In Walman, a language in the Torricelli family spoken in Papua New Guinea, there are two words that have the function of conjoining noun phrases but that have the morphology of transitive verbs, exhibiting subject agreement with the first conjunct and object agreement with the second conjunct. We discuss two interrelated issues concerning these words: (i) Do these words behave syntactically like conjunctions in other languages, in combining with two noun phrases to form a single noun phrase, or are they really just verbs in a serial verb construction?, and (ii) Do these words have a meaning that is closer to a coordinative conjunction like and in English, or do they have a comitative meaning like English with? We show that the evidence on the first of these questions is somewhat contradictory, but that even in cases where the syntactic evidence argues that these verbs do not combine with two noun phrases to form a single noun phrase, they still have a meaning closer to that of and than of with

Some natural languages do not lexically distinguish between modals of possibility and modals of necessity. From the perspective of languages like English, modals in such languages appear to do double duty: they are used both where possibility modals are expected and where necessity modals are expected. The Nez Perce modal suffix o'qa offers an example of this behavior. I offer a simple account of the flexibility of the o'qa modal centered on the absence of scalar implicatures. O'qa is a possibility modal that does not belong to a Horn scale; its use is never associated with a scalar implicature. Accordingly, in an upward-entailing environment, φ-o'qa is appropriate whenever there are accessible φ-worlds, even if indeed all accessible worlds are φ-worlds. In a downward-entailing environment, the flexibility of the o'qa modal is seen no more. Here, neither o'qa nor English possibility modals are associated with scalar implicatures, and the use of o'qa exactly parallels the use of English modals of possibility.

Given that o'qa is a possibility modal that does not contrast with a modal of necessity, just how do you talk about necessities in Nez Perce? Speakers translating into Nez Perce rely on a variety of techniques to paraphrase away expressions of simple necessity. Their strategies highlight an area where Nez Perce and English plausibly differ in the range of propositions they convey. The data cast doubt on any strong form of effability as a language universal.

This article develops a formal semantic and syntactic analysis of distributive numerals in Tlingit, a highly endangered language of Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon. Such numerals enforce a ‘distributive reading’ of the sentence, and thus are one instance of the broader phenomenon of ‘distance distributivity’ (Zimmermann 2002). As in many other languages, a Tlingit sentence containing a distributive numeral can describe two distinct kinds of ‘distributive scenarios’: (i) a scenario where the distribution is over some plural entity (e.g. ‘My sons caught three fish each’), and (ii) one where the distribution is over some plural event (e.g. ‘My sons caught three fish each time’) (Gil 1982, Choe 1987, Zimmermann 2002, Oh 2005). Despite this apparent ambiguity, I put forth a univocal semantics for Tlingit distributive numerals, one whereby they consistently invoke quantification over events. Under this semantics, the ability of distributive numerals to describe both kinds of scenarios in (i) and (ii) is due not to an ambiguity, but instead to the sentences having relatively weak truth conditions. In contrast to prior analyses of distributive numerals and distance distributivity, the proposed semantics does not actually make use of distributive operators, but nevertheless retains a rather conservative picture of the syntax-semantics interface. The analysis can also account for certain locality effects noted for distance distributives in Korean and German (Zimmermann 2002, Oh 2005), as well as an intriguing puzzle regarding distributive numerals and pluractionality in Kaqchikel (Henderson 2011). Finally, I show how the analysis can be extended to the well-known case of English ‘binominal each’.*

The identification of the morphemes and morpheme classes of a language frequently presents difficulties. Some of these involve problems in morphemic theory itself. This is true of two problems in Ocaina, one concerning morphemic segmentation and fusion, and the other concerning morphemic compounding as it distorts morpheme distribution classes. The data are presented and interpreted in §§1–2. The theoretical implications are summarized in §3, where it is pointed out that the interlocking of the lexical and grammatical hierarchies must be distinguished from effects of the interlocking of the lexical and phonological hierarchies.

The reconstruction of genealogical relationships between languages is traditionally performed through lexical comparison and the establishment of regular sound changes. The historical analysis of other aspects of linguistic structure, like syntactic patterns or the function of grammatical elements, is normally understood to depend on a previously established thorough understanding of the genealogical structure of the family. In this article we show that it is possible to reconstruct historical changes in morphosyntactic function without assuming detailed knowledge about the genealogical developments of the languages involved. Even more surprisingly, we are able to accurately reconstruct the genealogical structure of a language family using only a limited amount of morphosyntactic variation.

As a case study, this article focuses on the nonspatial usage of spatial case marking in the Tsezic languages, a subgroup of Nakh-Daghestanian, spoken in the Caucasus. A new semantic-map-like visualization is developed to represent functional differences in case marking between the various Tsezic languages. Using MAXIMUM PARSIMONY, a reconstruction is proposed for the historical development of the case marking, and the same visualization is used to present the reconstructed historical developments in an insightful manner. Besides various new insights regarding the development of Tsezic case marking, the approach used in this article presents a generally applicable method for the reconstruction of morphosyntactic function.

Simplification in structure, and also confluence between the local-language structure and the prestige-language structure, are usually predicted in language death as in pidginization. For a dying Scottish Gaelic dialect, speakers representing a broad proficiency continuum were tested in the two most excessively complex morphological structures the dialect offers, the noun plural and the gerund. The forms supplied by the semi-speakers at the bottom of the proficiency continuum show considerable simplification, as expected, but very much less than in ‘classical’ pidginization; confluence with English is also quite limited. Marked functional differences between this dying dialect and the typical pidgin are invoked to account for the difference in outcome.

This article focuses on the grammatical properties of a Madurese structure in which an argument of a complement clause appears to occur in a nonthematic position in its dominating clause. RAISING-TO-OBJECT (or its analogue in nonderivational theories) has been proposed over the past thirty years or so for the corresponding construction in the closely related Austronesian languages of Balinese, Indonesian/Malay, and Javanese. Close examination of the Madurese data reveals that a proleptic NP analysis, in which the matrix NP is generated in the matrix clause, proves superior to the raising analysis and shares virtually all of the same properties as the parallel English construction (I believe about Marlena that she left for Jakarta on Wednesday). Enumeration of these properties and comparison with both RAISING and COPY RAISING provide the initial step in identifying the hallmarks of each construction and how they might differ typologically.

I investigate patterns of preverbal fronting in Toba Batak, a predicate-initial Austronesian language of northern Sumatra. Contrary to the claims of previous work on the language, I show that multiple constituents can be simultaneously fronted, though only in limited configurations. I argue that the distinct heads C and T are present in Toba Batak, with their common division of labor, but extraction patterns are restricted by the limited means of nominal licensing (abstract Case) in the language. In addition, the features of C and T have the option of being bundled together on a single head, inheriting properties of both C and T and probing together for the joint satisfaction of their probes. This study sheds light on the relationship between western Austronesian voice system languages and the clause periphery in other language families.

This paper proposes principles to revise the strict ‘double articulation’ of standard linguistic theory, and define a class of optional rules of postlexical phonology whose output bears meaning. The class includes prosody-modifying processes of Central Alaskan Yupik Eskimo (CAY)—which, when applied to a word or prosodic phrase, add linguistically significant expressive or other pragmatic meaning. Their postlexical rule status is suggested by their phonological form, their gradience and dependence (in some cases) on above-word prosodic phrasing, and above all by their intricate inter-ordering among the obligatory prosody rules of CAY postlexical phonology. The phonological treatment prescribed by the proposed principles is shown to handle such features naturally and easily, whereas treatments in keeping with strict double articulation do not. The proposed revision of the double articulation principle promises to preserve modularity in a way which simplifies individual grammars, and which makes testable empirical predictions about universal grammar.

This paper provides an analysis of the syntax of Straits Salish, according to which these languages lack a noun/verb contrast at the word level. Main clauses consist of an initial predicate, minimally containing a lexical root, a functional head where valence [± TRANSITIVE:] is marked, and possibly a pronominal suffix marking an internal argument. The predicate is followed by a second position clitic string of inflectional elements, the subject pronoun and tense. Determiner phrases are derived subordinate structures, adjuncts to the main clause. We present evidence against a copular verb analysis as further substantiation of the lack of a noun/verb distinction at the lexical level. We identify certain properties of quantified contexts in Straits Salish which provide important evidence for our analysis of argument structure.

This article explores the idea that obviation systems like those found in the Algonquian languages are a less parochial solution to syntactic organization than is generally thought. Some simple constraints on obviation provide interesting analyses of key facts in Algonquian. Once certain language-particular differences are recognized, a number of syntactic problems in two unrelated languages, Tzotzil (Mayan) and Chamorro (Western Austronesian), yield easily to solutions based on obviation, despite the absence of obviative-based morphology in either language. Hierarchy alignment constraints play a central role in the analysis. The account is articulated within optimality theory, which provides an appropriate framework for representing the fact that these languages must select from their resources for expressing transitive propositions the optimal mode of expression for each such proposition.

This article argues that morpheme syncretism can arise as a result of structural and functional changes that display features of a grammaticalization process. Our claim is based on a case study analyzing the functional evolution of -jez, the third singular possessive agreement morpheme of Udmurt, which appears to function as a nominalizer, to mark contrast, to function as a kind of definite determiner, and to mark accusative case. We argue that these seemingly different roles are instantiations of three major functions: cross-referencing a possessor, encoding partitivity, and marking specific objects, which, in turn, represent subsequent stages of a grammaticalization path. Evidence for the hypothesized changes is provided by parallel developments in the sister languages, primarily Hungarian, the sister language with the longest-documented history.

Negative structures are generally assumed to be maximally accessible for verbal predicates, as evidenced by the requirement in many languages that nonverbal predicates be supported by a verb when negated. Indeed, the term ‘standard negation’ is used to refer to the negation of a declarative verbal clause, and yet this is at best highly restricted in Kusunda. We discuss the mood and nominalizing strategies that are employed to escape from the restrictions imposed by such a system.

This study offers a theory of agreement within the framework of lexical-functional grammar. In this theory, verbal affixes may mark either grammatical or anaphoric agreement. In grammatical agreement, a NP bears an argument relation to the verb, while the verbal affix expresses redundantly the person, number, and gender class of the NP. In anaphoric agreement, the verbal affix is an incorporated pronominal argument of the verb, and the coreferential NP has a non-argument function—either as an adjunct of the pronominal argument, or as a topic or focus of the clause or discourse structure. Grammatical topics have syntactic properties deriving from a theory of discourse functions. The minimal difference between an incorporated pronoun and a grammatical agreement marker is the presence or absence of a semantic attribute in the lexical content of the affix. Likewise, the minimal difference between a subject NP and a topic NP is the function, rather than the phrase structure attributes of dominance, precedence, and category. This theory offers an explanation for the close relation between grammatical and anaphoric agreement, as well as clear criteria for distinguishing anaphoric and grammatical agreement by their discourse, syntactic, and even phonological effects. The Chicheŵa language (Bantu) has both grammatical agreement with the subject and anaphoric agreement with the object, and related languages show various distributions of these two agreement types.

Backward control is an obligatory interpretational dependency between an overt controller and a nonovert controllee in which the controllee is structurally superior to the controller: Meg persuaded Δi[Roni to give up]. It contrasts with ordinary forward control, in which the controller is structurally higher: Meg persuaded Roni [Δi to give up]. Although backward control has been previously documented (Polinsky & Potsdam 2002a), clear cases are rare. This article presents an alternation between forward and backward object control in the Austronesian language Malagasy and argues for the backward-control structure. Backward control is thus a reality and needs to be incorporated into any comprehensive theory of control. The article argues against an analysis of backward control that identifies the controllee as the null pronominal pro.

The verbal suffixes of Seri (a language isolate of Sonora, Mexico) divide the lexicon into classes of unparalleled complexity. The paradigm has only four forms, which mark subject number and aspect (or event number), yet there are over 250 distinct types in a corpus of just under 1,000 verbs. This relation of forms to types means that by information-theoretic measures this is among the most complex inflection class systems yet studied. In part this complexity is due to the sheer wealth of allomorphs and the freedom with which they combine within the paradigm; however, these properties can be found in all inflection class systems of any complexity. The unique property of Seri is that although the suffix morphology and the morphosyntactic paradigm have the same featural content, the two systems are not directly coordinated. Both suffix morphology and verbal morphosyntax are based on the concatenation of markers of plurality, and an increase in the morphological marking of plurality reflects a morphosyntactic accumulation of subject and predicate plurality (i.e. aspect). In this sense, morphology is a direct exponent of featural content. But there is no consistent mapping between the two systems, and the precise calibration between morphological form and morphosyntactic function must be lexically specified; it is this specification that increases dramatically the number of inflectional types. Seri therefore represents a middle ground between the conceptual extremes of morphosyntactically motivated and morphologically autonomous morphology that serve as a basis for much of our theory building.

Alternative hypotheses regarding the vowel system of Proto-Sahaptian and the transition to the two daughter languages, Nez Perce and Sahaptin, are examined. The proto-language may possibly have had a five-vowel system ∗/i e a o u/, identical to that of Nez Perce, and already showing the same pattern of vowel harmony alternations. But a reconstruction of the vocalic system before the development of vowel harmony, whether or not this predated Proto-Sahaptian, presents several possibilities. A six-vowel system ∗/i ə e a o u/ would allow a straightforward development. A suggested three-vowel system is rejected. The possibilities of development from four- or five-vowel systems are examined, but these, while conceivable, are less plausible. Examination of the comparative evidence suggests that Proto-Sahaptian possessed the six-vowel system and may have lacked vowel harmony. Some areal similarities to such a system are noted.

Alteration of root consonants is a frequent means of expressing the diminutive in many of the languages of western North America. Interlingual comparison reveals phonetic consistencies between diminutive shifts of the languages for which information on sound symbolism is available. Increased hardness of articulation and higher pitch constitute the phonetic bases of diminutive shifting. Markedness and the form of the phonemic system are less important than phonetic criteria in determining shift types. In spite of gaps in the available data, some observations can be made concerning areal distribution and historical implications of shift types.

The initial section of this paper states some basic assumptions about distinctive features, and describes the ten features of Tarascan and their combination into 32 morphophonemes. The second part treats six special problems of phonetic-phonological interpretation. The third demonstrates an intersection between sets defined by distinctive oppositions and sets defined by distributional criteria, leading to a taxonomy that is characterized by internally motivated relations of class inclusion. Finally, the discussion turns to the theoretical implications of such intersections and, by analogy, of other patterning which is not essential to inventories of units or linear orderings of rules.