Analytic vs. synthetic verbal constructions in Chukchi and West Greenlandic

Abstract

In both Chukchi and West Greenlandic, there are certain circumstances where a choice exists between an analytic and a corresponding synthetic construction. These cases are more widespread and systematic in Chukchi, where it is a matter of the presence or absence of an auxiliary verb, although the exact factors behind the choice have hardly been touched upon in the literature. A closer look at these suggests an iconic meaning distinction that may have further typological significance and also casts light on the probable origins of a number of West Greenlandic constructions involving affixes alone, namely in auxiliary constructions of the Chukchi type.