Yokuts Structure and Newman's Grammar

Abstract

Newman’s long-awaited Yokuts grammar is1 a major addition to American Indian linguistics. More than that, it is a model contribution to descriptive linguistic method and data. It is written clearly and to the point, in a manner that is aesthetically elegant as well as scientifically satisfactory. It is sufficiently detailed, more so than is usual among American Indian grammars, to enable the reader to become familiar with the language and to construct correctly his own statements about the language.2 Phonology and morphology are treated fully; syntax is only briefly touched upon, as is customary in grammars of American Indian languages. The meanings of classes of morphemes and the translation of utterances are more careful and sensitive than is usually the case; cf. at random the meaning of the aorist suffix in § 18:2, or of the non-directive gerundial -taw in § 19:9. Although it is perhaps not the custom for linguists to study carefully the grammars of languages not related to their work, this is one of the few grammars which students and workers in linguistics should read with close attention to the method of handling descriptive and comparative data.