A Grammar of Kwaza

Voort, Hein van der

doi:10.1515/9783110197280

Cited by 139 publications

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“…Many languages simply lack reflexive pronouns; whether such languages encode definiteness is irrelevant for our purposes. For instance, Kwaza (Voort ) does not mark definiteness and has no reflexive pronouns. There are also languages that do not have reflexive pronouns but use various kinds of nouns for reflexive purpose.…”

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confidence: 99%

Phases, Reflexives, and Definiteness

Despić

2015

Syntax

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This paper investigates a puzzling correlation between two seemingly disparate phenomena: the crosslinguistic distribution of reflexive possessives and definiteness marking. As observed in Reuland 2007, 2011 and supported here by additional crosslinguistic evidence, reflexive possessives are available only in languages that either lack definiteness marking or encode definiteness postnominally. Languages that have prenominal (article-like) definiteness marking, on the other hand, systematically lack reflexive possessives. I argue that such facts support a particular approach to reflexive binding-specifically, one that has the following properties: (i) binding domains are stated in terms of phases, (ii) in addition to CPs and vPs, DPs are phases, and (iii) DP is not universal. I closely examine another robust crosslinguistic correlation regarding definiteness marking-Bo skovi c's (2008) Left Branch Extraction generalization-and show how it directly follows from the key assumptions of the analysis. I situate my proposals within a broader context of the phase theory, arguing that the syntactic representation of (in)definiteness is the crucial factor in determining the phasehood status of nominal categories. I extend my analysis to the clausal domain and discuss it in the context of languages that allow reflexives in the subject position.

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confidence: 99%

Phases, Reflexives, and Definiteness

Despić

2015

Syntax

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“…Such interruptions are conspicuously absent in the above Kwaza text, as well as in other Kwaza texts (e.g. Voort, 2004 andVoort et al, 2017, which also contain several cases of non-third person switch-reference).…”

Section: Similaritiesmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…The Aikanã language has been studied by linguists since the 1980s, and has been partially described by Hinton (1993), Vasconcelos (2002), Silva (2012), van der Voort & Birchall (in press) and several articles by van der Voort. The Kwaza language has been studied since the 1990s, and has been described by van der Voort (2004) in an extensive monograph and several articles. Both languages are genealogical isolates, as is evidenced by their lexical and grammatical properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clause chaining and switch-reference in Aikanã and Kwaza

Voort

2021

Bol. Mus. Para. Emílio Goeldi. Ciênc. hum.

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In Aikanã and Kwaza, neighbouring endangered isolate languages of Rondônia, Brazil, sentences can include chains of medial clauses and end with a predicate in a matrix sentence mood, such as declarative, interrogative etc. In Kwaza, traditional narratives may even consist of a single long string of medial clauses, terminated by a fixed formula in the declarative mood. In both languages, subject (dis)continuity is expressed by a switch-reference system that indicates on the predicate of the current clause whether the subject of the next clause will be different or not. In this descriptive article I present similarities and differences between the systems of switch-reference in Aikanã and Kwaza. Among the differences, I discuss cases of formally marked switch-reference that appears to express topic discontinuity rather than subject discontinuity, in Kwaza. Also, I analyse the unusual anticipatory nature of the Kwaza system. As a special feature of this article I include two versions of a traditional mythological narrative, originally told in Aikanã and later retold in Kwaza, to illustrate clause chaining and switch-reference through a coherent and culturally relevant text.

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“…One of these languages was the highly endangered and practically undocumented Koaia language isolate, spoken in a mixed community in the state of Rondonia, Brazil, together with Aikana or Huari (unclassified), and Latunde (Nambikwaran). Subsequently, Koaia (now renamed Kwaza), a language of c. 25 speakers, most of whom are also fluent in Aikana and Portuguese, became the subject of a project resulting in one of the most detailed linguistic descriptions of any South American language to date (van der Voort 2004). In the following years, UNESCO supported more initiatives such as the publication of an Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger of Disappearing (Wurm 1996).…”

Section: Official Recognition Of Indigenous Languages and The Rise Of Normative Grammarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical overview: Descriptive and comparative research on South American Indian languages

Adelaar¹

2012

The Indigenous Languages of South America

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A Grammar of Kwaza

Cited by 139 publications

References 0 publications

Phases, Reflexives, and Definiteness

Phases, Reflexives, and Definiteness

Clause chaining and switch-reference in Aikanã and Kwaza

Historical overview: Descriptive and comparative research on South American Indian languages

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