Schedule 72. StuTS

The system of classifiers in Amazonian languages is known for being typologically challenging in terms of the distinction between grammaticalized noun classes or gender systems and less grammaticalized classifier systems like, for instance, those of numeral classifiers in East Asian languages.
Especially Western Amazonian classifiers typically form multiple-classifier systems (Aikhenvald 2000), in which the same set of classifiers occurs in different loci. In this presentation, we are going to take a look at Mojeño, a group of two main varieties, spoken in the Bolivian Amazon. Mojeño has a set of about 30 classifiers which are mainly based on the shape and texture of objects and which can be suffixed to numerals, adjectives, nouns and verbs (Rose 2019). Since the use of these classifiers is not obligatory in most cases and since there is some variation in the assignment of nouns to certain classifiers they cannot be seen as an agreement device (ibid.). But what are they used for if they do not mark agreement? In this talk, we are going to explore the several functions of classifiers in Mojeño ranging from applicatives to discourse management.

AIKHENVALD, A. Y. (2000): Classifiers: A Typology of Noun Categorization Devices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ROSE, FRANÇOISE (2019): ‘From classifiers to applicatives in Mojeño Trinitario: A new source for applicative markers.’ Linguistic Typology 23(3): 435-466.

Info

Day: 2022-11-04
Start time: 11:15
Duration: 00:30
Room: Wiwi-Bunker — Room 4044
Track: Typology and Variational Linguistics
Language:

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