Examining approaches to describing complex verbal morphology for an unwritten language
Résumé
In this presentation I compare the effectiveness of two descriptions of the verbal system of Khaling Rai, a language of Nepal. The verbal morphology of Khaling is notoriously complex, indexing both agent and patient on transitive verbs, and with a unique verb stem alternation patterns. Yet because of the exclusively oral nature of the language, there is no written record that can be explored; diachronic data based on reconstruction can however provide insights essential for explaining complex synchronic phenomena. The larger questions I will explore are how the grammatical models one brings to a descriptive context affect the effectiveness of the description of a verbal system.
Domaines
Linguistique
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
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