The reconstruction of inflectional classes in morphology: History, method and Pama-Nyungan (Australian) verbs
Date
2014
Authors
Koch, Harold
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Abstract
This paper surveys the approaches that have been taken to the synchronic description of the inflectional classes of verbs of the Pama-Nyungan family of Australian languages, highlighting problems with the application of the concept of the morpheme, and the notion of �conjugation markers�. It then summarizes and critically assesses attempts to reconstruct the prehistory of Pama-Nyungan verb inflection, considering primarily the contrasting approaches of Dixon (1980, 2002) and Alpher (1990). The methodological requirements for such a reconstruction are then discussed. Finally, the proposed principles are applied first to the internal reconstruction of verbs in Walmajarri, a language of the Ngumpin-Yapa subgroup, then to the comparative reconstruction of some Pama-Nyungan (monosyllabic) verbs that display heterogeneous patterns of inflection.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Collections
Source
Type
Book chapter
Book Title
Language Description Informed by Theory
Entity type
Access Statement
License Rights
Restricted until
2037-12-31
Downloads
File
Description