The basic morpho-syntax of Yaitepec Chatino

Yaitepec Chatino is an Otomanguean language of the Zapotecan family, spoken in the highlands of southeastern Oaxaca, Mexico. It has been described in a small number of articles and in one full-length work, K. Pride's 1965 Chatino Syntax. Among the interesting features of the language are its large inventory of tones, which distinguish between lexical items and also have morphological functions. Morphologically, Chatino features aspectual verbal prefixes and a few derivational patterns. Incorporation of nouns and prepositions and various compounding patterns play important roles in word-formation. The basic word order is VSO, but the alternative orders SVO and OVS are also frequent, and are found to have specific semantic and pragmatic motivations. Human objects are optionally marked by the preposition 7in 'to.' The presence or absence of 7in 'to' marking the possessor codes the contrast between alienable and inalienable possession. Recipients in events of transfer are also optionally marked by 7in , depending on the type of object transferred. There are a number of constructions that result in complex sentences, including relative clauses, complement clauses, adverbial clauses, and conjunction. Description and analysis of these and other aspects of the Chatino language is based on data gathered through elicitation and recordings of oral texts.* *This dissertation includes a CD that is compound (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following applications: Windows 98/2000; Windows Media Player; Microsoft Paint; Microsoft Office.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Social Sciences

Grantor

Rice University

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Rasch, Jeffrey Walter

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Davis, Philip W.

• Linguistics

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1911/18164

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/18164