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Exploring finiteness and non-finiteness in Pima Bajo (Uto-Aztecan)

  • Zarina Estrada-Fernández
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Finiteness and Nominalization
This chapter is in the book Finiteness and Nominalization

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a proper characterization of finite and non-finite clauses in Pima Bajo, a Uto-Aztecan language from the Tepiman branch. Our main research questions are, firstly, how to address the topic of finiteness in a language without morphological tense marking? And secondly, what are the relevant features or properties that distinguish finite and non-finite constructions in a language with no obligatory agreement markers? Finiteness and non-finiteness have long been discussed and analyzed in either formal or functional terms, mostly from a Eurocentric perspective. The most traditional notion takes finiteness to be associated with tense-aspect and agreement only, whereas functional approaches, consider finiteness to be a scalar, or gradient, phenomenon not reducible to tense-aspect marking and agreement. This paper analyzes finite and non-finite constructions in Pima Bajo, taking into consideration different morphosyntactic features, among them those that express illocutionary force and those that anchor the event. These features include aspect suffixes, personal pronouns, modals, and scope particles, among others. The analysis of finite and non-finite constructions in Pima Bajo shows that finiteness is a construction and language-particular phenomenon that cannot be reduced to morphological properties of the verb such as person and number agreement or tense marking.

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a proper characterization of finite and non-finite clauses in Pima Bajo, a Uto-Aztecan language from the Tepiman branch. Our main research questions are, firstly, how to address the topic of finiteness in a language without morphological tense marking? And secondly, what are the relevant features or properties that distinguish finite and non-finite constructions in a language with no obligatory agreement markers? Finiteness and non-finiteness have long been discussed and analyzed in either formal or functional terms, mostly from a Eurocentric perspective. The most traditional notion takes finiteness to be associated with tense-aspect and agreement only, whereas functional approaches, consider finiteness to be a scalar, or gradient, phenomenon not reducible to tense-aspect marking and agreement. This paper analyzes finite and non-finite constructions in Pima Bajo, taking into consideration different morphosyntactic features, among them those that express illocutionary force and those that anchor the event. These features include aspect suffixes, personal pronouns, modals, and scope particles, among others. The analysis of finite and non-finite constructions in Pima Bajo shows that finiteness is a construction and language-particular phenomenon that cannot be reduced to morphological properties of the verb such as person and number agreement or tense marking.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Finiteness and nominalization 1
  5. PART I. Finiteness, nominalization and information structure
  6. Finiteness, nominalization, and information structure 13
  7. Exploring finiteness and non-finiteness in Pima Bajo (Uto-Aztecan) 43
  8. PART II. Correlation between continuum of finiteness and scale from dependent to independent clause
  9. Finiteness in Haruai 71
  10. Non-finite chain-medial clauses on the continuum of finiteness in Purepecha 83
  11. PART III. Nominalization structures and their relation to the scale of finiteness
  12. The evolution of grammatical nominalizations in Cahita languages 107
  13. On the tightrope between infinitives and action nouns 141
  14. Referential markers in Oceanic nominalized constructions 171
  15. The role of nominalization in theticity 205
  16. On non-finiteness and canonical imperatives 243
  17. PART IV. Diachronic process: re-finitization and finitization
  18. Nominalization and re-finitization 271
  19. Shifting finiteness in nominalization 297
  20. The Manner converb in Beja (Cushitic) and its refinitization 323
  21. On finitization 345
  22. Language Index 371
  23. Name Index 373
  24. Subject Index 377
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.113.03est

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Finiteness and nominalization 1
  5. PART I. Finiteness, nominalization and information structure
  6. Finiteness, nominalization, and information structure 13
  7. Exploring finiteness and non-finiteness in Pima Bajo (Uto-Aztecan) 43
  8. PART II. Correlation between continuum of finiteness and scale from dependent to independent clause
  9. Finiteness in Haruai 71
  10. Non-finite chain-medial clauses on the continuum of finiteness in Purepecha 83
  11. PART III. Nominalization structures and their relation to the scale of finiteness
  12. The evolution of grammatical nominalizations in Cahita languages 107
  13. On the tightrope between infinitives and action nouns 141
  14. Referential markers in Oceanic nominalized constructions 171
  15. The role of nominalization in theticity 205
  16. On non-finiteness and canonical imperatives 243
  17. PART IV. Diachronic process: re-finitization and finitization
  18. Nominalization and re-finitization 271
  19. Shifting finiteness in nominalization 297
  20. The Manner converb in Beja (Cushitic) and its refinitization 323
  21. On finitization 345
  22. Language Index 371
  23. Name Index 373
  24. Subject Index 377
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