Doris L. Payne

The pragmatics of word order : typological dimensions of verb initial languages

The series is a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. General problems are studied from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Conclusions are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. Special emphasis is given to little-known languages, whose analysis may shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics.

Narrative discontinuity versus continuity in yagua

It appears that in all languages, speakers are motivated to give specific instructions to their hearers about how to integrate incoming information into the mental representation the hearer is currently building. In narrative, speakers’ instructions include whether to integrate eventive information as part of the main event line, or whether to integrate it as background to the main event line. Such instructions are necessary because, depending on the speakers goals, semantic events are not always to be integrated as part of the main event line; thus, the speaker cannot rely on sheer communication of eventive versus noneventive information to be a sufficient clue of how to integrate incoming information. In part, Yagua speakers use the second position morpheme jiita to indicate that information should be integrated as part of the main event line. However, a complete analysis of this morpheme leads to the conclusion that its overall meaning is that the information it is attached to is mildly or strongly di...

Nominal Classification in the North West Amazon: Issues in Areal Diffusion and Typological Characterization

Nominal classification systems are quite widespread in Amazonia. However, their existence was generally unknown to typologists prior to the late 1980s. For example, the works of Denny (1976), Greenberg (1977), Allan (1977), and Dixon (1986) are essentially silent about South America. Perhaps the earliest systematic descriptions that used terms like “classifier” or “noun classification” are Gomez-Imbert (1982) and Payne (1986), though the raw morphological material of Amazonian classification systems was certainly reflected in a variety of earlier works (e.g., Hart 1963, who referred to “shape morphemes” in the Peruvian language Amarakaeri; Key 1967 on Cayuvava of Bolivia; Peeke 1973 on Waorani of Ecuador; and Landaburu 1979 on Andoke of Colombia). 1 Payne (1987), followed by Derbyshire and Payne (1990), provided a first overview of North West Amazonian nominal classification systems. A number of descriptions have been published since (e.g., Barnes 1990, Aikhenvald 1994; 1996, Aikhenvald and Green 1998, Seifart 2002, and Weber 2002), but many systems of the region remain unor underdescribed. 2 The papers in this volume explore nominal classification in languages spoken in the North West Amazon, where the Putumayo, Caqueta, and Vaupes river basins approach the Amazon River and where the borders of Colombia, Brazil, and Peru meet (see figure 1). The languages come from the Witotoan, Peba-Yaguan, Arawak, and Eastern Tucanoan families. 3

Source of the Yagua Nominal Classification System

The Yagua (Peba‐Yaguan) classifier system shows a number of structural isomorphisms with Bora‐Witotoan classifier systems. This is seen in the use of classifiers to derive new nouns from a variety of root types, and in what at first glance may appear to be agreement functions in some contexts. In both families, classifiers are required in numeral and demonstrative structures, and have similar discourse functions. However, there is actually little or no evidence that Yagua or Bora‐Witotoan languages have borrowed classifier morphemes from each other. Internal to Yagua, it is possible that classifiers arose via a compounding process. The available historical records show that Yagua and Bora‐Witotoan speakers have traversed the same geographic territory, leading us to conclude that there has been at least structural influence across language families.

Noun classification in the Western Amazon

Abstract Based on morphosyntactic and typological characteristics, Dixon (1986) differentiates between noun class and noun classification systems. Data from the western Amazon area suggest that this dichotomy is an oversimplification. Moving roughly from north to south, Western Amazonian languages fall into four groups: those with (1) systems evidencing a mixture of Dixons noun class and classification features; (2) no noun classification features; (3) a mixture of Dixons noun class and classification features, plus verbal incorporation of classifiers; and (4) dominantly verbal incorporation. Furthermore, classifiers in at least groups (1) and (3) have both classic inflectional and derivational characteristics. The shared features in groups (1) and (3) may be a result of language contact, whereas the shared features in groups (3) and (4) are independent developments.

Nouns and Nominals

This chapter discusses nouns and other word classes that function syntactically as nominals. It gives the defining morphological and syntactic characteristics of nouns, and discusses nominal subclasses determined by possession. In Panare some semantically non-prototypical nouns do exhibit some morphology that differentiates them from more prototypical nouns. These criteria will be important in arguing for and against certain syntactic analyses, and therefore described in some detail. The chapter discusses four morphological properties and four syntactic properties specific to the grammar of Panare which identify lexical items in context as nominal versus nonnominal. It also describes genitive classifiers, which also function as nominals. The chapter outlines the systems of pronouns and demonstratives. The Panare pronoun/demonstrative system distinguishes person and number, and for third persons animacy, spatial deixis and visibility/invisibility. Keywords:morphological characteristics; nominals; nouns; Panare; syntactic characteristics

Nominal Derivation and “Possessive” Denominalization

This chapter describes a set of processes involve nominalization, producing action nominalizations, participant nominalizations of various sorts, and abstract noun formations. It focuses on three denominalizers that all relate to the idea of “ownership”. There are three suffixes which occur exclusively on nominal roots to derive verbs concerned with ownership, i.e., possession or deprivation of an object or an attribute. Some derivational affixes applied to noun roots result in nouns with substantial meaning differences. In Panare, as in other Cariban languages, the issue of nominalization is salient for at least three reasons. First, there are many suffixal and ambifixal nominalizers which may occur on verb, ad-form and adverb roots and stems. Second, the use of these nominalized forms in discourse is very frequent. Third, some (but not all) nominalizers synchronically have multiple functions: they may derive nouns, but many have also been reanalyzed as Tense-Aspect-Mode affixes. Keywords:Cariban languages; nominalization; noun; Panare; suffixes; verbs

Phonology and Morphophonology

The orthography used in Panare examples in the work is a slightly modified form of the orthography adopted by the Venezuelan Ministry of Education, Department of Indigenous Affairs, for educational materials in Panare. This chapter illustrates several categories of phonological and morphophonological processes. Word-level primary stress is normally on the final syllable but in some cases is lexically marked elsewhere. Grammatical stress may override lexical stress. Additionally, secondary stress affects heavy syllables and may in an alternating pattern in sequences of light syllables. The process of syllable reduction, first noted by Mattei Muller (1981) is sensitive to stress and vowel quality. Various phonological processes are described, first those that affect consonants, then those that affect vowels. This analysis explains certain facts that would simply be classified as irregularities from a purely synchronic perspective. Finally, a few of the common “normal-speech” contractions are described. Keywords:grammatical stress; morphophonological processes; orthography; Panare; phonological processes; syllable reduction; vowel quality

A Carib Grammar and Dictionary (review)

Mattina, Anthony 1987 Colville-Okanagan Dictionary. University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics 5. Missoula: Department of Anthropology, University of Montana. Nicodemus, Lawrence 1973 The Coeur d’Alene Language Project: Summary of Objectives and

Approaches to Discourse

Preface and Acknowledgments. Part I: The Scope of Discourse Analysis. 1. Overview. 2. Definitions of Discourse. Part II: Approaches to Discourse Analysis. 3. Speech Act Theory. 4. Interactional Sociolinguists. 5. The Ethnography of Communication. 6. Pragmatics. 7. Conversation Analysis. 8. Variation Analysis. Part III: Conclusion. 9. Structure and Function. 10. Text and Context. 11. Discourse and Communication. 12. Conclusion: Language as Social Interaction. Appendix 1: Collecting Data. Appendix 2: Transcription Conventions. Appendix 3: Sample Data. Bibliography. Index