This paper investigates the phenomenon of ‘classificatory verbs,’ i.e., a set of motion and positional verbs that show stem alternation depending on the semantic features of one of their arguments. The data is drawn mainly from Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì Multimedia Dictionary, Nicholas Welch’s field notes, and other documentary sources of the language. Tłı̨chǫ classificatory verbs are presented and analyzed in detail. The paper argues that Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì classificatory verbs belong to four semantic subclasses and that these subclasses show a decreasing degree of stem alternations related to argument classification. The inconsistency in stem alternation is triggered by the presence or absence of some semantic features that determine the number of stem allomorphs. Locative verbs are affected by the [COMFORT] feature, and the other three sets are influenced by [TRANSFER], [INITIAL AGENTIVE] and [FINAL AGENTIVE] features. Moreover, the paper outlines a semantic feature geometry that accounts for the observed regularities in classificatory verb stems and their possible variations intra- and cross-linguistically.
EXPLAINING VELAR VOCALIZATION: UNDERSPECIFICATION, FEATURE GEOMETRY, AND MINIMALITY
