Morpheme Order and Semantic Scope : Word Formation in the Athapaskan Verb

The complex morphology of Athapaskan languages is of great linguistic interest but still sparsely documented. This insightful book offers a rich typological survey of morpheme ordering in Athapaskan verbs and demonstrates the relevance of semantics for verb structure. It will interest Athapaskanists, typologists, historical and theoretical linguists alike.

Athapaskan languages are well known for their intricate morphology, in particular the complexity of their verbs. The significance of these languages for linguistic theory is widely acknowledged. In this book, Keren Rice offers a rich typological survey of morpheme ordering in Athapaskan verbs, with implications for both synchronic grammar and language change. She shows that verb structure is in fact widely predictable across Athapaskan languages if appropriate syntactic factors and an overarching principle of semantic scope are taken into account. The presentation also includes a detailed study of argument and aspectual systems. This landmark volume was the first major comparative study of its type for the Athapaskan language family, combining descriptive depth with a contemporary theoretical perspective. Clear and insightful, it will interest Athapaskanists, typologists, historical and theoretical linguists alike.