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CHAPTER TWELVE PALIKUR AND THE TYPOLOGY OF CLASSIFIERS Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and Diana Green This chapter describes an unusual and complicated system of genders and classifiers in Palikur (North Arawak, Brazil and French Guiana). It has three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter); gender assign- ment is based on a combination of semantic features (humanness, ani- macy, size and shape). There are two or three gender choices depending on construction type. There are also five distinct types of classifiers: numeral classifiers; verbal classifiers (with two subsets—those occur- ring on stative verbs, which are frequently used as modifiers in NPs, and those occurring on transitive verbs); locative classifiers (used as adpositions), and possessive classifiers (i.e. generic nouns used in pos- sessive constructions with some alienably possessed nouns). Different noun classification devices have different functions and scopes; all except possessive classifiers overlap in their semantics. Classifiers pro- vide cross-categorization of nouns and help the language to structure concepts. Throughout the chapter, the types of genders and classifiers in Palikur are placed in typological perspective. 1. Introduction Amazonian languages are known for their complicated and unusual systems of noun classification devices. Often, there is more than one type of classifier combined with genders (for examples of some of these systems see Derbyshire and Payne 1990; Aikhenvald 1994a, and Aikhenvald 2000b). The same morphemes may be used in several clas- sifier functions, and sometimes there are up to five or six different sets of noun classification devices. These languages are important from the point of view of a broad typological perspective on classifiers. Many questions need to be addressed. How many different kinds of classifiers can cooccur in one language? What are their functions, and semantics? How do they interact? Are they obligatory? Are the same, or different morphemes palikur and the typology of classifiers 395 used in different functions? These, and other questions can only be answered after a close look at the complex classifier systems of indi- vidual Amazonian languages which is what this chapter aims to do. Here we propose to describe one of the world’s richest systems of noun classification devices—that found in the Palikur language of Brazil.1 This highly unusual system has five kinds of classifiers, which coexist with two sets of genders. Genders and classifiers can cooccur within one grammatical word—though agreement in gender, and in classifiers, follow different principles. We will then look at how differ- ent noun classification devices interact in one language with respect to their functional properties, semantics and origin. The chapter is organized as follows. A brief sketch of the typologi- cal framework used for our analysis of noun classification devices is given in §2. The next five sections describe Palikur. Gender assignment and the principles of gender agreement are considered in §3. Numeral classifiers are analyzed in §4. Verbal classifiers and their use with tran- sitive and with stative verbs are considered in §5. An unusual type of classifier found on locative adpositions is described in §6. Finally, classifiers used to characterize the possessed noun in a possessive noun phrase are described in §7. We evaluate the properties of classifiers and genders in Palikur, in a typological perspective, in the last section of the chapter. 2. Noun Classification Devices 2.1. Outline of a typology Almost all languages have some grammatical means for the linguistic categorization of nouns and nominals. The term ‘classifiers’ will be used here as an ‘umbrella’ label for the continuum of noun categoriza- tion devices. 1 Palikur is a North Arawak language spoken by over a thousand people in north- ern Brazil (state of Amapá) and in French Guiana. We would like to express gratitude to our many Palikur friends who provided texts on which this study is based and who patiently answered our many questions, especially Raimunda Ioio. We owe thanks to R.M.W. Dixon, Des Derbyshire and David Payne for comments and discussion, and to Suzanne Kite for technical assistance. This chapter was based upon thirty years of linguistic and translation programs for Palikur people by Diana and Harold Green. The analysis and write-up is the joint work of the two authors..

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