Problems of polysynthesis, with special reference to the Northwest Caucasian languages
Four seminars in INALCO, Paris, May 2023.
Seminar descriptions and presentations
General Abstract
The course will deal with the notions of “polysynthesis” and “polysynthetic language”, traditionally conceived of as showing extreme morphological complexity of the verb and mainly known from North America and the neighbouring regions, with other hotspots in such areas as Amazonia, Northern Australia or Tibet. The course will discuss approaches to polysynthesis in linguistic typology, problems with the various definitions of polysynthesis and the fuzzy and multifaceted nature of the concept and the cross-linguistic variation in the associated empirical domain. In addition, it will offer a detailed overview of polysynthesis and related phenomena in the Northwest Caucasian languages, which have so far not figured with sufficient prominence in typological studies of the phenomenon. Seminars 2–4 will start with a brief recapitulation of the main contents of the previous seminar.
Materials
Seminar 1: What is polysynthesis? pdf video
Seminar 2: Internal variation and fringes of polysynthesis pdf video
Seminar 3: Polysynthetic morphology in the Northwest Caucasian languages pdf video
Seminar 4: Morphology-syntax interface in polysynthetic languages pdf video
References pdf