Clare Cook, The clause-typing system of Plains Cree: Indexicality, anaphoricity, and contrast (Oxford Studies of Endangered Languages). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. x + 336.

Abstract

The main goal of The Clause-typing System of Plains Cree is to support the claim that there are two types of clauses clearly identified in Plains Cree (a Canadian indigenous language of the Algonquian family): ANAPHORIC and INDEXICAL. This proposal makes predictions about the distribution of clauses whose interpretations are dependent on structural embedding or previous discourse in contrast to those whose interpretations are only dependent on the speech situation. An interesting parallel is drawn by the author, Claire Cook, between expressions governed by Binding Theory and the clause types she proposes: anaphoric clauses are akin to pronominals that get their interpretation from the context or antecedent, and indexical clauses are akin to R-expressions that have a fully independent interpretation and cannot be governed by an antecedent-like element. Plains Cree proves to be a robust testing ground since the clause types under discussion are encoded in morphological paradigms and exhibit other features (such as evidential interpretation and differential subject marking) that allow for the determination of clause types. This book is organized as follows. Chapter 1 introduces the central concept that there is a division between clause types that anchor to the speech situation (INDEXICAL) and those that do not, identified as the elsewhere case (ANAPHORIC). Chapter 2 discusses the morphological distinction between indexical and anaphoric clauses, claimed to line up with the morphology of the INDEPENDENT and CONJUNCT VERBAL ORDERS from the Algonquian literature. Chapter 3 looks at indexical clauses in the independent order that cannot be c-commanded or contain externally licensed anaphoric elements, and that can only be evaluated deictically (i.e. with respect to the speech situation). Chapter 4 then discusses anaphoric clauses in the conjunct order that conversely must be c-commanded or preceded by an element acting as an antecedent, and that are evaluated with respect to the situation specified by the antecedent. Chapter 5 considers the structural relationships between anaphoric clauses and their antecedents, arguing that CHAINED clauses are only governed by precedence (e.g. in the discourse), but adjoined and argument clauses can be c-commanded by their antecedent. Chapter 6 goes into the specifics of the distribution of different conjunct clauses in Plains Cree, for instance, determining which indicate a presupposition, or appear in the context of certain aspectual or modal properties. Chapter 7 briefly considers remaining questions, in particular what might be expected in other Algonquian languages, and concludes the book.