What's in a morpheme? Obviation morphology in Blackfoot

Genee, Inge

doi:10.1515/ling.2009.032

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Regarding its interpretive function, -wa marks a noun phrase as discourse salient, though the precise discourse role is subject to debate. For example, Genee (2009) proposes that -wa marking signals topicality, while Bliss (2013) argues that it serves as a reference tracking device. Frantz (2009:13) uses the term major third person, and describes the function of -wa marking as follows: "When two or more nouns of animate gender occur in the same sentence, only one of them can be what we will call major third person; the others, if particular in reference, must be demoted to minor third person.…”

Section: Proximate -Wa Associates With Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animating the narrow syntax

Wiltschko

Ritter²

2015

The Linguistic Review

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Abstract:In this paper we demonstrate that there are two related, but distinct types of animacy in the Plains Algonquian language, Blackfoot -morphological animacy (m-animacy) and high animacy (H-animacy). We argue that the two types of animacy are constructed in different ways: M-animacy is a head feature that determines noun class and plays a role in syntactic agreement operations, whereas H-animacy is a selectable feature of arguments. The two kinds of animacy also have different distributions: Only languages that have animacy-based form classes have m-animate nominals, but H-animate nominals are universal because all languages have predicates that select for high animates. We discuss empirical differences between m-animate and H-animate nominals that are intended to serve as diagnostics for the exploration of animacy in other languages.

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Section: Proximate -Wa Associates With Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animating the narrow syntax

Wiltschko

Ritter²

2015

The Linguistic Review

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“…: ch. III, 2012 for details and some discussion.21 The allomorphy found in the 3rd person forms (there is also an m-allomorph) is far from trivial, both from the perspective of Blackfoot(Genee 2009) and from an Algonquian perspective, but this lies beyond the scope of the present study.…”

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confidence: 82%

“…This is a simplified overview, particularly concerning the intricate morphophonology and the allomorphy of many of the affixes; cf Genee (2009). andZúñiga (2012) for details.12 The suffix -hp appears as -'p in the 1st person plural inclusive.…”

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confidence: 99%

Referential Hierarchies in Three-Participant Constructions in Blackfoot: The Effects of Animacy, Person, and Specificity

Russell¹,

Genee²,

Lier³

et al. 2012

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This paper discusses alignment patterns in three-participant constructions in Blackfoot (Western Algonquian; Canada, USA). We demonstrate the effects of referential hierarchies relating to animacy, person and specificity. Blackfoot verbs stem are subcategorized for transitivity and the animacy of S (for intransitives) and P(atient), R(ecipient), T(heme), or B(eneficiary) (for (di)transitives), showing cross-reference with at most two participants. Non-specific participants are never cross-referenced, resulting in the possibility of constructions with three or even four participants, only one of which is cross-referenced on the verb. Even when all participants in a three-participant construction are specific, only two can be cross-referenced on the verb: the A and what is generally called the 'primary object' in Algonquian studies (T, R or B depending on the specific stem in question). Any remaining participants are not cross-referenced on the verb, irrespective of their specificity status. Whether T, R or B is chosen to be the primary object is lexically determined by the verbal stem, and more in particular by the so-called 'final', a derivational morpheme which closes every verb stem in Blackfoot. While Algonquian languages are often thought to display only secundative alignment, in line with the overwhelming importance of animacy in their grammars, we show that some stems require indirective alignment, while others allow for both configurations. Cross-referencing of A and B occurs as a result of applicativization with a benefactive final, which downgrades any potentially present T and/or R participants to non-cross-referenced objects. Finally, Blackfoot allows for a form of marking additional participants by a preverbal element called a 'relative root', which licenses a participant without influencing cross-referencing patterns and without indicating the specificity or animacy of the licensed participant.

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Temporal restrictions on personal pronouns: The composition of Blackfoot proclitics

Bliss

Gruber

2015

Lingua

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What's in a morpheme? Obviation morphology in Blackfoot

Cited by 3 publications

References 6 publications

Animating the narrow syntax

Animating the narrow syntax

Referential Hierarchies in Three-Participant Constructions in Blackfoot: The Effects of Animacy, Person, and Specificity

Temporal restrictions on personal pronouns: The composition of Blackfoot proclitics

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