Zum Hauptinhalt springen
Präsentiert durch Paradigm Publishing Services

John Benjamins Publishing Company

Unsere Partnerseite besuchen Alle unsere Bücher ansehen
Kapitel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

Determining the semantics of Inuktitut postbases

  • und

Abstract

This paper examines a number of properties of Inuktitut postbases, which are affixal morphemes that appear between the root and inflection. These morphemes are the source of polysynthesis in Inuktitut, since they allow the word to expand in principle indefinitely. A number of authors have pointed out that these elements are quite abstract in meaning. We argue that this property stems from the fact that they are all functional morphemes (Harley and Noyer 2000), i.e., grammatical elements. Their ordering is based on hierarchical relations which are determined by universals (Fortescue 1980; Cinque 1999). We show that both the affixal nature and abstract semantics of these elements have independent sources and result from general properties of the syntax, not from individual and idiosyncratic lexical specification.

Abstract

This paper examines a number of properties of Inuktitut postbases, which are affixal morphemes that appear between the root and inflection. These morphemes are the source of polysynthesis in Inuktitut, since they allow the word to expand in principle indefinitely. A number of authors have pointed out that these elements are quite abstract in meaning. We argue that this property stems from the fact that they are all functional morphemes (Harley and Noyer 2000), i.e., grammatical elements. Their ordering is based on hierarchical relations which are determined by universals (Fortescue 1980; Cinque 1999). We show that both the affixal nature and abstract semantics of these elements have independent sources and result from general properties of the syntax, not from individual and idiosyncratic lexical specification.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Part I. Polysynthesis
  5. Polysynthesis in the Arctic 3
  6. Polysynthesis as a typological feature 19
  7. Analytic vs. synthetic verbal constructions in Chukchi and West Greenlandic 35
  8. Lexical polysynthesis 51
  9. How synchronic is synchronic analysis? 65
  10. Comparative constructions in Central Alaskan Yupik 81
  11. Part II. Around the verb
  12. The efficacy of anaphoricity in Aleut 97
  13. Objective conjugations in Eskaleut and Uralic 115
  14. Complex verb formation revisited 135
  15. Determining the semantics of Inuktitut postbases 149
  16. The marking of past time in Kalaallisut, the Greenlandic language 171
  17. Part III. Discourses and contacts
  18. Tracking topics 185
  19. Arguments and information management in Inuktitut 201
  20. Space and structure in Greenlandic oral tradition 215
  21. Grammatical structures in Greenlandic as found in texts written by young Greenlanders at the turn of the millennium 231
  22. Chat – New rooms for language contact 249
  23. Seward Peninsula Inupiaq and language contact around Bering Strait 261
  24. Typological constraints on code mixing in Inuktitut–English bilingual adults 273
  25. Index of languages 307
  26. Index of subjects 309
Variations on Polysynthesis
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Variations on Polysynthesis
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.86.10det

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Part I. Polysynthesis
  5. Polysynthesis in the Arctic 3
  6. Polysynthesis as a typological feature 19
  7. Analytic vs. synthetic verbal constructions in Chukchi and West Greenlandic 35
  8. Lexical polysynthesis 51
  9. How synchronic is synchronic analysis? 65
  10. Comparative constructions in Central Alaskan Yupik 81
  11. Part II. Around the verb
  12. The efficacy of anaphoricity in Aleut 97
  13. Objective conjugations in Eskaleut and Uralic 115
  14. Complex verb formation revisited 135
  15. Determining the semantics of Inuktitut postbases 149
  16. The marking of past time in Kalaallisut, the Greenlandic language 171
  17. Part III. Discourses and contacts
  18. Tracking topics 185
  19. Arguments and information management in Inuktitut 201
  20. Space and structure in Greenlandic oral tradition 215
  21. Grammatical structures in Greenlandic as found in texts written by young Greenlanders at the turn of the millennium 231
  22. Chat – New rooms for language contact 249
  23. Seward Peninsula Inupiaq and language contact around Bering Strait 261
  24. Typological constraints on code mixing in Inuktitut–English bilingual adults 273
  25. Index of languages 307
  26. Index of subjects 309
Heruntergeladen am 18.4.2026 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/tsl.86.10det/html
Button zum nach oben scrollen