Tomio Hirose Origins of Predicates

Annotation

This book offers a new perspective on natural language predicates by analyzing data from the Plains Cree language. Contrary to traditional understanding, Cree verbal complexes are syntactic constructs composed of morphemes as syntactic objects that are subject to structurally defined constraints, such as c-command. Tomio Hirose illustrates this in his study of vP syntax, event semantics, morphology-syntax mappings, unaccusativity, noun incorporation and valency-reducing phenomena. Hirose demonstrates that what is known about aspectual properties of well-studied languages is also true of the less-studied Cree language. His findings significantly advance the study of syntax and semantics in both natural language predicates and in the verbal complexes in polysynthetic languages. Synthesizing the latest in linguistic theory and an array of empirical evidence, this book will be accessible to theoretical linguists, Americanists and students of the Cree language.