The elusive verbal classifiers in ‘Witoto’

2019 ◽  
pp. 176-196
Author(s):  
Katarzyna I. Wojtylak
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Closed Set ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Semantic Types ◽  
Verbal Classifiers

This chapter focuses on forms and functions of verbal classifiers in Murui and Mɨka, two closely related language varieties of the ‘Witoto’ dialect continuum from the Witotoan language family spoken in Northwest Amazonia. Murui and Mɨka verbal classifiers are used to refer to a previously mentioned referent or to re-introduce the referent into the discourse. They form a closed set of morphemes that signal the presence of S/O/peripheral arguments. ‘Witoto’ verbal classifiers interact with semantic types of verbs (they co-occur with verbs of ‘handling’ and ‘affect’), and categorize noun referents in terms of their physical properties (shape, size, structure, etc.). Further comparison of Murui and Mɨka verbal classifiers suggests that the productivity of this system has been gradually eroding in Murui as spoken today; this is unlike verbal classifiers found in older Mɨka narratives.

Ice physical properties, structural characteristics and stratigraphy in Hobson’s Choice Ice Island and implications for the growth history of East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Canadian High Arctic

1991 ◽  
Vol 37 (126) ◽  
pp. 247-260
Author(s):  
Martin O. Jeffries ◽  
Harold V. Serson ◽  
H. Roy Krouse ◽  
William M. Sackinger
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Complete Characterization ◽  
Ice Crystal ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Growth History ◽  
History Of

AbstractHobson’s Choice Ice Island is a tabular iceberg that calved in 1982-83 from East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, N.W.T., Canada. Four ice cores have been analyzed for ice-crystal size, structure and fabric, bulk density, liquid electrical conductivity, δ18O and tritium. This has enabled a complete characterization of the physical properties and the structural characteristics of the ice-shelf component of Hobson’s Choice Ice Island and the first ever study of the stratigraphy and growth history of East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. The δ18O values range from -34.6 toand indicate that all the ice is derived directly and/or indirectly from precipitation. High tritium values occur only in the lowermost 5 m of the ice shelf in a layer named stratum B. The tritium is anthropogenic and indicates bottom accretion of fresh-water ice since 1952, most likely from fresh water flowing out of Disraeli Fiord below the eastern ice shelf. Above this deepest and youngest ice layer is a 35-38 m thick, unconformable layer (stratum A) comprising three ice types: iced-firn, slush ice and lake ice. This depositional-superimposed ice represents past surface accumulation, which, according to δ18O and ice-crystal structure and size variations, occurred in three major periods, each interrupted by major ablation periods. Fresh water flowing out of Disraeli Fiord below the ice shelf during those warm intervals was the most likely agent responsible for the ablation and eventual complete loss of the original sea-ice platform on which stratum A initially accumulated. The three sub-strata of stratum A vary in thickness from core to core and suggest that there has been an inversion of relief during each ablation period. The different properties and occurrences of the three superimposed ice types are due primarily to past topographic variability.

scholarly journals Ice physical properties, structural characteristics and stratigraphy in Hobson’s Choice Ice Island and implications for the growth history of East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Canadian High Arctic

1991 ◽  
Vol 37 (126) ◽  
pp. 247-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin O. Jeffries ◽  
Harold V. Serson ◽  
H. Roy Krouse ◽  
William M. Sackinger
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Complete Characterization ◽  
Ice Crystal ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Growth History ◽  
History Of

AbstractHobson’s Choice Ice Island is a tabular iceberg that calved in 1982-83 from East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, N.W.T., Canada. Four ice cores have been analyzed for ice-crystal size, structure and fabric, bulk density, liquid electrical conductivity, δ18O and tritium. This has enabled a complete characterization of the physical properties and the structural characteristics of the ice-shelf component of Hobson’s Choice Ice Island and the first ever study of the stratigraphy and growth history of East Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. The δ18O values range from -34.6 toand indicate that all the ice is derived directly and/or indirectly from precipitation. High tritium values occur only in the lowermost 5 m of the ice shelf in a layer named stratum B. The tritium is anthropogenic and indicates bottom accretion of fresh-water ice since 1952, most likely from fresh water flowing out of Disraeli Fiord below the eastern ice shelf. Above this deepest and youngest ice layer is a 35-38 m thick, unconformable layer (stratum A) comprising three ice types: iced-firn, slush ice and lake ice. This depositional-superimposed ice represents past surface accumulation, which, according to δ18O and ice-crystal structure and size variations, occurred in three major periods, each interrupted by major ablation periods. Fresh water flowing out of Disraeli Fiord below the ice shelf during those warm intervals was the most likely agent responsible for the ablation and eventual complete loss of the original sea-ice platform on which stratum A initially accumulated. The three sub-strata of stratum A vary in thickness from core to core and suggest that there has been an inversion of relief during each ablation period. The different properties and occurrences of the three superimposed ice types are due primarily to past topographic variability.

scholarly journals Phonemic and tonal analysis of Yongning Na*

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis MICHAUD ◽  
Alexis MICHAUD
Keyword(s):  
Fine Grained ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Tonal Analysis ◽  
The Village

The Na language spoken in the village of Yongning, close to the border between Yunnan and Sichuan, has been classified as an Eastern Naxi dialect in the pioneering survey conducted by Chinese linguists. It is also referred to as 'Mosuo'. The phonemic and tonal analysis presented here on the basis of first-hand fieldwork aims to serve as a basis for linguistic documentation and research, from the accurate transcription of recorded materials to fine-grained synchronic and diachronic investigations. The ultimate aim is an in-depth understanding of Na, Naxi and other closely related language varieties, including an account of their historical relationships and their links with other Tibeto-Burman languages.

scholarly journals Linguistic innovation, political centralization and economic integration in the Kongo kingdom

Diachronica ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Bostoen ◽  
Gilles-Maurice de Schryver
Keyword(s):  
Economic Integration ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Related Language ◽  
The Social ◽  
Linguistic Innovation ◽  
Political Centralization ◽  
African Linguistics ◽  
Insight Into

In this article we reconstruct the actuation and transmission of a phonological innovation known as prefix reduction within the Kikongo language cluster situated in the wider Lower Congo region of Central Africa. We argue that this change spread from a focal area coinciding with the heartland of the Kongo kingdom as a classical process of dialectal diffusion. Thanks to a unique Kikongo corpus that starts in the 17th century, we can provide diachronic empirical evidence for different phases of the process, which has been otherwise difficult, if not impossible, in Bantu historical linguistics. What is more, and also quite exceptional in African linguistics, we have fairly good insight into the ‘social ecology’ of this language change and argue that political centralization and economic integration within the realm of the Kongo kingdom facilitated such a contact-induced diffusion between closely-related language varieties.

scholarly journals Bayesian phylolinguistics infers the internal structure and the time-depth of the Turkic language family

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Savelyev ◽  
Martine Robbeets
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Quantitative Basis ◽  
Turkic Languages ◽  
Divergence Dates ◽  
Basic Vocabulary ◽  
Historical Comparative ◽  
Lexical Data ◽  
Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference

Abstract Despite more than 200 years of research, the internal structure of the Turkic language family remains subject to debate. Classifications of Turkic so far are based on both classical historical–comparative linguistic and distance-based quantitative approaches. Although these studies yield an internal structure of the Turkic family, they cannot give us an understanding of the statistical robustness of the proposed branches, nor are they capable of reliably inferring absolute divergence dates, without assuming constant rates of change. Here we use computational Bayesian phylogenetic methods to build a phylogeny of the Turkic languages, express the reliability of the proposed branches in terms of probability, and estimate the time-depth of the family within credibility intervals. To this end, we collect a new dataset of 254 basic vocabulary items for thirty-two Turkic language varieties based on the recently introduced Leipzig–Jakarta list. Our application of Bayesian phylogenetic inference on lexical data of the Turkic languages is unprecedented. The resulting phylogenetic tree supports a binary structure for Turkic and replicates most of the conventional sub-branches in the Common Turkic branch. We calculate the robustness of the inferences for subgroups and individual languages whose position in the tree seems to be debatable. We infer the time-depth of the Turkic family at around 2100 years before present, thus providing a reliable quantitative basis for previous estimates based on classical historical linguistics and lexicostatistics.

A view from the North

2019 ◽  
pp. 103-143
Author(s):  
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Numeral Classifiers ◽  
North West ◽  
Number Words ◽  
The North ◽  
The Family ◽  
And Gender

This chapter addresses the issue of coexistence of noun categorization devices within one language. Genders and other noun categorization devices—be they numeral classifiers, or other classifiers—are generally thought of as being relatively independent from one another. Co-existing and overlapping systems of genders and classifiers are cross-linguistically uncommon. The chapter shows that this is a feature of some Arawak languages from north-west Amazonia, two genders—feminine and non-feminine—are obligatorily marked on verbs and nouns, and demonstratives and other modifiers within a noun phrase. Classifiers used on number words, and in a variety of other contexts, categorize the noun in terms of its physical properties, and distinguish gender. Gender is thus integrated within the system of classifiers. Gender markers may co-occur with classifiers in one word. The chapter concludes that gender distinctions and gender markers are uniform across the Arawak language family, and can be reconstructed for the proto-language. The chapter proposes that classifiers may have developed separately in each subgroup within the family.

Ende

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Kate L. Lindsey
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Western Province

Ende (ISO639-3 code: kit) is a Pahoturi River language spoken by at least 600 (Eberhard, Simons & Fennig 2019) and as many as 1000 (Dareda 2016) people in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, primarily in the villages of Limol, Malam, and Kinkin, as shown in Figure 1. The Pahoturi River family, which also includes the Agob, Em, Idi, Kawam, and Taeme language varieties, has not yet been demonstrated to be related to any other language family and is thus classified as Papuan due to its geographical location. As with many languages in the region, the name of the language, Ende /ende/ [ʔende], is the Ende word meaning ‘what’.

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