Categories of the Noun Phrase in Jarawara

Bibliographic Data

ID10140966
AuthorsR M W Dixon (0000-0001-8294-5806, La Trobe University, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume36
Issue3
Pages487-510
Publication date2000-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-2267 • E-ISSN: 1469-7742
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022226700008367
OpenAlexW2008426628
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited2

The head of an NP is taken to be that component which determines the categories of the NP as a whole. First impression of an NP in Jarawara (Arawá family, Brazil) involving inalienable possession (e.g. o-mano ‘my arm’) is that there is conflict of criteria concerning what is head. The gender of the NP, for verbal suffix agreement, is determined by the possessor (here I sg prefix o -), suggesting that this should be taken to be head. But the whole NP counts as 3rd person, for verbal prefix agreement, suggesting that the possessed noun ( mano ‘arm’) should be taken as head. Furthermore, the NP counts as inanimate. Detailed analysis shows that there is in fact no conflict. All NPs in this language are 3rd person (1st and 2nd persons being confined to head marking within the predicate and functioning as possessors within an NP, not as full NPs). And all NPs involving inalienable possession count as inanimate. The only variable is gender, which is determined by the possessor; plainly, this is the unequivocal head of the NP

Biology · Head (geology · Linguistics · Noun · Noun phrase · Phrase · Possession (linguistics · Possessive · Predicate (mathematical logic · Prefix · Suffix · Computer Science · Linguistics and Language Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub