduces word classes in Isbukun. Nominal morphology and verbal morphology are investigated in chapter 5 and chapter 6 respectively. Chapter 7 and chapter 8 deal with valency-adjusting operations, including causativity, reciprocity, and reflexivity. Chapter 9 focuses on noun phrase structures. Syntax of pronouns is discussed in chapter 10. Chapter 11 and chapter 12 inspect clause types and negative clauses respectively. Complex sentences, consisting of complementation, subordination, and conjunction, are examined in Chapter 13. The final chapter concludes this study and also talks about its contributions.