John Benjamins Publishing Company
Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree (Algonquian, Algic)
Abstract
Cree and most of the other Algonquian languages show a number of typological unusual and inconsistent features. In this paper it is attempted to make sense of those, by applying internal reconstruction. The features discussed include the structural parallels between NP structure and VP structure, the position of morphological elements with regard to the verbal stem, and the fact that nominal modifiers such as adpositions and demonstratives can appear both before and after the noun. Some of these features are compared to the two Algic languages of California, distantly related to Algonquian, and processes of change in Algonquian are reconstructed, among those a shift from suffixing to prefixing. It is concluded that some of the structural features in Algonquian show similarities with Kutenai and Salish, unrelated languages of the Pacific west coast, and a possible common origin is discussed. Archaeological data also suggest a connection between these groups, and an origin of Algic and Algonquian in the west. Speculations are formulated with regards to the reasons for the reconstructed changes, including possible contacts with Athabaskans migration from the north to the south.
Abstract
Cree and most of the other Algonquian languages show a number of typological unusual and inconsistent features. In this paper it is attempted to make sense of those, by applying internal reconstruction. The features discussed include the structural parallels between NP structure and VP structure, the position of morphological elements with regard to the verbal stem, and the fact that nominal modifiers such as adpositions and demonstratives can appear both before and after the noun. Some of these features are compared to the two Algic languages of California, distantly related to Algonquian, and processes of change in Algonquian are reconstructed, among those a shift from suffixing to prefixing. It is concluded that some of the structural features in Algonquian show similarities with Kutenai and Salish, unrelated languages of the Pacific west coast, and a possible common origin is discussed. Archaeological data also suggest a connection between these groups, and an origin of Algic and Algonquian in the west. Speculations are formulated with regards to the reasons for the reconstructed changes, including possible contacts with Athabaskans migration from the north to the south.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
- On tense and mood in conditional clauses from Early to Late Latin 13
- The fate of the subjunctive in late Middle Persian 57
- The negated imperative in Russian and other Slavic languages 79
- Grammaticalisation of verbs into temporal and modal markers in Australian languages 107
- Aspect and tense in counterfactual main clauses 133
- On non-canonical modal clause junction in Turkic 159
- Reference, aspectuality and modality in ante-preterit (pluperfect) in Romance languages 173
- Subjects and objects with Latin habere and some of its Romance descendants 211
- Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree (Algonquian, Algic) 223
- Typological change in Vedic 261
- On the evolution of verbal aspect in insular Celtic 299
- The anticausative and related categories in the Old Germanic languages 329
- Directionality, case and actionality in Hittite 383
- The case of unaccusatives in Classical Portuguese 411
- Some historical developments of the verb in Neo-Aramaic 425
- Contributors 435
- Index 437
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
- On tense and mood in conditional clauses from Early to Late Latin 13
- The fate of the subjunctive in late Middle Persian 57
- The negated imperative in Russian and other Slavic languages 79
- Grammaticalisation of verbs into temporal and modal markers in Australian languages 107
- Aspect and tense in counterfactual main clauses 133
- On non-canonical modal clause junction in Turkic 159
- Reference, aspectuality and modality in ante-preterit (pluperfect) in Romance languages 173
- Subjects and objects with Latin habere and some of its Romance descendants 211
- Diachrony and typology in the history of Cree (Algonquian, Algic) 223
- Typological change in Vedic 261
- On the evolution of verbal aspect in insular Celtic 299
- The anticausative and related categories in the Old Germanic languages 329
- Directionality, case and actionality in Hittite 383
- The case of unaccusatives in Classical Portuguese 411
- Some historical developments of the verb in Neo-Aramaic 425
- Contributors 435
- Index 437
