Morpheme Order and Semantic Scope: Word Formation in the Athapaskan Verb

by Keren Rice

• ISBN13: 9780521024501
• ISBN10: 0521024501
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-09
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Athapaskan languages are well known for their intricate morphology, in particular the complexity of their verbs. The significance of these languages for linguistic theory is widely acknowledged. In this book, Keren Rice offers a rich typological survey of morpheme ordering in Athapaskan verbs, with implications for both synchronic grammar and language change. She shows that verb structure is in fact widely predictable across Athapaskan languages if appropriate syntactic factors and an overarching principle of semantic scope are taken into account. The presentation also includes a detailed study of argument and aspectual systems. This landmark volume is the first major comparative study of its type for the Athapaskan language family, combining descriptive depth with a contemporary theoretical perspective. Clear and insightful, it will be welcomed by Athapaskanists, typologists, historical and theoretical linguists alike.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: beginning the journey

Part I. First Steps: 2. Introducing the problem

3. Global uniformity and local variability: a possible account

Part II. The Lexical Terms: 4. First stop: introducing the lexical items

5. A brief side trip: the position of the verb stem

6. Ordering of the lexical items

7. Voice/valence

8. Summary: lexical items

Part III. The Functional Items: 9. An introduction to the functional elements

10. Pronominals

11. The aspect system

12. Qualifiers and their ordering

13. On the ordering of functional items

Part IV. A View of the Lexicon: 14. The scopal hypothesis and simplifying the lexicon

15. Evidence from the lexicon

Part V. The End of the Journey: 16. Looking back, looking ahead

Part VI. Appendices: Appendix 1. Templates and affix ordering

Appendix 2. The languages

Appendix 3. Summary of constraints and language differences

Notes

References

Indexes.