Nominalizations in Naskapi: Production and Inflection (original) (raw)
Related papers
2002
This paper explores the morphology, syntax and semantics of nominalization in Kavalan. It is shown that in Kavalan, nominalization and headless relativization, which are both subsumed under the realm of nominalization in the literature, are morphologically, syntactically, and semantically/pragmatically distinct: the former is marked by the nominalizing suffix -an and the latter by the complementizer clitic =ay; the former cannot take accusative noun phrases while the latter can; the former turns its hosts into arguments and the latter into modifiers. Furthermore, it is noted that state predicates and action predicates take different nominalizers: the former is affixed qena-...(-an) and the latter by -an. It is argued that the extra affixal complex qena- can be segmented as a prefix qa- plus an infix -en- and that qa- is likely to be equivalent to the state prefix ka- attested in Formosan languages such as Paiwan, Rukai, Saisiyat, etc., and -en- might correspond to the aspectual/nomi...
Nominalization in Central Alaskan Yup'ik
2019
This article analyzes related lexical and grammatical structures in Central Alaskan Yup'ik (CAY) in terms of the theory of nominalization (Shibatani 2018, this volume) focusing on the relationships between noun formation and grammatical structures paralleling so-called relative clauses in other languages. We first examine the characteristics of nominalizations lexicalized as nouns, showing that various types of nominalizers are employed in the formation of nouns, and then observe that essentially the same formal structure is utilized in relative-clause counterparts in CAY, with the use of some of the nominalizers seen in lexicalized forms (Jacobson 1995). We demonstrate that the differences between derived nouns and relative-clause counterparts are attributable to the different instantiations of the single process of nominalization-lexical nominalization and grammatical nominalization.
Rera is an undocumented, Tibeto-Burman (Bodo-Konyak, Northern Naga-Tangsa) language of North-East India. The purpose of this thesis is to describe lexical nominalization processes in Rera and provide an account of the extended functions of the demonstrative kəra², which is extensively used within most of the Tangsa varieties, and hence this thesis provides the first account of this phenomenon in Rera. Finally, the thesis includes an overview of the core grammatical properties of Rera at the morphosynatctic level. To begin with, Rera exhibits basic argument structures, i.e. noun phrases, pronouns, and determiners, as well as postpositional phrases. In addition, pronouns can be marked for case in an ergative-absolutive case system. In this system, the intransitive subject and the transitive object take absolutive marking, while the transitive subject is marked by the ergative. Clause structures include both verbal and non-verbal clauses. Verbal clauses include intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive clause constructions. Simple sentences can include pre-clause material, such as conjunctions, pre-clause participant reference, vocatives, and exclamations. Complex sentence structures include coordinate clauses, quotative clauses, and subordinate plus matrix clause combinations. The thesis includes an extensive morphosyntactic overview of Rera, which shows various constructional and behavioral syntactic structures of the language. Given this information, this thesis first provides explanations of the lexical nominalization processes followed by the discussion on the extended functions of the demonstrative kəra². This thesis provides a detailed description of lexical nominalization processes in Rera. It discusses the use of the two prefixal nominalizers, i.e. i¹- and keʔ³-, which are used to derive nouns from verbs, attributives, and even nouns. The use of these two nominalizers results in event and participant nominalization. Moreover, the i¹- based nominalization in particular can show speaker stance in narratives and these nominalizations can be marked for tense. Classifiers can also signal a nominalized construction, a type of substantivization strategy. Finally, the investigation of nominalized constructions shows that nominalization can also be achieved by verb stem alternation. At first, verb stem alternation occurs in the presence of the nominalizer i¹-. Then, in some cases, nominalization can be achieved by the direct changing of tones without the nominalizer i¹-. Apart from the nominalization process in Rera, the current work demonstrates the functions of the demonstrative kəra² in two ways, i.e. the non-extended functions and the extended functions. The non-extended functions of the demonstrative kəra² exhibit adnominal functions, where the placement of a noun head referent in relation to the speaker can be indicated by the demonstrative. In addition, the demonstrative can also occur as a demonstrative pronoun substituting for a noun phrase. The extended functions of the demonstrative kəra² show its use as a pre-clausal marker of topical noun phrases, vocatives, and exclamations. It is also used to indicate the nominalized status of relative and adverbial subordinate clauses under substantivization strategy of nominalization, where demonstratives signal nominalized constructions. Finally, conjunction, discourse deictic marker, and speaker stance are examined.
Morphosyntax of Katcha nominals: a Dynamic Syntax account
2016
This thesis presents a new description and theoretical analysis of the nominal system of Katcha (Nilo-Saharan, Kadu), spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The description and analysis are based on a synthesis of data from several sources, including unpublished archive material and original fieldwork. The study is placed in context with a discussion of the demographic, cultural and political background affecting the Katcha linguistic community, a review of the current state of linguistic research on Katcha and a discussion of the ongoing controversy over the place of the Kadu languages within the language phyla of Africa. The morphosyntactic descriptions first focus on the role of nominals as heads, considering phenomena such as classification, agreement and modification. It is shown that Katcha has a unusual system of gender agreement with three agreement classes based on the concepts of Masculine, Feminine and Plural and that the gender of a noun may change between its singular a...