Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1933. / At head of title: The University of Denver. "Printed in Germany." "Bibliography of Uto-Aztekan tribes and archaeology of the region": p. 257-274.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1933. / Lithoprinted. "Printed in Germany." "Private edition, distributed by the University of Chicago libraries, Chicago, Illinois." "Bibliography of Uto-Aztekan tribes and archaeology of the region".: p. 257-274.

Linguistics / This dissertation examines the complexity of complementation in O’dam, also known as Southeastern Tepehuan (SET), based on a corpus of twenty-seven hours of naturally recorded speech (105 texts). This complexity is due in part to the fact that the same subordinate marker, na, encodes complements, adverbial and relative clauses, and, in some instances, non-embedded clauses. That is, distributional patterns indicate that na is a polyfunctional marker in SET. In addition to using the na marker, SET conveys adverbial and complement clauses through using non-embedded clauses (i.e., juxtaposition), supporting the notion that subordination does not always involve an embedded association (Cristofaro 2003). Crucially, juxtaposition is used as a coordination strategy. Therefore, investigating clause linkage in SET highlights the formal and semantic categories in which SET differentiates embedded clauses. It further suggests that SET has a continuum of features that distinguish these dependent relationships (e.g., aspect, second position clitics, inherent control, an overt subordinate marker, negation, and focus); thus, this research contributes to recent work on the typology of complementation. All embedded clauses in SET can be distinguished by means of a second position clitic and by the morphology attached to the embedded predicate or to the subordinate marker. More specifically, complements and relative clauses require second position clitics, but adverbials only use them if they are marking switch-reference. This behavior is unique, because adverbials use second position clitics as an indicator of thematic continuity for subjects, suggesting that the development of these clitics evolved independently with the function of marking switch reference. Also, ‘when’ clauses do not have a fixed order compared to locative and manner adverbial clauses, because locative and manner adverbial clauses, along with complements and relatives, always follow the main clause. As for the morphology encoded in complement clauses, SET distinguishes between embedded clauses with or without a complementizer, and on the basis of internal aspectual morphology and inherent control. As a result, it is not the form, but the interface of morphosyntactic, semantic and pragmatic information that helps us identify the type of embedded clause we are facing. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-187). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-187). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This dissertation is an application of the framework of Distributed Morphology to the morphosyntax of Chemehuevi, an endangered Southern Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family. Following one of the central claims of DM, I argue that word formation in Chemehuevi happens in the syntax and provide evidence for this claim from the formation of lexical categories, as well as from the morphosyntax of the Chemehuevi causative verbs. I frame my discussion of lexical categories around the Root Hypothesis (Marantz 1997, Arad 2005), a notion that there are no underived nouns, verbs, or adjectives in the grammar, but roots that receive interpretation and assignment to a `part of speech' depending on their functional environment. I show that Chemehuevi nouns and verbs are formed when roots are incorporated into nominal or verbal functional heads, many of which are overtly represented in the language. I also demonstrate that there is no distinct class of adjectives in Chemehuevi, and that roots with adjectival meanings are derived into stative verbs or nominalizations, depending on their function.My discussion of predication in Chemehuevi centers around the previously unexplained distribution of the enclitic copula -uk, which under my analysis is viewed as an overt realization of a functional head Pred (based on Baker 2003), which is obligatory in the formation of nominal and adjectival, but not verbal predicates.Another major theme of the dissertation is the notion that word-formation from roots differs from word-formation from derived words, known as the Low vs. High Attachment Hypothesis (Marantz 2000, Travis 2000, etc.). This approach explains the differences between compositional and non-compositional word formation by the distance between the root and functional head(s) attached to it. On the basis of Chemehuevi causatives, I show that causative heads attached directly to the root derive words that exhibit morphophonological and semantic idiosyncrasies, such as allomorphy and availability of idiomatic meanings, while high attachment heads derive words that are fully compositional. This locality constraint on interpretation of roots is explained in terms of phase theory, and I present evidence from Chemehuevi showing that what constitutes a phase may be subject to parametric variation.Each chapter of the dissertation contains a section for non-linguistic audience where I provide a summary of the main points in non-theoretical terms and connect them to practical applications for the purposes of language learning and revitalization.

xvi, 187 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT E99.N97 B74 2003 / The culture history of the northeastern Great Basin, as currently written by the archaeological profession, is silent as to the view of Gosiute and Shoshone natives about their own ancestors. The goal of this dissertation is the infusion of Punown (interrelated Numic speaking peoples) epistemology into mainstream anthropological interpretation, as provided through North American Desert West prehistory. The hypothesized Numic expansion into the Northeast Great Basin, according to which the Punown natives now resident throughout the region are very recent immigrants, is problematic on several grounds. In the dissertation I show that late population movement into this region by Numic ancestors has not been demonstrated. After a hundred years of research no consensus yet exists as to the origins of the Northern Uto-Aztecan speaking Numic peoples (Punown). In spite of that, and in spite of the fact that it takes no account of the natives' own view of their origins, the Numic Expansion Hypothesis is being used in a way by some archaeologists and cultural resource managers that denies to the Punown their cultural heritage. The archaeological record of the region, extending back into deep time, is rich in the similarities it shows with the native Punown cultures of the contact-historic period. The epistemology and spiritual beliefs of the Punown also assert their cultural continuity with the ancient traditions documented in that archaeological recoret;It is not acceptable that a scientific hypothesis impedes native people's role in the care and stewardship of sites and places throughout the region that their own spiritual traditions tell them they are responsible for. The mainstream anthropological concept of science and the epistemology of the Punown are opposed diametrically. Punown view the world and its people as interconnected through the Sacred Earth Matrix, while anthropologists see the human world as bifurcated from nature. Punown understand archaeology and relatedness spiritually, while archaeologists see dead objects in an "objectified" way. Conformity to the existing paradigm, with its persistent building and rebuilding of earlier untenable Euroamerican views of Numic origins, makes the Punown outsiders to the region in which they live. This goes on even though many scholars, reviewing the case for a Numic Expansion, find it seriously lacking. Infusion of Punown epistemology into current archaeological practice offers a basis for pooling Punown and mainstream anthropological approaches to the prehistory of the Desert West. A mutually enhancing research partnership based on beneficial objectives is advocated; this will go far to repair a strained relationship that now exists between Punown and archaeological researchers, and result in a fuller and richer history for all to contemplate. / Committee in Charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Jon Erlandson; Dr. Lawrence Sugiyama; Dr. Scott DeLancey

In 2001, an estimated 50 Indigenous languages were spoken in California, USA; none had more than 100 speakers. Through statewide efforts by Indigenous language workers and their allies, revitalization strategies have since proliferated, many highlighting immersion learning and linguistic documentation. In their homeland in Tehachapi, California, two fluent Elders and five learner/teachers designed this study as co-researchers to reflect on the effects of strategies we had implemented to support new speakers of nuwä abigip (Kawaiisu), a polysynthetic Uto-Aztecan language. Our community-based team used methods of dialogic inquiry including the conversational method and a graphic language mapping technique. We videotaped remembered stories of our varied language acquisition experiences, focusing especially on the 15 years after community language revitalization was initiated. The collection of videotaped narratives and the graphic language maps were analyzed to understand how the new adult second-language speakers believed our learning experiences had enabled us to use nuwä abigip. Co-researchers remembered nuwä abigip competencies believed to have been gained though a sequence of strategies, some overlapping, that featured immersion learning complemented by linguistic analysis. Common patterns in language development were explored, especially as they related to learners’ unfolding understanding of the language’s rich morphology. The team concluded the study by reflecting on how the two research methods of dialogic inquiry had aided them in expressing the culmination of their experiences. / Graduate