Lecture 14 Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is the structure of all indigenous language families in Canada
Polysynthetic language structure
How can all languages be classified
According to how many u it’s of meaning are typically contained in a single word
Simple word language classification example
Contain one unit of meaning
Dog
Chair
Run
Listen
Complex word language classification example
Has more than one unit of meaning
- dog-s
- runn-ing
- smil(e)- ing
- listen-ed
- work-ed
- push- up
- un-do-ing
Morpheme definition and example
Smallest possible units of meaning are morphemes
Dog, -s ‘plural’ or ‘3rd person singular’
Re- ‘repeat again’
Un- ‘undo’
-ed ‘past’
Is any language completely isolating
NO
Isolating languages contain
MOSTLY- morphologically simple words
And a low morpheme to word ratio
Function words
Isolating languages use function words like
(auxiliaries, adverbs, pronouns, etc)
And word order to communicate concepts and relationships
Examples of isolating languages
English
Mandarin
Vietnamese
Yoruba
Thai
Synthetic languages
High morpheme to word ratio
Often have many free roots (that can stand on their own)
2 types: agglutinative and fusional
2 types of synthetic language
Agglutinative and fusional
Agglutinative
Words are built from many clearly separable affixes (units)
Each unit is associated to just 1 unit of meaning
Fusional
Many meaning combined into a single unit (affix)
Example of fusional language
Latin
Ex. In the word servus ’servant’
-us means (singular, masculine gender, nominative case (subject)
Servus means one male servant who is the subject of the sentence
1 morpheme = multiple grammatical meanings
Agglutinative language example
1 morpheme = 1 meaning
Example from (Hul’q’umi’num)
Sh-q’u-q’uw-ul’wut-um’
Sh- same meaning as “-er in English”
q’u- “-ing” in English
q’uw- “hang up”
ul’wut- “clothing”
-um’ -verbal suffix
Whole word means “thing for hanging clothing on”
Polysynthesis
High levels of fusion and agglutination
Every argument of the verb can be expressed as a (bound) affix (rather than a separate word)
Can also include noun incorporation
Examples of poly synthetic languages
• 1 word = 1 sentence
• Kanien’kéha (Mohawk): washakotya’tawitsherahetkvhta’se
• English translation: He ruined her dress
• Literally: He made the-thing-that-one-puts-on-one’s body ugly for her
• Verb agreement with the ‘subject’ or actor:
• Nêhiyawêwin (Cree):
• ni-nipa:-na:n
• ‘We (not including you) are sleeping’
• ki-nipa:-na:naw
• ‘We (including you) are sleeping’
• Agreement with the subject (actor) and object (patient/theme)
• NxaɁamxcín (Salishan language in Washington State): Both the subject and the object are part of the verb.
• šáwntlp
• šáwnt-l -p
• ask -us-you.all
• ‘you all ask us’
• In this example, the final suffix -p indicates that the subject of the verbal action is ‘you all’, while -l indicates that the object is ‘us’
Examples of polysynthesis
Incorporating elements expressed by adjectives and adverbs in isolation languages
Yupik (Inuit language) in Alaska and Siberia:
Kaipiallrulliniuk
kaig -piar -llru –llini -u -k
be.hungry-really-PAST-apparently-INDICATIVE-they.two
‘They were apparently really hungry’
The meanings ‘really’ and ‘apparently’ are built into the verb, instead of as separate words as in
a more isolating language.
Examples of polysynthesis
Noun incorporation
when a noun is included within a verb to form a complex verb.
• This exists but is rare in English:
• Deerhunting (vs. hunting deer); Babysitting (vs. watching/minding children)
• Much more common in polysynthetic languages.
• Examples from Nisga’a (Tsimshianic family) (Kell 2014):
• Hoon ‘fish’ is independent
q’uhlay’hl hoon
q’uhla-y’-hl hoon
gut -I -theG fish
Hoon ‘fish’ is part of the verb (noun incorporation)
q’uhlhoon n’iiy’
q’uhl-hoon n’iiy’
gut -fish me
‘I gutted a/the fish.’ ‘I gutted fish.’
Challenges for translation
Example in Hul’q’umi’num’ (Coast Salish) (Kell 2014):
• A learner might translate the sentence ‘clap your hands’ word-for-word as:
lhuqw’t- Clap
tthun’- your
tsultselush- hands
• However, a fluent speaker might use a synthetic word:
lhuqw’tssum
lhuqw’-tss -um
clap -hand-self
‘clap your hands
