Chapter 13. Robust argument phrases (DPs) but unruly NPs in Maa
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Doris L. Payne
Abstract
Maa (sometimes referred to as Maasai) discourse and syntax largely require determined phrases. NP is not a robust construction in Maa, partly because ‘noun’ is not highly distinguished morphosyntactically from ‘adjective.’ Either can be a syntactic argument just if preceded by a determiner; ‘ablity to serve as an argument’ does not correspond to a lexical N or NP category. The paper proposes a definition of ‘determiner’, which includes Maa demonstratives and gender+number proclitics. The latter do not signal identifiability, givenness, or referentiality. Gender is not lexical feature of most noun/adjective stems, but is specified by whatever determiner is used. The determiners appear to help hearers cognitively establish a referent based on attributed gender (sometimes at the moment of speech), and make a phrase able to serve as an argument.
Abstract
Maa (sometimes referred to as Maasai) discourse and syntax largely require determined phrases. NP is not a robust construction in Maa, partly because ‘noun’ is not highly distinguished morphosyntactically from ‘adjective.’ Either can be a syntactic argument just if preceded by a determiner; ‘ablity to serve as an argument’ does not correspond to a lexical N or NP category. The paper proposes a definition of ‘determiner’, which includes Maa demonstratives and gender+number proclitics. The latter do not signal identifiability, givenness, or referentiality. Gender is not lexical feature of most noun/adjective stems, but is specified by whatever determiner is used. The determiners appear to help hearers cognitively establish a referent based on attributed gender (sometimes at the moment of speech), and make a phrase able to serve as an argument.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Languages from Europe
- Chapter 2. The Finnish se että initiated expressions 11
- Chapter 3. Emergent complex noun phrases 43
- Chapter 4. The noun phrase as an emergent unit in Finnish 71
- Chapter 5. Noun phrases in other-repetitions 93
- Chapter 6. Asserting no-problemness in Spanish 119
- Chapter 7. Multimodal noun phrases 153
- Chapter 8. Nouns and noun phrases in other-initiated repair in English atypical interaction 179
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Part II. Languages from other parts of the world
- Chapter 9. Multiple nominal expressions in Garrwa conversation 211
- Chapter 10. The pragmatics of ‘light nouns’ in Besemah 237
- Chapter 11. NP clustering in Mandarin conversational interaction 271
- Chapter 12. What can Japanese conversation tell us about ‘NP’? 315
- Chapter 13. Robust argument phrases (DPs) but unruly NPs in Maa 329
- Index 363
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Languages from Europe
- Chapter 2. The Finnish se että initiated expressions 11
- Chapter 3. Emergent complex noun phrases 43
- Chapter 4. The noun phrase as an emergent unit in Finnish 71
- Chapter 5. Noun phrases in other-repetitions 93
- Chapter 6. Asserting no-problemness in Spanish 119
- Chapter 7. Multimodal noun phrases 153
- Chapter 8. Nouns and noun phrases in other-initiated repair in English atypical interaction 179
-
Part II. Languages from other parts of the world
- Chapter 9. Multiple nominal expressions in Garrwa conversation 211
- Chapter 10. The pragmatics of ‘light nouns’ in Besemah 237
- Chapter 11. NP clustering in Mandarin conversational interaction 271
- Chapter 12. What can Japanese conversation tell us about ‘NP’? 315
- Chapter 13. Robust argument phrases (DPs) but unruly NPs in Maa 329
- Index 363
