Partitioning the Timeline a Cross-Linguistic Survey of Tense
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Toward a Typology of Ranking Elements of Narrative Discourse in Languages and Cultures: a Cross- Linguistic Survey
Volume 6, No. 1, Art. 2, May 2017 Toward a Typology of Ranking Elements of Narrative Discourse in Languages and Cultures: A Cross- Linguistic Survey Marla Perkins, Independent Scholar Keywords: Abstract: It has been noted (Perkins, 2009; Zwaan, 1999; Zwaan & Radvansky, 1998) Narrative that causality, character, location, and time are the four main aspects of narrative discourse, discourse, even if not attended to by listeners or readers in equal ways. For example, Hobongan, character is highly ranked, and the locational/spatial components have often been typology, underestimated for English narratives (see Perkins, 2009, for a review). Relative to the discourse ranking, there is no inherent reason why character needs to be highly ranked, and analysis, locational/spatial information is in fact important in English narrative discourse (Perkins, information 2009). I instead suggest that there are linguistic and cultural factors in the ranking of management these aspects of discourse. Specifically, I suggest that causality is (probably) the highest ranked component, in languages that have a ranking, with the other three elements being linked to causality more or less strongly, depending on linguistic and cultural factors; it is possible that some languages do not rank narrative elements or that some elements are ranked as highly as others. In English, the strongest link is between causality and character. However, this is not universal. In a survey of fifty-eight languages from thirty language families, including an in-depth study of Hobongan, an Austronesian language spoken by approximately two thousand people on the island of Borneo that I am in the process of describing, it is found that there is a great deal of cross-linguistic variation, to the extent that it is possible that each logically possible combination of narrative elements is present in the world’s languages. -
THE LANGUAGE OFTHE SALINAN INDIANS Nominalizing Suffixes
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 1-154 January 10, 1918 THE LANGUAGE OF THE SALINAN INDIANS BY J. ALDEN MASON CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION..--.--.......------------........-----...--..--.......------........------4 PART I. P'HONOLOGY ---------7 Phonetic system ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vowels ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Quality ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 Nasalization ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 Voiceless vowels.------------------......-------------.........-----------------......---8 Accent --------------------------------------------------9 Consonants ................---------.............--------------------...----------9 Semi-vowels ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------9 Nasals ---------- 10 Laterals -------------------------------------------------------------10 Spirants ---------------------------------------....-------------------------------------------10 Stops .--------......... --------------------------- 11 Affricatives .......................-.................-........-......... 12 Tableof phonetic system ---------------------------.-----------------13 Phonetic processes ---------------------------.-----.--............13 Vocalic assimilation ------------------..-.........------------------13 -
Some Morphological Parallels Between Hokan Languages1
Mikhail Zhivlov Russian State University for the Humanities; School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, RANEPA (Moscow); [email protected] Some morphological parallels between Hokan languages1 In this paper I present a detailed analysis of a number of morphological comparisons be- tween the branches of the hypothetical Hokan family. The following areas are considered: 1) subject person/number markers on verbs, as well as possessor person/number markers on nouns, 2) so-called ‘lexical prefixes’ denoting instrument and manner of action on verbs, 3) plural infixes, used with both nouns and verbs, and 4) verbal directional suffixes ‘hither’ and ‘thither’. It is shown that the respective morphological parallels can be better accounted for as resulting from genetic inheritance rather than from areal diffusion. Keywords: Hokan languages, Amerindian languages, historical morphology, genetic vs. areal relationship 0. The Hokan hypothesis, relating several small language families and isolates of California, was initially proposed by Dixon and Kroeber (1913) more than a hundred years ago. There is still no consensus regarding the validity of Hokan: some scholars accept the hypothesis (Kaufman 1989, 2015; Gursky 1995), while others view it with great skepticism (Campbell 1997: 290–296, Marlett 2007; cf. a more positive assessment in Golla 2011: 82–84, as well as a neutral overview in Jany 2016). My own position is that the genetic relationship between most languages usually subsumed under Hokan is highly likely, and that the existence of the Ho- kan family can be taken as a working hypothesis, subject to further proof or refutation. The goal of the present paper is to draw attention to several morphological parallels be- tween Hokan languages. -
Abstract of Counting Systems of Papua New Guinea and Oceania
Abstract of http://www.uog.ac.pg/glec/thesis/ch1web/ABSTRACT.htm Abstract of Counting Systems of Papua New Guinea and Oceania by Glendon A. Lean In modern technological societies we take the existence of numbers and the act of counting for granted: they occur in most everyday activities. They are regarded as being sufficiently important to warrant their occupying a substantial part of the primary school curriculum. Most of us, however, would find it difficult to answer with any authority several basic questions about number and counting. For example, how and when did numbers arise in human cultures: are they relatively recent inventions or are they an ancient feature of language? Is counting an important part of all cultures or only of some? Do all cultures count in essentially the same ways? In English, for example, we use what is known as a base 10 counting system and this is true of other European languages. Indeed our view of counting and number tends to be very much a Eurocentric one and yet the large majority the languages spoken in the world - about 4500 - are not European in nature but are the languages of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific, Africa, and the Americas. If we take these into account we obtain a quite different picture of counting systems from that of the Eurocentric view. This study, which attempts to answer these questions, is the culmination of more than twenty years on the counting systems of the indigenous and largely unwritten languages of the Pacific region and it involved extensive fieldwork as well as the consultation of published and rare unpublished sources. -
THE VOWEL SYSTEMS of CALIFORNIA HOKAN1 Jeff Good University of California, Berkeley
THE VOWEL SYSTEMS OF CALIFORNIA HOKAN1 Jeff Good University of California, Berkeley Unlike the consonants, the vowels of Hokan are remarkably conservative. —Haas (1963:44) The evidence as I view it points to a 3-vowel proto-system consisting of the apex vowels *i, *a, *u. —Silver (1976:197) I am not willing, however, to concede that this suggests [Proto-Hokan] had just three vowels. The issue is open, though, and I could change my mind. —Kaufman (1988:105) 1. INTRODUCTION. The central question that this paper attempts to address is the motivation for the statements given above. Specifically, assuming there was a Proto-Hokan, what evidence is there for the shape of its vowel system? With the exception of Kaufman’s somewhat equivocal statement above, the general (but basically unsupported) verdict has been that Proto-Hokan had three vowels, *i, *a, and *u. This conclusion dates back to at least Sapir (1917, 1920, 1925) who implies a three-vowel system in his reconstructions of Proto-Hokan forms. However, as far as I am aware, no one has carefully articulated why they think the Proto-Hokan system should have been of one form instead of another (though Kaufman (1988) does discuss some of his reasons).2 Furthermore, while reconstructions of Proto-Hokan forms exist, it has not yet been possible to provide a detailed analysis of the sound changes required to relate reconstructed forms to attested forms. As a result, even though the reconstructions themselves are valuable, they cannot serve as a strong argument for the particular proto vowel system they implicitly or explicitly assume. -
Native American Languages Act Hearing
S. HRG. 108–107 NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON S. 575 TO AMEND THE NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE SUPPORT OF NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SURVIVAL SCHOOLS MAY 15, 2003 WASHINGTON, DC ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 87–260 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado, Chairman DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Vice Chairman JOHN McCAIN, Arizona, KENT CONRAD, North Dakota PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico HARRY REID, Nevada CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota GORDON SMITH, Oregon MARIA CANTWELL, Washington LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska PAUL MOOREHEAD, Majority Staff Director/Chief Counsel PATRICIA M. ZELL, Minority Staff Director/Chief Counsel (II) C O N T E N T S Page S. 575, text of ........................................................................................................... 2 Statements: Brown, William Y., director, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI ....................... 55 Cheek, John, director, National Indian Education Association, Alexan- dria, VA ......................................................................................................... -
Jicaque As a Hokan Language Author(S): Joseph H
Jicaque as a Hokan Language Author(s): Joseph H. Greenberg and Morris Swadesh Source: International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jul., 1953), pp. 216- 222 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1263010 Accessed: 11-07-2017 15:04 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1263010?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to International Journal of American Linguistics This content downloaded from 12.14.13.130 on Tue, 11 Jul 2017 15:04:26 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms JICAQUE AS A HOKAN LANGUAGE JOSEPH H. GREENBERG AND MORRIS SWADESH COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 1. The problem 2. The phonological equivalences in Hokan 2. Phonological note have been largely established by Edward 3. Cognate list Sapir's work.3 The Jicaque agreements are 4. Use of lexical statistics generally obvious. A special point is that 5. -
Style and Meaning Anthropology’S Engagement with Art Has a Complex and Uneven History
NICHOLAS THOMAS THOMAS NICHOLAS & CLARK ALISON style and meaning Anthropology’s engagement with art has a complex and uneven history. While style and material culture, ‘decorative art’, and art styles were of major significance for ( founding figures such as Alfred Haddon and Franz Boas, art became marginal as the EDS meaning discipline turned towards social analysis in the 1920s. This book addresses a major ) moment of renewal in the anthropology of art in the 1960s and 1970s. British Essays on the anthropologist Anthony Forge (1929-1991), trained in Cambridge, undertook fieldwork among the Abelam of Papua New Guinea in the late 1950s and 1960s, anthropology of art and wrote influentially, especially about issues of style and meaning in art. His powerful, question-raising arguments addressed basic issues, asking why so much art was produced in some regions, and why was it so socially important? style ANTHONY FORGE meaning Fifty years later, art has renewed global significance, and anthropologists are again considering both its local expressions among Indigenous peoples and its new global circulation. In this context, Forge’s arguments have renewed relevance: they help and edited by scholars and students understand the genealogies of current debates, and remind us of fundamental questions that remain unanswered. ALISON CLARK & NICHOLAS THOMAS This volume brings together Forge’s most important writings on the anthropology anthropology of art Essays on the of art, published over a thirty year period, together with six assessments of his legacy, including extended reappraisals of Sepik ethnography, by distinguished anthropologists from Australia, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom Anthony Forge was born in London in 1929. -
Grammatical Gender and Linguistic Complexity
Grammatical gender and linguistic complexity Volume I: General issues and specific studies Edited by Francesca Di Garbo Bruno Olsson Bernhard Wälchli language Studies in Diversity Linguistics 26 science press Studies in Diversity Linguistics Editor: Martin Haspelmath In this series: 1. Handschuh, Corinna. A typology of marked-S languages. 2. Rießler, Michael. Adjective attribution. 3. Klamer, Marian (ed.). The Alor-Pantar languages: History and typology. 4. Berghäll, Liisa. A grammar of Mauwake (Papua New Guinea). 5. Wilbur, Joshua. A grammar of Pite Saami. 6. Dahl, Östen. Grammaticalization in the North: Noun phrase morphosyntax in Scandinavian vernaculars. 7. Schackow, Diana. A grammar of Yakkha. 8. Liljegren, Henrik. A grammar of Palula. 9. Shimelman, Aviva. A grammar of Yauyos Quechua. 10. Rudin, Catherine & Bryan James Gordon (eds.). Advances in the study of Siouan languages and linguistics. 11. Kluge, Angela. A grammar of Papuan Malay. 12. Kieviet, Paulus. A grammar of Rapa Nui. 13. Michaud, Alexis. Tone in Yongning Na: Lexical tones and morphotonology. 14. Enfield, N. J. (ed.). Dependencies in language: On the causal ontology of linguistic systems. 15. Gutman, Ariel. Attributive constructions in North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic. 16. Bisang, Walter & Andrej Malchukov (eds.). Unity and diversity in grammaticalization scenarios. 17. Stenzel, Kristine & Bruna Franchetto (eds.). On this and other worlds: Voices from Amazonia. 18. Paggio, Patrizia and Albert Gatt (eds.). The languages of Malta. 19. Seržant, Ilja A. & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich (eds.). Diachrony of differential argument marking. 20. Hölzl, Andreas. A typology of questions in Northeast Asia and beyond: An ecological perspective. 21. Riesberg, Sonja, Asako Shiohara & Atsuko Utsumi (eds.). Perspectives on information structure in Austronesian languages. -
Timucua Students Learn How Historical Resources Teach Us About the Timucua People and Their Technology
CHHAPTERISTORY AND THETEN TIMUCUA STUDENTS LEARN HOW HISTORICAL RESOURCES TEACH US ABOUT THE TIMUCUA PEOPLE AND THEIR TECHNOLOGY. LET’S TALK ABOUT HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS In the unit titled “Theodore de Bry’s Timucua Engravings – Fact or Fiction?” we spent plenty of time analyzing the authenticity of his work. Other historical documents provide more reliable information about the Timucua. The earliest were the memoirs of French and Spanish explorers. French explorer, René Laudonnière (Low-don-YARE): He wrote an account of his experiences in Florida from 1562 – 1565. This account seems to have been written as an administrative report, to be read by King Charles IV or Admiral Coligny. Laudonnière never submitted it for general publication, though several other people had published their own memoirs. Because he was not publishing for profit, he had less reason to wildly embellish what he observed about the Timucua. When we read crazy things in his text – like the time he met a 250-year-old Timucua man whose own father was still alive – we can chalk that up to miscommunication or misunderstanding – not outright fabrication. It’s Laudonnière’s account that explains how the Timucua got their name. When Europeans asked the Timucua “what is the name of your people?” the Timucua responded with “we are us” or “this is our land.” Since they couldn’t call every native group, “we are us,” the French and Spanish usually referred to each village by the name of its leader. Headchief Saturiwa resided in the village Saturiwa. His enemy, Outina, lived near modern day Green Cove Springs, in a village named…you guessed it, Outina. -
Appositive Possession in Ainu and Around the Pacific
Appositive possession in Ainu and around the Pacific Anna Bugaeva1,2, Johanna Nichols3,4,5, and Balthasar Bickel6 1 Tokyo University of Science, 2 National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Tokyo, 3 University of California, Berkeley, 4 University of Helsinki, 5 Higher School of Economics, Moscow, 6 University of Zü rich Abstract: Some languages around the Pacific have multiple possessive classes of alienable constructions using appositive nouns or classifiers. This pattern differs from the most common kind of alienable/inalienable distinction, which involves marking, usually affixal, on the possessum and has only one class of alienables. The language isolate Ainu has possessive marking that is reminiscent of the Circum-Pacific pattern. It is distinctive, however, in that the possessor is coded not as a dependent in an NP but as an argument in a finite clause, and the appositive word is a verb. This paper gives a first comprehensive, typologically grounded description of Ainu possession and reconstructs the pattern that must have been standard when Ainu was still the daily language of a large speech community; Ainu then had multiple alienable class constructions. We report a cross-linguistic survey expanding previous coverage of the appositive type and show how Ainu fits in. We split alienable/inalienable into two different phenomena: argument structure (with types based on possessibility: optionally possessible, obligatorily possessed, and non-possessible) and valence (alienable, inalienable classes). Valence-changing operations are derived alienability and derived inalienability. Our survey classifies the possessive systems of languages in these terms. Keywords: Pacific Rim, Circum-Pacific, Ainu, possessive, appositive, classifier Correspondence: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2 1. -
UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics
UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics Title An Updated Typology of Causative Constructions: Form-function Mappings in Hupa (California Athabaskan), Chungli Ao (Tibeto-Burman) and Beyond Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4556v4g6 Author Escamilla, Ramón Publication Date 2012 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California An Updated Typology of Causative Constructions: Form-Function Mappings in Hupa (California Athabaskan), Chungli Ao (Tibeto-Burman) and Beyond By Ramón Mahew Escamilla, Jr. A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Eve Sweetser, Chair Professor Richard A. Rhodes Professor Johanna Nichols Fall 2012 Abstract An Updated Typology of Causative Constructions: Form-Function Mappings in Hupa (California Athabaskan), Chungli Ao (Tibeto-Burman) and Beyond by Ramón Mahew Escamilla, Jr. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics University of California, Berkeley Professor Eve Sweetser, Chair Taking up analytical issues raised primarily in Dixon (2000) and Dixon & Aikhenvald (2000), this dissertation combines descriptive work with a medium-sized (50-language) typological study. Chapter 1 situates the dissertation against a concise survey of typological-functional work on causative constructions from the last few decades, and outlines the major research questions. Chapter 2 presents a case study of causative encoding in Hupa (California Athabaskan). I describe the morphosyntax and semantics of the Hupa syntactic causative construction, and analyze its distribution with respect to Dixon’s (2000) proposals for a typology of causative constructions. I demonstrate that causee control (Dixon’s parameter 3) over the caused microevent is a significant semantic factor in licensing this construction.