Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal

© editorial matter and organization Andrej Malchukov and Andrew Spencer 2009, chapters their several authors 2009. All rights reserved. Nyamal is an Australian language of the Pama-Nyungan family, originally spoken in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In Nyamal, as in many Australian language...

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Main Author: Dench, Alan
Format: Book Chapter
Published: 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55721
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author Dench, Alan
author_facet Dench, Alan
author_sort Dench, Alan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
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description © editorial matter and organization Andrej Malchukov and Andrew Spencer 2009, chapters their several authors 2009. All rights reserved. Nyamal is an Australian language of the Pama-Nyungan family, originally spoken in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In Nyamal, as in many Australian languages, nominal suffixes serve a wide range of dependency-marking functions, which include but are not restricted to traditional 'case'. Nyamal has a very complex system of case marking. This complexity is due to its very strong tendency towards multiple case marking combined with variation in the case marking selected by arguments of different predicates, in different clause types, and by different patterns of case syncretism in different classes of nominals. Morphological coding conventions determine the distribution of case suffixes to constituents within a phrase or clause marked for case. Patterns of suffix distribution predicted by the use of case suffixes at different functional levels and by the rules of concord are modified by certain morphological sequence constraints. This article describes and exemplifies that complexity. It sets out the variables affecting the choice of case marking for arguments in clauses and describes the patterns of multiple case marking.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-557212017-09-13T16:09:55Z Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal Dench, Alan © editorial matter and organization Andrej Malchukov and Andrew Spencer 2009, chapters their several authors 2009. All rights reserved. Nyamal is an Australian language of the Pama-Nyungan family, originally spoken in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In Nyamal, as in many Australian languages, nominal suffixes serve a wide range of dependency-marking functions, which include but are not restricted to traditional 'case'. Nyamal has a very complex system of case marking. This complexity is due to its very strong tendency towards multiple case marking combined with variation in the case marking selected by arguments of different predicates, in different clause types, and by different patterns of case syncretism in different classes of nominals. Morphological coding conventions determine the distribution of case suffixes to constituents within a phrase or clause marked for case. Patterns of suffix distribution predicted by the use of case suffixes at different functional levels and by the rules of concord are modified by certain morphological sequence constraints. This article describes and exemplifies that complexity. It sets out the variables affecting the choice of case marking for arguments in clauses and describes the patterns of multiple case marking. 2012 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55721 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199206476.013.0053 restricted
spellingShingle Dench, Alan
Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal
title Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal
title_full Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal
title_fullStr Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal
title_full_unstemmed Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal
title_short Case in an Australian Language: Distribution of Case and Multiple Case Marking in Nyamal
title_sort case in an australian language: distribution of case and multiple case marking in nyamal
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/55721