Athapaskan Languages Research Articles

Morphotactic variation, prosodic domains and the changing structure of the Murrinhpatha verb

Bound morphology is usually realized on lexical stems following fixed rules of sequencing, but in some highly agglutinative languages this is not the case. Morphotactic variation has previously been described in detail for Chintang and Tagalog, and more briefly noted for various other languages including Udi, Totonac and Athapaskan languages (Bickel et al., 2007; Harris, 2002; McFarland, 2009; Rice, 2000; Ryan, 2010). I here report another case of variable ordering, in Murrinhpatha, spoken in northern Australia. I argue that in this case the variable ordering of verb suffixes reflects change in progress in the morphological structure of the verb, and the dynamic nature of prosodic domains in this language. I also note that in Chintang, Udi and Murrinhpatha, morphotactic variation is associated with word-like prosodic domains occurring inside the syntactic verbal word.

Obligatory Future In A Dene Language

In Tlichǫ Yatii (Dogrib), spoken in the Northwest Territories, Canada, the periphrastic particle ile, which has been considered a past marker, is optional in the clause. As in other Dene (Athapaskan) languages, viewpoint aspect is encoded morphologically on the verb. These two facts can give the impression that aspect is the only obligatory temporal category in this language and that other temporal distinctions are peripheral. I argue, on the contrary, that a future/non-future distinction is a necessary element of well-formed clauses, that Future, rather than Past/Non-Past Tense or Aspect, serves as an anchor in the sense of Enc (1987), and that anchoring does not necessarily correlate with the prominence of a temporal category in the sense of Bhat (1999). I adduce evidence in support of these proposals from the contrasting obligatoriness of past and future marking in predicates, as well as from word order facts.

Measuring Linguistic Distance in Athapaskan

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:Since the last attempts to establish sub-grouping in Athapaskan (cf. Mithun 1999), the field has benefited from a wider availability of data through published grammars, dictionaries, and articles, as well the greater ease of accessibility to digital archives containing field notes and other relevant primary materials. Additionally, computer-aided techniques of data analysis have been developed, making it possible to treat larger sets of data and more readily visualize these data with graphs and maps. Here, we present the results of applying statistical clustering and mapping techniques in grouping Athapaskan languages on the basis of phonological similarity. We want to argue for the usefulness of applying such techniques to Athapaskan, and point toward future work that will integrate greater and more varied bodies of data that we believe will lead to a reliable sub-grouping of Athapaskan languages and bring greater understanding of the history of the Athapaskan-speaking peoples.

Growth inhibition of human acute lymphoblastic CCRF-CEM leukemia cells by medicinal plants of the West-Canadian Gwich’in Native Americans

The Gwich’in, which belong to the Athapaskan language group of Native Americans live in the borderland between Alaska and Canada. We analyzed 29 medicinal plants of this tribe for their growth inhibitory activity against CCRF-CEM T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells. The anti-leukemic activity of these plants has not been investigated as yet. Considering the poor cure rates of some ALL forms, there might be a great potential for medicinal plants as resource for natural products to treat T-ALL. We found that the hexane extracts of three plants revealed considerable growth inhibition on CCRF-CEM cells. The 50% inhibition concentrations (IC50) were 6.63 ± 0.03 µg/ml for Cladina mitis, 8.65 ± 0.38 µg/ml for Picea mariana (needles), and 9.67 ± 1.36 µg/ml for Artemisia frigida. Further investigations are required to isolate the active constituents of these plants.

Verbal morphology in Murrinh-Patha: evidence for templates

If questions concerning affix ordering are among the central ones in morphological theory, then languages with templatic morphology appear to provide the least interesting answer, since in these languages affix order must be simply stipulated in the form of arbitrary position classes. For this reason, much recent research into templatic morphology has attempted to show that affix order in such languages is in fact governed by underlying semantic or syntactic principles. The most fully articulated position in this respect is that of Rice (Morpheme order and semantic scope, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000), who provides a comprehensive analysis of morpheme order across the Athapaskan languages and argues that it is largely determined by universal principles of semantic (and syntactic) scope. If these principles of word formation are truly universal, we should expect to find evidence for them in all similarly ‘templatic’ systems, including the head-marking languages of Australia. In this context, I discuss the order of verbal affixes in Murrinh-Patha and show that these data cannot be adequately accounted for by syntactic or semantic accounts of affix ordering, but rather provide strong support for the existence of templatic organization in morphological systems.

Shäwthän Dän, Shäwthän Kwänjè: good people, good words: creating a dän k'è speech community in an elementary school

This paper investigates how the processes of language transmission among speakers of Southern Tutchone (dän k'è), an indigenous Athapaskan language of the southern Yukon Territory, Canada, bear out an emerging theoretical interest in how bottom-up communicative practices shape language policy. An examination of dän k'è language practices illuminates how both fluent speakers and novices can actively create a speech community dedicated to the continued maintenance of their language. Drawing upon fieldwork conducted in an elementary school in Whitehorse, Yukon, I examine how language-teaching methods and language practices both inside and outside of the classroom function as ways to challenge the English-dominant speech community of the school. The shifting of linguistic frames in teaching, the addition of dän k'è to the school's linguistic landscape, and the introduction of speaking practices that reinforce the use of dän k'è all promote language use in a way that empowers speakers and encourages language maintenance. Exploring the agency of individual speakers and how their language practices both reproduce and challenge top-down policies reveals how speech communities can be shaped through the bottom-up planning of the speakers themselves.

Anti-Homophony Effects in Dakelh (Carrier) Valence Morphology

In Dakelh (Carrier), as in many other Athapaskan languages, valence prefixes and “inner subject” prefixes interact in a complex pattern involving a combination of consonant deletion and/or fusion and, in certain conditions, what looks like epenthesis. In this paper we investigate this apparent epenthesis effect, which is otherwise unexpected in this environment in Dakelh and is problematic in several aspects (Gessner 2003). We propose that the epenthesis should be understood as an anti-homophony effect (Crosswhite 1999, Blevins 2004a, b) serving to systematically maintain a surface distinction between paradigmatically related forms differing in valence. We demonstrate how the anti-homophony effect is best understood in a diachronic-evolutionary context rather than a synchronicphonological one: “epenthesis” is really the blocking of syncope (as a regular historical sound change). The account constitutes a striking parallel to the explanation of so-called antigemination effects as the result of syncope blocking through homophony avoidance, as proposed by Blevins (2004a, b).

Language contact, phonemic inventories, and the Athapaskan language family

Languages of the Athapaskan family were often in contact with languages of other families, and speakers were often bilingual (or multilingual). The languages typically have large consonant inventories, and speakers were often bilingual in languages with smaller or larger inventories. These languages present a good laboratory of study for the predictions made by Peter Trudgill concerning sociolinguistic factors governing inventory size. There is relative stability in the size of the stem-initial consonant inventory across the language family independent of the type of contact situation found and the size of the consonant inventories of the languages in contact.

Particles in Northern Athapaskan Languages

Particles in Athapaskan languages have discourse and syntactic functions. This paper will look at a sample of particles which have these functions, and attempt to answer two questions: 1) What is the primary translation and the secondary translation for each panicle; 2) If speech is stripped of particles, is it still considered "fluent" speech?

Athapaskan: a Structural Overview

In this structural overview, I will focus on the morphology with a brief discussion of phonology and syntax for the reason that Athapaskan, as a "polysynthetic" language, has a very complex morphological structure of the verb. In terms of the number of segments, Athapaskan is one of the richest in the inventory of the consonants, which include three series of obstruents (plain, aspirated, and glottalized). Particularly rich is the inventory of affricates, which include, for most Athapaskan languages, three sets (dental, lateral, and palatal). The major lexical categories include verbs, nouns, and postpositions. Minor categories include deictic-demonstratives, numerals, locatives, adverbials, etc. Nouns and postpositions are morphologically identical in that they inflect with the same set of personal prefixes, marking a possessor for nouns and object for postpositions. But nouns and postpositions are different syntactically because only nouns function as a subject or direct object, whereas postpositions play other syntactic functions often incorporated into the verb. The verb morphology is characterized by a complex prefix structure as well as stem variation marking not only tense /aspect I mode, but also such other features as number and what are known to be the characteristics of the so-called 'classificatory' verbs. Athapaskan verbs are known for more or less a dozen prefix positions, although not all of these positions are filled for a particular verb. The classificatory verb system, which includes half a dozen or more alternating stems, is the most interesting and intriguing morphosemantic characteristic of the Athapaskan language, which would be particularly interesting to interpreters and translators. The syntactic structures involving the third and fourth person pronominal prefixes have been the most lively theoretical issue. Athapaskan is a verb-final language and a verb alone often represents a sentence. Typically the subject noun phrase and verb phrase are the first and last constituents of the sentence where other constituents, e.g. adverb, a postpositional phrase (indirect object) and direct object noun phrase occur between these two constituents. Relative clause and direct I indirect discourse are the best known noun phrase and verb phrase complementations, whereas topicalization and extraposition are the two best known movement rules in Athapaskan.

Strains of JC virus in Amerind-speakers of North America (Salish) and South America (Guaraní), Na-Dene-speakers of New Mexico (Navajo), and modern Japanese suggest links through an ancestral Asian population.

Previously we showed that strains of human polyoma virus JC among the Navajo in New Mexico, speakers of an Athapaskan language in the Na-Dene language phylum, and among the Salish people in Montana, speakers of a language of the Salishan group in the Amerind family, were mainly of a northeast Asian genotype found in Japan (type 2A). We now report partial VP1-gene, regulatory region, and complete genome sequences of JC virus (JCV) from the Guaraní Indians of Argentina. The Tupí-Guaraní language represents the Equatorial branch of the Amerind language family proposed by Greenberg ([1987] Language in the Americas, Stanford: Stanford University Press). The partial VP1 gene sequences of the Guaraní revealed several variants of strains found in northeast Asia (Japan), as did the Salish. In contrast, the strains in the Navajo largely conformed to the prototype type 2A sequence (MY). Phylogenetic reconstruction with both the neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony methods utilized three complete Guaraní JCV genome sequences, three genomes from the Salish people, and 27 other complete JCV genomes, including three from the Navajo and three from Japan. Both trees showed that all type 2A JCV strains from the North and South Americans are closely related phylogenetically to strains in present-day Japan. However, variant sites in the coding regions, the T-antigen intron, and the regulatory region link the type 2A strains in Amerind groups (Guaraní and Salish), but differentiate them from those in a Na-Dene-speaking (Navajo) population. The data suggest separation from a population ancestral to modern Japanese, followed by a second division within the ancestral group that led to Amerind- and Na-Dene-speaking groups. The data cannot, however, localize the latter split to the Asian mainland (two migrations) or to North America (one migration).

Lexical Integrity, Checking, and the Mirror: A Checking Approach to Syntactic Word Formation

Admitting syntactic formation of morphologically complex words is commonly deemed to be an infringement on the Lexical Integrity Hypothesis. But syntactic word formation, if understood in terms of the checking of features of subparts of words in designated syntactic positions, is readily reconciled with strong lexicalism. This paper will argue that a checking approach to syntactic word formation, in tandem with a novel interpretation of the Mirror Principle of Baker (1985), yields a straightforward resolution of the otherwise problematic inflectional morphology of the Athapaskan languages, as well as of ‘bracketing paradoxes’ of the unhappier and ungrammaticality type. The syntactically complex structure of unhappier and ungrammaticality that underlies the checking approach to syntactic word formation is supported on the basis of evidence from polarity item licensing, adverbial modification, and so-anaphora.

Literacy in Athapaskan Languages in the Northwest Territories, Canada

Data on fluency and literacy in Athapaskan (Dene) languages in the Northwest Territories of Canada are reviewed here, with discussion of recent policy decisions regarding implied or explicit roles of Dene literacy and the forms they might take. Emphasis is placed on evidence of trends in Dene literacy development; special attention is given to the extent to which new roles for literacy are created, and to the extent to which literacy conforms to patterns consistent with oral language use. The context is the legitimacy of Dene cultures, languages, social practices, and economic and political power in the face of Euro-Canadian pressures.

Noun Incorporation new Evidence from Athapaskan

This paper deals with noun incorporation data from Northern Athapaskan languages, which have not hitherto been analyzed formally. Based on semantic characteristics of noun incorporation and on incorporation from oblique and subject positions, we claim that this phenomenon does not obey the syntactic rules posited by Baker (1988). A theory which seeks to constrain noun incorporation in terms of grammatical relations is not adequate for explaining it in Northern Athapaskan. A functional approach (Givón 1984, 1985), which is sensitive to the semantics and pragmatics of incorporation, is found to be more adequate. We argue that noun incorporation is a functionally motivated process at the interface of morphology and syntax that changes linguistic coding from independent and salient to dependent and nonsalient.

The Representation of the Perfective Suffix in the Athapaskan Language Family

L'A. examine l'hypothese selon laquelle le suffixe perfectif avait en proto-athapaskan - et conserve dans de nombreuses langues-filles - une representation phonetique de base unique. Le but est de montrer que la representation du suffixe perfectif est demeuree stable aux niveaux temporel et geographique

Laryngeal features in Athapaskan languages

In a typical Athapaskan language, consonants divide into three manners of articulation, stops/affricates, fricatives and sonorants. There are generally three major laryngeal classes in the stops/affricates, two in the fricatives and a single class in the sonorants. In this paper, I examine how laryngeal oppositions in stops/affricates and fricatives are best characterised. I argue in §§ 2—7 that stops/affricates (henceforth stops) are phonologically voiceless unaspirated, aspirated and glottalised, while fricatives exhibit a voiced-voiceless distinction. These classes do not account for all laryngeal interactions, however; evidence exists that aspiration and voicing cross-classify the stops and fricatives, with aspiration being necessary for fricatives and voicing for stops in late rules of the phonology; this is the topic of §§8-9. In addition, evidence suggests that while stops/affricates form a single class underlyingly, they are distinct at a late level. Implications of the analysis are discussed in §§10—11. Processes involving laryngeal features suggest a two-level model of phonology in which contrastive features are present underlyingly and predictable features are added postlexically for reasons of phonetic implementation. The absence of predictable features underlyingly argues against recent work that suggests that such features may be present at this level (e.g. Steriade 1992a, b, 1993b); their postlexical presence argues for a model in which the postlexical phonology is identifiable as the phonetic implementation component of the grammar (e.g. Mohanan 1986; see also Cohn 1993).

Linguistic divergence in Fort Chipewyan

ABSTRACTScollon and Scollon (1979) claimed that the consonantal system of Chipewyan in Fort Chipewyan has been reduced to 16 segments from 39 influenced by Cree, a case of linguistic convergence. This conclusion was based on their incoherent and indiscriminate admixture of variable data. While there is no Chipewyan speaker whose consonantal inventory includes only 16 phonemes, there is ample evidence for the merger of two series of coronal affricates in an innovative system like in other Athapaskan languages that have had no intimate contact with Cree. That is, there is evidence for intralinguistic divergence, but not for interlinguistic convergence. Neither is there any evidence to support another major claim by the Scollons that the sibilant alternations in Chipewyan are correlated with “world views.” All the changes, including sibilant alternations and coronal mergers, recorded in Fort Chipewyan are those frequently observed in other Athapaskan communities. (Language contact, change, convergence, divergence, variability, obsolescence, register, sociolinguistic variable)

Language loss, language gain: Cultural camouflage and social change among the Sekani of Northern British Columbia

ABSTRACTThe creation of a large artificial lake in 1968 that flooded a large part of the Sekani homeland has led to change in the political outlook of the reorganized Sekani villages. In particular, there has been a reemergence of a universalist social–political philosophy, pan-Indianism, that had as its precursor the cultural–political category of phratry. The association between disruption and the emergence of this system of categorization is historically grounded. The particular problem addressed is why the Sekani speak English when there is little direct contact with Euro-Canadians and no particular advantages, in terms of adaptation to the new economic regime, in doing so. Changes in Sekani English in the political sphere and in relationship terms are examined within the context of maintaining a commitment to pan-Indianism/universalism. (Language loss, bilingualism, political culture, ways of speaking, British Columbia, Athapaskan languages)

Prosodic constituency in Hare (Athapaskan):: Evidence for the Foot

In this paper, I would like to argue that if a prosodic structure which is distinct from morphosyntactic structure is available, several apparently diverse facts of Athapaskan phonology and morphology receive a uniform explanation. In particular, I propose that a prosodic structure consisting of two syllables serves as a basic organizing unit both morphologically and phonologically. This prosodic structure functions as a minimal word template, as a base for affixation, and as the domain for several phonological processes. In the first section of this paper, I offer some background on Athapaskan languages in general and on the Hare dialect of Slave, the Athapaskan language that I examine in this paper, 1 1 Slave [slevi], is an Athapaskan language of northern Canada. Hare [her] is one of the dialects of this language. See Rice (1989a) for discussion. in particular. In the second section I examine why a structure distinct from the morphological structure is required. I then present morphological and phonological evidence for this structure.

Is phonology going haywire in dying languages? Phonological variations in Chipewyan and Sarcee

ABSTRACTThe two most conspicuous phenomena reported on dying languages are (a) structural (and stylistic) simplifications and (b) dramatic increases of variability due to incongruent and idiosyncratic “change.” The phonological data from two Athapaskan languages, as well as other published data (Dorian 1973, 1978; Hill 1978; Schmidt 1985a), demonstrate that underlying the apparent degeneration of the system there is an orderly progression which is viewed as aretarded process of language acquisition. Different semispeakers reach different levels of maturity due to different degrees of retardation, consequently increasing variability and complexity for the total system, whereas each idiolect undergoes systematic developmental stages albeit retarded, decreasing eventually structural (and stylistic) profusion. Therefore, a dying language mirrors the successive stages of ontogenesis. (Historical linguistics, language acquisition, language death, language contact, bilingualism, sociolinguistics)