This dissertation is a description of Xinaliq, a Northeast (Nakh-Daghestanian) Caucasian language spoken primarily in the village also called Xinaliq, which lies at an elevation of 7,000 feet in the Kuba district of Azerbaijan, near the border with Daghestan. Currently there are approximately 1,500 residents in the village. Most of them are…

A nonlinear approach to phonology that is more constrained than linear theory is proposed. The theory disallows rules of feature changing, resulting in a stronger, more consistent, and more interesting theory. Specifically, it is suggested, and tested with data from Chukchi, that dissimilations and other nonassimilatory rules are rules of feature…

This study attempts to account for the distributional restrictions of Japanese head-internal relative clauses, and the restrictions on accessibility of noun phrases to head internal relativization in terms of the Empty Category Principle (ECP). The data indicate that there is a subject/object asymmetry in the distribution of the head - internal…

Switch reference, in which certain clauses contain a signal indicating whether that clause has the same or a different subject, is examined in Mbya Guarani. It is found that most cases can be covered by a grammatical rule stated in terms of the grammatical subjects of the two clauses involved, yielding "same subject" and "different…

Data are presented from Amele and other Papuan languages to show how the medial verb form is marked for a binary distinction of realis versus irrealis modality. It is demonstrated that in these languages realis-irrealis distinction interacts with categories of tense and mood marked on the final verb to divide them into domains of realis and…

Presents an example of a grammaticalization type not conforming to normal expectations of unidirectionality. The Biblical Hebrew third person singular pronouns are grammaticalizations from the verb root "to be." In Modern Hebrew, the zero copula in equative clauses has been replaced by these pronouns, producing the progression: copula to pronoun…

Many of the Zapotecan (Mexico) languages have a unique way of signaling co-reference between the subject and the possessor of the object: the subject is null. Analysis of such a construction is problematic to current theories of anaphoric construction. In this analysis, the construction is described and the theoretical problem is underlined by…

The representation of labiovelars in feature geometry is discussed, using primarily evidence from Konni, a Gur language of northern Ghana, and data from some other languages. The discussion is based on an observation that place assimilation of a nasal consonant to labiovelars does not result universally in a labiovelar nasal, as has been theorized…

Mestreechs, the dialect of Dutch spoken in Maastricht, the Netherlands, is analyzed for patterns of phonological duration or quantity. Two forms of prosody, hard (H) and slurred (S), are distinguished and their distribution is examined, making reference to previous research on Dutch phonology and on the realization of prosody in Northern European…

Problems emerging from previous analyses of epenthesis in Japanese verbal endings are discussed and a crucial relationship between epenthesis and assimilation is argued. The focus is on the occurrence of /i/-epenthesis with certain root-final consonants. The analysis, which incorporates the view that assimilation is accomplished by means of…

This analysis of verb morphology in Seri finds evidence that empty consonants occur in root-medial position. Analysis focuses on the parallel conjugation patterns of the verbs for "know" and "give," finding an empty consonant slot in the middle of each. This position is never preceded by a consonant, so it never appears as a…

Classical phonemic accounts of Cuzco (Peru) Quechua posit three distinct types of stops: plain, aspirated, and glottalized. A later analysis argued instead for a root-level feature of laryngealization governed by a small number of formal mechanisms. This latter analysis is taken one step further, showing that even greater explanatory power may be…

Offers an optimality theoretic account for the phonological process of across-word regressive assimilation (AWRA) in Picard, a Gallo-Romance dialect spoken in the Picardie region in Northern France and Southern Belgium. Focuses on the varieties spoken in the Vimeu region of France. Examines one particular topic in the analysis of AWRA: the…

A study examined the pattern of formation of glides in a sample of 18 Niger-Congo languages that have substantial glide formation. It is noted first that four basic pattern dualities exist, with language-specific variations, determine by whether or not: (1) glide formation applies to both front and round first vowels or round first vowels only;…

An analysis of the phonological phenomenon of "isinkalakahliso" or palatalization in Xhosa, a Bantu language, is presented, focusing on its occurrence in the passive form of verbs. First, earlier theories about the phenomenon are discussed and compared, and a new analysis is offered. It is concluded that this conceptualization of…