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Vol. 59, no. 1 (Spring 2017)

Contents

Abstracts

Uto-Aztecan Maize Agriculture: A Linguistic Puzzle from Southern California

Jane H. Hill
University of Arizona

William L. Merrill
Smithsonian Institution

Abstract. The hypothesis that the members of the Proto–Uto-Aztecan speech community were maize farmers is premised in part on the assumption that a Proto–Uto-Aztecan etymon for ‘maize’ can be reconstructed; this implies that cognates with maize-related meanings should be attested in languages in both the Northern and Southern branches of the language family. A Proto–Southern Uto-Aztecan etymon for ‘maize’ is reconstructible, but the only potential cognate for these terms documented in a Northern Uto-Aztecan language is a single Gabrielino word. However, this word cannot be identified definitively as cognate with the Southern Uto-Aztecan terms for ‘maize’; consequently, the existence of a Proto–Uto-Aztecan word for ‘maize’ cannot be postulated.

Directives, Moral Authority, and Deontic Stance-Taking in Sakapultek Maya

Robin Ann Shoaps
University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Abstract. Directives are the primary grammatical resource in Sakapultek for speakers’ self-positioning with regard to notions of necessity, obligation, and responsibility. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of naturally occurring talk, I argue that such deontic stances require grounding in a locus of moral authority and index idealized relationship types among participants in a communicative event; distinguishing the multiplicity of Sakapultek directive forms in these terms is more illuminating than analyzing them in terms of directness or politeness. I suggest that the stances offered by the various directive forms are grounded in relative degree of egocentric or “subjectively” grounded moral authority.

Casting a Wider Net over N||ng: The Older Archival Resources

Tom Güldemann
Humboldt University Berlin and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena

Abstract. N||ng is a moribund language complex that is a member of the Tuu family and used to be spoken widely across the southern portion of the Kalahari in the north of South Africa. While its modern linguistic remnants have been studied intensively, there are nevertheless many gaps in our knowledge about N||ng. This article surveys the older records that began to be collected in the second half of the nineteenth century, arguing that these can inform our modern analysis of the linguistic and nonlinguistic data and complement our overall perception of this extinct ethnolinguistic group and its wider geographical and historical context.

Summarizing Clauses in Jarawara

R. M. W. Dixon
Language and Culture Research Centre, James Cook University

Abstract. A common cross-linguistic grammatical process involves repetition. This generally operates at the morphological level, as reduplication, and can carry any of a variety of meanings. In Jarawara repetition operates at the syntactic level. After a fully articulated main clause, can be added a truncated version of it (including just the core components). This has purely semantic effect, indicating that the activity referred to is extended in time. The “summarizing clause” in Jarawara looks a little like “bridging constructions” (also known as “head-tail” or “tail-head” linkage), but it is functionally quite different, playing no role in establishing discourse continuity.

Last updated: 11 Jan 2018
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