Vol. 41, No. 2 June/juin 1996

Transitivity and Causation in Lushootseed Morphology
David Beck

Implications of Consonant Nasalization for a Theory of Harmony
G.L.Piggott

Reviews
Arabic Adeni Textbook (Habaka J.Feghali); Arabic Adeni Reader(Habaka J.Feghali)
Wolf Leslau

A Grammar of the Norman French of the Channel Islands. The Dialects of Jersey and Sark (Anthony Liddicoat)
Yves Charles Morin

Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction
(Robert S.P.Beekes)
Marc Picard

Basilicatese: (Lucano)-Italia Meridionale (Rainer Bigalke);Papiamentu
(Silvia Kouwenberg and Eric Murray); Kwamera (Lamont Lindstrom and John Lynch)
Keren Rice

Conceptualizations and Mental Processing in Language
(Richard A.Geiger and Brygida Rudzka-Ostyn, eds.)
Claude Vandeloise

Transitivity and Causation in Lushootseed Morphology
David Beck, University of Toronto

The Salishan language Lushootseed shows an unusual pattern in its verbal morphology wherein its verbs are formed from intransitive, adjective-like roots via a highly productive set of suffixes, the bulk of which serve to increase the valency of their stem. These include the middle-marker, which forms intransitives, and several transitivizing affixes, which are shown here to be types of causative, their transitivizing effect being an expression of the causality inherent in the prototypical transitive event. In addition, the syntactic properties of the Lushootseed passive formed by combining a transitivizing suffix with the middle-marker can be analyzed as straightforward consequences of the meanings of the affixes that compose it. Treating Lushootseed causatives as subtypes of the transitive event model suggests that cross-linguistically transitive-causatives as well as instrumentals and applicatives may be subschematic extensions of the simple transitive clause, rather than derivations from more complex, biclausal structures.

La morphologie verbale du Lushootseed montre un patron inhabituel en ce sens que les verbes sont formès à partir de racines intransitives par l'ajout d'un ensemble trè s productif de suffixes dont la plupart servent à augmenter la valence verbale. Parmi ceux-ci, on retrouve le marqueur du moyen, qui sert à former les intransitifs, ainsi que plusieurs affixes de transitivisation, qui sont en fait des types de causatif, leur effet de transitivisation reflètant la causalitè inhèrente aux èvènements transitifs. Les propriètès syntaxiques du passif, formè par la combinaison d'un suffixe de transitivisation et du marqueur du moyen, peuvent être analysèes comme dècoulant directement du sens des affixes qui le composent. Le fait de traiter les causatifs du Lushootseed comme des sous-types d'èvènements transitifs suggè re que les causatifs transitifs, de même que les instrumentaux et les applicatifs, peuvent être analysès comme des extensions sous-schèmatiques de simples phrases transitives, plutô que comme dèrivès à partir de structures biphrastiques plus complexes.

Implications of Consonant Nasalization for a Theory of Harmony
G.L. Piggott, McGill University

Nasalization in several Bantu languages skips vowels and, in some cases, also skips consonants. This process does not appear to apply in a local fashion. A solution to the locality problem has not been found so far in the conventional approaches to harmony. This article offers a novel analysis which maintains the general principle that elements related by rules or constraints are adjacent. It departs from the conventional description of harmony as a purely segmental relation and derives the effects of long distance consonant nasalization from the reconfiguration of harmony as a relation between suprasegmental units. One pattern found in Lamba is described as agreement between adjacent syllables, while another pattern found in Kikongo instantiates agreement between adjacent feet. This article recognizes a new functional foot-type, the Harmony Foot.

Certains processus de nasalisation dans plusieurs langues bantoues sautent (èvitent) des voyelles et, dans certains cas, des consonnes. Ces processus semblent donc s'appliquer de maniè re non locale. Les approches conventionnelles de l'harmonie n'ont jusqu'ici apportè aucune solution à ce problè me de localitè. Cet article propose une analyse nouvelle, qui soutient le principe gènèral selon lequel les èlèments reliès par rè gles ou contraintes sont adjacents. Cette analyse vient à l'encontre des analyses conventionnelles qui abordent l'harmonie comme une relation uniquement segmentale; les effets à distance de l'harmonie sont ici vus comme ètant causès par des relations entre les unitès suprasegmentales. Ainsi un patron harmonique du lamba est considèrè comme une relation d'identitè entre syllabes. De la même maniè re, un patron harmonique du kikongo est causè par une relation d'identitè entre pieds prosodiques adjacents. Cet article prône donc l'existence d'un nouveau type de pied: le pied harmonique.

 


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