Nominal Classification without Grammatical Agreement: Evidence from Secoya

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-455
Author(s):  
Rosa Vallejos
2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Damanan N'dré

In the present paper, on the one hand, an analysis of agreement and number markers allows us to understand the disintegrated nature of the nominal classification system in the Dadjiriwale language. It turnes out that these markers show a rather phonological than grammatical agreement: While the singular is marked by a zero morpheme, it is difficult to identify "binary gender markers" or "ordered pairs". Rather, the notions of gender and noun classification become intertwined in the language. On the other hand, -sι and -ny ὶ are the plural suffixes of the noun class [+human], while the suffixes -jé and -bhó are those of the class [–human]; but furthermore, they denote divisible, and indivisible things respectively. Additionally, and analogous to the suffix-bhó, the markers -pέlώ and -kl ё́ divide objects into the group of round objects and the group of elongated objects. Finally, it is shown that the relationship established between the notion of noun classes and the notion of deixis is far from being synonymous or opposing, and that it uncovers the semantic values of the modal suffixes -sι and -nyὶ in the context of utterance: In speech, they evoke exophoric and homophoric deictic values and recall instances of interlocution and delocution.


2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Thornton ◽  
Kristen Skovbroten ◽  
Deborah Burke

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-425
Author(s):  
Bruce Connell

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of grammatical gender and agreement in Durop, a language of the Upper Cross subgroup of Cross River. The data used are drawn from Kastelein (Kastelein, Bianca. 1994. A phonological and grammatical sketch of DuRop. Leiden: University of Leiden Scriptie), whose analysis treats gender as the singular – plural pairings of nouns different from the present approach. Kastelein identifies eight concord classes (agreement classes); these form the basis of gender in Durop in the present analysis; as many as 24 agreement classes are identified here. The various systems comprising nominal classification, agreement and gender in Durop are compared and discussed. The agreement system comprises three subsystems of differing numbers of agreement classes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitipong Pichetpan ◽  
Mark W. Post

Abstract This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the little-known “bare classifier phrase” construction in Modern Standard Thai. It describes the syntax, semantics and discourse functions of Thai bare classifier phrases, and further proposes a diachronic account of their origin in reduction of post-posed numeral ‘one’. Following this synchronic and diachronic description, this article attempts to locate Thai within a working typology of bare classifier constructions in mainland Asian languages, and further argues for the importance of bare classifier constructions to the theory of classifiers more generally. Following Bisang (1999) and others, it argues that bare classifier constructions reveal the core function of classifiers in Asian languages to be individuation – a referential function. It therefore cautions against some recent proposals to merge classifiers and gender markers within a single categorical space defined on the semantic basis of nominal classification, and in favour of continuing to treat classifiers as a discrete linguistic category – in mainland Asian languages, at least.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-346
Author(s):  
Julius-Maximilian Elstermann ◽  
Ines Fiedler ◽  
Tom Güldemann

Abstract This article describes the gender system of Longuda. Longuda class marking is alliterative and does not distinguish between nominal form and agreement marking. While it thus appears to be a prototypical example of a traditional Niger-Congo “noun-class” system, this identity of gender encoding makes it look morpho-syntactic rather than lexical. This points to a formerly independent status of the exponents of nominal classification, which is similar to a classifier system and thus less canonical. Both types of class marking hosts involve two formally and functionally differing allomorphs, which inform the historical reconstruction of Longuda noun classification in various ways.


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