Donna B. Gerdts

The Morphosyntax of Halkomelem Lexical Suffixes

Halkomelem has a hundred lexical suffixes. They are widely used on verbs, where they serve the role of theme or oblique. The commonly accepted view of lexical suffixation is that it does not alter core argument structure, as noun incorporation does, but rather adds an adverbial or adjectival specification to the stem. This paper presents evidence, based on interactions with applicatives, causatives, and reflexives, supporting instead the claim that lexical suffixes can in fact occupy argument positions in initial structure. Lexical suffixation, because it can internalize a core argument, affects argument structure. Thus, lexical suffixation is like compounding noun incorporation and can be ordered with other argument structure‐altering rules.

Mapping Halkomelem grammatical relations

Mapping theory, which adds a level of morphosyntactic argument structure to the theory of relational grammar provides a means for capturing cross-linguistic generalizations heretofore uncharacterizable in classic RG. This paper develops a mapping theory treatment of several voice phenomena with special reference to data from Halkomelem Salish. The mapping analysis is shown to be better than the classic RG analysis in several respects

Beyond expertise: The role of the linguist in language revitalization programs

We linguists see ourselves as knights in shining armor, while Natives see us as a necessarily evil. They are quick to criticize, control, and even block linguistic work. Why this gap? First, there is misunderstanding about what linguists do. Second, linguists cannot help with the most crucial needs of an endangered language. Finally, including outsiders entails a loss of community autonomy. The socio-political agenda can easily override the urgency of the work. Understanding differences in viewpoint can foster an environment of mutual respect, leading to a successful project. The linguist must learn to function as part of a team, and the community must learn to get the most out of their linguist in order to attain the shared goal – the revitalization of the language.

The grammaticalization of Halkomelem 'face' into a dative applicative suffix

In this paper, we make a case for the grammaticalization of the lexical suffix =as ‘face’ in Halkomelem. This suffix grammaticalizes to mark dative applicatives, appearing on half a dozen ditransitive verbs. The morphosyntax of lexical suffix constructions and the general course of the semantic development of lexical suffixes conspire to make this change possible. Although this is the first documented case of a lexical suffix grammaticalizing in this fashion, nouns meaning ‘face’ have been proposed as sources of dative morphology in other languages of the world.

HALKOMELEM DENOMINAL VERB CONSTRUCTIONS

Halkomelem has four denominal verb prefixes: c‐ ‘have, get, make, do’, ɬ- ‘ingest, partake’, txw- ‘buy’, λ̵- ‘go to’. These prefixes attach to nominal bases to form intransitive verbs. The noun to which the prefix attaches is usually unspecified, generic, or nonindividuated and can be doubled with a freestanding nominal of more specific meaning. Syntactically, this nominal is an oblique object, parallel to patients of antipassive or applicative constructions. Denominal verb constructions are widely used, especially for denoting possession. As in the case of denominal verbs in other languages, they can be formed quite freely, as long as the situation allows for an interpretation. A brief look at the comparative Salish evidence suggests that denominal verb morphology originated as lexical verbs that were then subsequently reduced to bound forms.

Introduction: The Form and Function of Denominal Verb Constructions1

This paper is a general and brief introduction to the phenomena explored in this issue—denominal verbs and allied constructions. We outline their morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties and contrast them with other similar phenomena such as noun incorporation and noun stripping. As seen in the papers herein, these properties may differ substantially from language to language, but the various constructions are profitably compared under a common rubric. Thus, these papers give a glimpse of the linguistic variety that is found in languages of North America, while contributing to our typological knowledge of denominal verb constructions, which heretofore have received little attention.

Laryngeal contrasts in first and second language speakers of Hul’q’umi’num’

This paper investigates laryngeal contrasts in first (L1) and second (L2) language speakers of Hul’q’umi’num’, a dialect of Halkomelem (Salish). The language, which lacks a thorough acoustic description of its consonants, is highly endangered with 50-100 native speakers, but has a growing number of L2 speakers. Since the learners come from an English background and are therefore unfamiliar with glottalized consonants, the sounds can prove challenging. This study addresses this issue by examining how L1 and L2 speakers pronounce plain and ejective stops in terms of what acoustic correlates they’re using. Tokens of words read in isolation will be analyzed from L1 and L2 speakers participating in a language course in Duncan, BC. Tokens of both speaker groups will be classified by phoneme and acoustic measures of duration (e.g., voice onset time, closure duration), centre of gravity, and vowel coarticulation (e.g., spectral tilt, F0, rise time) will be made. The results of the two groups will be compared with statistical analysis, and the findings will be used to create guidelines to assess future learners’ and teach pronunciation. The findings will also contribute to a broader understanding of how Hul’q’umi’num’ consonants fit into voicing and ejective typology.This paper investigates laryngeal contrasts in first (L1) and second (L2) language speakers of Hul’q’umi’num’, a dialect of Halkomelem (Salish). The language, which lacks a thorough acoustic description of its consonants, is highly endangered with 50-100 native speakers, but has a growing number of L2 speakers. Since the learners come from an English background and are therefore unfamiliar with glottalized consonants, the sounds can prove challenging. This study addresses this issue by examining how L1 and L2 speakers pronounce plain and ejective stops in terms of what acoustic correlates they’re using. Tokens of words read in isolation will be analyzed from L1 and L2 speakers participating in a language course in Duncan, BC. Tokens of both speaker groups will be classified by phoneme and acoustic measures of duration (e.g., voice onset time, closure duration), centre of gravity, and vowel coarticulation (e.g., spectral tilt, F0, rise time) will be made. The results of the two groups will be compared with...

Indigenous Linguists: Bringing Research into Language Revitalization1

Research on the languages of the Americas has flourished over the past century, even while most of them have diminished in numbers of speakers. With the recognition of the importance of language and identity to health and well-being, many communities are implementing strategies to restore and revitalize their languages. Linguistics provides useful tools for documenting and revitalizing languages, and many indigenous language specialists are becoming linguists in order to serve their communities better. This essay conveys some observations from several indigenous scholars about their career paths in linguistics.

The Contribution of Research on the Languages of the Americas to the Field of Linguistics1

Over the past 100 years, research on the indigenous languages of the Americas, much of it published in the pages of the International Journal of American Linguistics, has had a profound influence on every aspect of the field of linguistics. In this special centenary issue of IJAL, we begin with a brief survey of the impact Americanist studies have had on linguistics, with an emphasis on work published in our Journal, followed by five invited contributions examining in depth the past, present, and future of Americanist linguistics in specific sub-disciplines of linguistics.

A Closer Look At Transitive Marking

This chapter discusses various combinations of applicative suffixes with other suffixes. It focuses on the suffixes that can occur both before and after the applicative suffixes. The chapter also discusses reflexive and reciprocal suffixes; causative and non-control suffixes; lexical suffixes; and, the indefinite object suffix. It then turns to the discussion of two co-occurring applicative suffixes. The two-way typology leads to certain expectations regarding the co-occurrence of applicatives with other suffixes. For example, one expects to see relational, and not redirective, suffixes following intransitive suffixes. The chapter concludes that many Salish suffixes, including reflexives, reciprocals, lexical suffixes, causatives, and applicatives, are compositional in nature. This is not to imply that all Salish verb morphology is compositional. Some suffixes appear only once per verb and thus are best treated as templatic. Keywords:applicative suffixes; indefinite object suffix; lexical suffixes; non-control suffixes; reciprocal suffixes; Salish