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Word order in Cherokee: Information structure, thematic structure, and variability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Brian Hsu  and
Benjamin Frey
Brian Hsu*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Benjamin Frey*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Asheville
*
[hsub@email.unc.edu] (Hsu), [bfrey@unca.edu] (Frey)
[hsub@email.unc.edu] (Hsu), [bfrey@unca.edu] (Frey)
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Abstract

Although Cherokee is known to show highly flexible clausal word order, the principles that predict speakers' preferences among possible orders are not extensively described. This article presents a new description of the grammatical properties that predict clausal word order in spoken Cherokee, based on a corpus study of word-order variation. Our results show that the placement of nominal expressions relative to verbs, and the relative order of nominal expressions within a clause, are determined in a probabilistic way by the cumulative interaction of several factors: REFERENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY, CONTRAST, AND THEMATIC ROLE. The findings suggest that thematic properties may have a greater word-order role than generally assumed in languages with nonconfigurational and/or polysynthetic properties.

Keywords

Cherokeeword ordervariabilitycumulativityinformation structurethematic rolescorpus linguistics

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Type
Research Report
Information
Language , Volume 100 , Issue 3 , September 2024 , pp. e124 - e155
Copyright
Copyright © 2024 Linguistic Society of America

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Footnotes

*

Brian Hsu is a specialist in formal linguistics working with the second author to enhance descriptions of Cherokee grammar, with an eye toward pedagogical applications. Ben Frey is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who has worked toward language reclamation in his community and in conjunction with Cherokee Nation and United Keetoowah Band citizens since 2003. He currently teaches the Cherokee language at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and is working to create more pedagogical materials for second language learners of Cherokee.

We are grateful to Jolie Hiers and Erin Humphreys for their assistance in annotation. For helpful discussion at various stages of the work, we thank Raúl Aranovich, David Mora-Marín, Elliott Moreton, Emily Morgan, Katya Pertsova, Caitlin Smith, Jennifer Smith, George Walkden, three anonymous referees, and two editors of Language. Portions of this work were supported by a UNC Institute for the Arts and Humanities Faculty Fellowship. We would like to acknowledge the tireless efforts of language advocates in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee Nation, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. From fluent-speaking elders to adult and child immersion participants, to those diligently attending community language classes, this effort relies on the community. You are doing the work necessary to carry our language into the next generation. ᎢᏨᏰᎵᎡᎵᏤᎭ.

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