[Lexicog] polysynthetic languages and dictionaries

[phil cash cash]

inflectional morphology plays a minor though productive role in Nez 
Perce.  however, derivational morphology is very productive hence the 
fusional character of Nez Perce.

the distinction in polysynthesis, in general, is how it treats is 
arguments in an argument-predicate relation.  the only reason i mention 
this same breath as Baker is that he spilled a lot of ink on Mohawk 
polysynthesis and noun-incorporation.  thus, languages like Mohawk 
incorporate a noun to satisfy its argument specification.  this does 
not happen in languages like Nez Perce.  rather, Nez Perce incorporates 
additional predicative elements like verbs and verb affixes (both v. 
prefixes and suffixes).  this is similar to the classic (another 
classic statement) "bi-partite" stem phenomena as described for 
languages throughout the western US.

here is a Nez Perce example:

'aw'líwaa'inpqawtaca
'e(w)-{'ilíw-we-'inipí-qaw-tée}-ce
3OBJ-{fire-fly-to.grab-straight.through-go.way.to.do}-IMPERF.PRS.SG
'I go to scoop him up in fire.'

{} show the derivational morphology (i.e. complex predicate formation). 
  the verb root here is /'inipí/ 'to grab'.  so the derivational 
morphology is only accountable in the syntax-semantic interface 
(meaning it is not inflectional).  i suppose this is similar to your 
idea of a lexical-syntactic interface.  because the semantics are 
formed from the lexical entry itself.

later,
phil cash cash (cayuse/nez perce)
UofA


On May 28, 2004, at 7:04 AM, Mike Maxwell wrote:

phil cash cash wrote:

> ...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.
>
>
I confess I'm not quite sure what you're saying here.  Inflectional
morphology is typically about the lexical-syntactic interface, which is
perhaps what you mean by the syntax-semantic interface, but I'm not
clear what it is about Nez Perce that is unusual in this respect.  Could
you give some examples?

     Mike Maxwell




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