Contribution to Book
Patterns of Innovation and Retention in Templatic Polysynthesis
The Oxford Handbook of Polysynthesis
(2017)
Abstract
Polysynthetic verb morphology can be extraordinarily complex, with interacting subsystems arranged in phonological and morphological layers, some of which are more readily transparent on the synchronic level. Historical-linguistic comparisons demonstrate that this type of structure can be surprisingly persistent across time, with slow phonological attrition being one of the primary causal agents. Metathesis and reanalysis of morphemes and morpheme positions was also noted as an important agent of change. This chapter examines what is known about the historical layering of two distinct, but possibly genealogically related prefixing verb morphologies: Yeniseian and Athabaskan, both of which have developed different strategies of expressing agreement with subjects and objects, layering these grammatical markers between lexical morphemes and markers of tense–mood–aspect. Phonological fusing of certain sets of adjacent markers renders the pre-root portions of both morphological templates particularly challenging for assigning morpheme glosses. Historical reasons for this evolution are identified and assessed.
Keywords
- prefixing verb morphology,
- morphological template,
- metathesis,
- reanalysis,
- agreement
Disciplines
Publication Date
September 21, 2017
Editor
Michael Fortescue, Marianne Mithun, Nicholas Evans
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Series
Oxford Handbooks
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199683208.013.21
Citation Information
Edward J. Vajda. "Patterns of Innovation and Retention in Templatic Polysynthesis" The Oxford Handbook of Polysynthesis (2017) p. 363 - 391 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/edward_vajda/88/