Siberian Yupik Eskimo

Siberian Yupik Eskimo PDF

Author: Willem Joseph de Reuse

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13:

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The study provides a description of the verbal derivational suffixation, postinflectional derivation, enclitics, and particles of the Central Siberian Yupik Eskimo language as spoken on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska and on the coast of Chukotka, in the Soviet Union. It also shows how these elements participate in a network of four tightly-knit grammatical susbsystems (verbal derivational suffixation; discourse enclitics; inflectional verbs moods; and adverbial and conjunctional particles borrowed from Chukchi, a neighboring Paleo-Siberian language), presents implications of the relationships among these subsystems for the theory of autolexical syntax and the theory of language change (particularly concerning contact-induced morphological and syntactic change in a polysynthetic language), and documents the history and sociolinguistics of grammatical and lexical influence of Chukchi on the Eskimo and Bering Sea area. (MSE)

The Languages of Native North America

The Languages of Native North America PDF

Author: Marianne Mithun

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2001-06-07

Total Pages: 800

ISBN-13: 1107392802

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This book provides an authoritative survey of the several hundred languages indigenous to North America. These languages show tremendous genetic and typological diversity, and offer numerous challenges to current linguistic theory. Part I of the book provides an overview of structural features of particular interest, concentrating on those that are cross-linguistically unusual or unusually well developed. These include syllable structure, vowel and consonant harmony, tone, and sound symbolism; polysynthesis, the nature of roots and affixes, incorporation, and morpheme order; case; grammatical distinctions of number, gender, shape, control, location, means, manner, time, empathy, and evidence; and distinctions between nouns and verbs, predicates and arguments, and simple and complex sentences; and special speech styles. Part II catalogues the languages by family, listing the location of each language, its genetic affiliation, number of speakers, major published literature, and structural highlights. Finally, there is a catalogue of languages that have evolved in contact situations.

Variations on Polysynthesis

Variations on Polysynthesis PDF

Author: Marc-Antoine Mahieu

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9027206678

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This work is comprised of a set of papers focussing on the extreme polysynthetic nature of the Eskaleut languages which are spoken over the vast area stretching from Far Eastern Siberia, on through the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and Canada, as far as Greenland. The aim of the book is to situate the Eskaleut languages typologically in general linguistic terms, particularly with regard to polysynthesis. The degree of variation from more to less polysynthesis is evaluated within Eskaleut (Inuit-Yupik vs. Aleut), even in previously insufficiently explored domains such as pragmatics and use in context – including language contact and learning situations – and over typologically related language families such as Athabascan, Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Iroquoian, Uralic, and Wakashan.

Syntactic Analysis and Description

Syntactic Analysis and Description PDF

Author: David Lockwood

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2005-05-01

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 1441162569

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This book is designed to teach undergraduate and beginning graduate students how to understand, analyse and describe syntactic phenomena in different languages. The book covers every aspect of syntax from the basics to more specialised topics, such as clitics which have grammatical importance but cannot be used in isolation, and negation, in which a construction contradicts the meaning of a sentence. The approach taken combines concepts from different theoretical schools, which view syntax differently. These include M. A. K. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics, the stratificational school advocated by Sydney Lamb, and Kenneth L. Pike's tagmemic model. The emphasis of the book is on syntactic structures rather than linguistic meaning, and the book stresses the difference between a well-formed sentence and a meaningful one. The final chapter brings these two aspects together, to show the connections between syntax and semology. Each chapter concludes with exercises from a diverse range of languages and a list of major technical terms. The book also includes a glossary as an essential resource for students approaching this difficult subject for the first time.

Language Contact in the Arctic

Language Contact in the Arctic PDF

Author: Ernst Hakon Jahr

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-06-03

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 3110813300

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TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

Studies in Evidentiality

Studies in Evidentiality PDF

Author: Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2003-02-28

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9027296855

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In a number of languages, the speaker must specify the evidence for every statement whether seen, or heard, or inferred from indirect evidence, or learnt from someone else. This grammatical category, referring to information source, is called ‘evidentiality’. Evidentiality systems differ in how complex they are: some distinguish just two terms (eyewitness and noneyewitness, or reported and non-reported), while others have six (or even more) terms. Evidentiality is a category in its own right, and not a subtype of epistemic or some other modality, or of tense-aspect. The introductory chapter sets out cross-linguistic parameters for studying evidentiality. It is followed by twelve chapters which deal with typologically different languages from various parts of the world: Shipibo-Conibo, Jarawara, Tariana and Myky from South America; West Greenlandic Eskimo; Western Apache and Eastern Pomo from North America; Qiang (Tibeto-Burman); Yukaghir (Siberian isolate); Turkic languages; languages of the Balkans; and Abkhaz (Northwest Caucasian). The final chapter summarises some of the recurrent patterns.

A typology of questions in Northeast Asia and beyond

A typology of questions in Northeast Asia and beyond PDF

Author: Andreas Hölzl

Publisher: Language Science Press

Published: 2018-08-29

Total Pages: 543

ISBN-13: 3961101027

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This study investigates the distribution of linguistic and specifically structural diversity in Northeast Asia (NEA), defined as the region north of the Yellow River and east of the Yenisei. In particular, it analyzes what is called the grammar of questions (GQ), i.e., those aspects of any given language that are specialized for asking questions or regularly combine with these. The bulk of the study is a bottom-up description and comparison of GQs in the languages of NEA. The addition of the phrase and beyond to the title of this study serves two purposes. First, languages such as Turkish and Chuvash are included, despite the fact that they are spoken outside of NEA, since they have ties to (or even originated in) the region. Second, despite its focus on one area, the typology is intended to be applicable to other languages as well. Therefore, it makes extensive use of data from languages outside of NEA. The restriction to one category is necessary for reasons of space and clarity, and the process of zooming in on one region allows a higher resolution and historical accuracy than is usually the case in linguistic typology. The discussion mentions over 450 languages and dialects from NEA and beyond and gives about 900 glossed examples. The aim is to achieve both a cross-linguistically plausible typology and a maximal resolution of the linguistic diversity of Northeast Asia.