Categories of the Noun Phrase in Jarawara  

Oleh:

Dixon, R.M.W.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Journal of Linguistics (Full Text & ada di PROQUEST & JSTOR) vol. 34 no. 3 (Mar. 2000), page 487-510.
Fulltext: Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 487-510.pdf (611.04KB)

Isi artikel

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 (Arawa 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 isg 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 (ISt 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.

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