[Lexicog] polysynthetic languages and dictionaries

Kenneth C. Hill kennethchill at YAHOO.COM
Mon May 31 03:54:24 UTC 2004


Phil--

Just how "polysynthetic" is Nez Perce?

The term "polysynthetic" has been used for many linguistic features and it
would be good to know just which features are at issue in any particular
instance.

Usually, as I understand it, "polysynthesis" refers to the incorporation
of arguments into a single verb-word, marginally attested in English in
formations like 'babysit'. Hopi, on which I've been working, abounds in
examples of incorporated objects and even incorporated subjects,
especially in 'weather' expressions (huk-yala 'the wind abated' < huukya
'wind' + yaala 'abate') and personal names (Posiw-yesva 'the magpies
alighted' < poosiw 'magpie' + yesva 'sit down, alight').

Bill Poser seems to regard the Athabascan* verbs as polysynthetic, but I
believe they don't incorporate nominal roots as in the examples above
though their morphology certainly does refer to both subject and object
arguments.

*I reject both the US spelling 'Athabaskan' and the Canadian 'Athapaskan'
as silly attempts at a "technical" linguistic spelling of a name clearly
based on the geographically established spelling '(Lake) Athabasca'.

--Ken

--- phil cash cash <pasxapu at DAKOTACOM.NET> wrote:
> thanks Bill,
> why have a powerful lookup tool when the operations which emulate the
> rules of the grammar are non-transparent to the dictionary user? or is
> this again a wrong impression?  i mean this as a harmless question as i
> am just curious.  though i am no computational linguist, i would like
> to "model" nez perce verb morphology someday as i think i am getting
> closer to the core issues relating to the "rules" of composition and
> concatenation.  however, in the nez perce scheme of things (i.e
> polysynthesis: fusional) the morphology is tends to be more about the
> syntax-semantic interface, not to mention the input-output to
> phonological being just as complex if not more so.  the classic
> polysynthetic mohawk model of noun-incorporation (via Baker) just does
> not work for nez perce.
>
> qó'c (later)
> phil cash cash (cayuse/nez perce)
> UofA
>
> On May 27, 2004, at 2:11 PM, William J Poser wrote:
>
[message cut from this response]




	
		
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