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9 Word classes

  • Daniel W. Hieber
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The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America
This chapter is in the book The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America

Abstract

This chapter is an introduction to word classes (parts of speech) in indigenous North American languages. It explains theoretical approaches to the study of word classes (language-particular vs. typological) as well as how word classes are classified (lexical vs. functional classes and open vs. closed classes). The core of the chapter is a survey of the word classes commonly found in North American languages. It covers the lexical categories of noun, verb, adjective, and adverb, and the functional categories of adposition, article, auxiliary, particle, and pronoun. There are however many outstanding questions in word-class research. Two of the most prominent ones - locus of categoriality and the noun-verb distinction - are discussed in detail in the latter half of this chapter. The diversity of North American languages continues to challenge our understanding of the nature of word classes.

Abstract

This chapter is an introduction to word classes (parts of speech) in indigenous North American languages. It explains theoretical approaches to the study of word classes (language-particular vs. typological) as well as how word classes are classified (lexical vs. functional classes and open vs. closed classes). The core of the chapter is a survey of the word classes commonly found in North American languages. It covers the lexical categories of noun, verb, adjective, and adverb, and the functional categories of adposition, article, auxiliary, particle, and pronoun. There are however many outstanding questions in word-class research. Two of the most prominent ones - locus of categoriality and the noun-verb distinction - are discussed in detail in the latter half of this chapter. The diversity of North American languages continues to challenge our understanding of the nature of word classes.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Table of contents VII
  4. List of North American families, languages, and dialects XIII
  5. Maps XLI
  6. I Sounds and sound structure
  7. 1 Acoustic phonetics 1
  8. 2 Articulatory phonetics 39
  9. 3 Tone 63
  10. 4 Segmental phonology 89
  11. 5 Prosodic morphology 109
  12. 6 Word prosody 135
  13. 7 Prosody beyond the word 155
  14. II Words
  15. 8 What is a word? 183
  16. 9 Word classes 205
  17. III Sentences
  18. 10 Syntax within the clause 247
  19. 11 Negatives 267
  20. 12 Questions and requests in North American languages 283
  21. 13 Information structure 305
  22. 14 Clause-combining: Relative clauses 323
  23. 15 Clause combining: Syntax of subordination and complementation 345
  24. 16 Switch-reference and event cohesion 363
  25. IV Discourse
  26. 17 Verbal art 385
  27. 18 Conversation structure 421
  28. V Meaning
  29. 19 Lexicalization and lexical meaning 453
  30. 20 Lexicography 479
  31. 21 Evidentiality 497
  32. 22 Pluractionality and distributivity 511
  33. 23 Mass and count nouns 527
  34. 24 Sense of place: Space, landscape, and orientation 547
  35. 25 A sense of time and world 577
  36. 26 Pragmatics 599
  37. VI Languages over space and time
  38. 27 Languages as dynamic systems: How grammar can emerge 619
  39. 28 Language contact and linguistic areas 647
  40. 29 Language classification 669
  41. 30 Archival-based sociolinguistic variation 689
  42. 31 Community-based sociolinguistic variation 701
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110600926-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Table of contents VII
  4. List of North American families, languages, and dialects XIII
  5. Maps XLI
  6. I Sounds and sound structure
  7. 1 Acoustic phonetics 1
  8. 2 Articulatory phonetics 39
  9. 3 Tone 63
  10. 4 Segmental phonology 89
  11. 5 Prosodic morphology 109
  12. 6 Word prosody 135
  13. 7 Prosody beyond the word 155
  14. II Words
  15. 8 What is a word? 183
  16. 9 Word classes 205
  17. III Sentences
  18. 10 Syntax within the clause 247
  19. 11 Negatives 267
  20. 12 Questions and requests in North American languages 283
  21. 13 Information structure 305
  22. 14 Clause-combining: Relative clauses 323
  23. 15 Clause combining: Syntax of subordination and complementation 345
  24. 16 Switch-reference and event cohesion 363
  25. IV Discourse
  26. 17 Verbal art 385
  27. 18 Conversation structure 421
  28. V Meaning
  29. 19 Lexicalization and lexical meaning 453
  30. 20 Lexicography 479
  31. 21 Evidentiality 497
  32. 22 Pluractionality and distributivity 511
  33. 23 Mass and count nouns 527
  34. 24 Sense of place: Space, landscape, and orientation 547
  35. 25 A sense of time and world 577
  36. 26 Pragmatics 599
  37. VI Languages over space and time
  38. 27 Languages as dynamic systems: How grammar can emerge 619
  39. 28 Language contact and linguistic areas 647
  40. 29 Language classification 669
  41. 30 Archival-based sociolinguistic variation 689
  42. 31 Community-based sociolinguistic variation 701
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