New Benjamins title: Gildea/Queixal ós: Ergativity in Amazonia

[Paul Peranteau]

Ergativity in Amazonia
  Edited by Spike Gildea and Francesc Queixalós
University of Oregon / CNRS/CELIA

Typological Studies in Language 89

2010. v, 319 pp.
Hardbound 978 90 272 0670 1 / EUR 105.00 / USD 158.00

http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=TSL%2089

This volume presents a typological/theoretical introduction plus 
eight papers about ergative alignment in 16 Amazonian languages. All 
are written by linguists with years of fieldwork and comparative 
experience in the region, all describe details of the synchronic 
systems, and several also provide diachronic insight into the 
evolution of these systems. The five papers in Part I focus on 
languages from four larger families with ergative patterns primarily 
in morphology. The typological contribution is in detailed 
consideration of unusual splits, changes in ergative patterns, and 
parallels between ergative main clauses and nominalizations. The 
three papers in Part II discuss genetically isolated languages. Two 
present dominant ergative patterns in both morphology and syntax, the 
other a syntactic inverse system that is predominantly ergative in 
discourse. In each, the authors demonstrate that identification of 
traditional grammatical relations is problematic. These data will 
figure in all future typological and theoretical debates about 
grammatical relations.

Table of contents

Manifestations of ergativity in Amazonia
Francesc Queixalós and Spike Gildea 126
Part I. Well-established systems: Morphological ergativity
Ergativity in the Mayoruna branch of the Panoan family
David W. Fleck 2964
Ergativity in Shipibo-Konibo, a Panoan language of the Ucayali
Pilar M. Valenzuela 6596
How ergative is Cavineña?
Antoine Guillaume 97120
The ergativity effect in Kuikuro (Southern Carib, Brazil)
Bruna Franchetto 121158
Nominative-absolutive: Counter-universal split ergativity in Jê and Cariban
Spike Gildea and Flávia Castro Alves 159200
Part II. Recent diachronic innovations: Syntactic ergativity
Ergativity in Trumai
Raquel Guirardello-Damian 203234
Grammatical relations in Katukina-Kanamari
Francesc Queixalós 235284
The intransitive basis of Movima clause structure
Katharina Haude 285316
Index  317320

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