Secwepemctsin, also known as Shuswap, is an endangered language spoken in the interior of
British Columbia. No research dedicated to the study of Secwepemctsin pronouns is currently
available. This thesis examines the independent pronouns of this language.
Secwepemctsin is a radical head-marking language, and its independent pronouns function
very differently from its bound pronominal clitics/affixes. This thesis provides a detailed
description of the internal and external syntax of Secwepemctsin independent pronouns. They
are analyzed as maximal projections that can occupy predicate positions as well as adjoin to
DPs in argument positions. Binding effects follow from this analysis.
Secwepemctsin independent pronouns show a strong subject orientation in third person
contexts; it is the combined result of the independent pronouns' sensitivity to discourse and a
subject-object asymmetry in the language: discourse familiarity is associated with syntactic
positions via a mapping principle, yielding the Independent Pronoun Restriction.
A semantic account of independent pronouns is provided. Secwepemctsin independent
pronouns are shown to be contrastive focus when in predicate position, and contrastive topic
when in argument position. Their behaviour is analyzed according to an alternative-based
view of semantic theory.
A case study of a child's acquisition of Secwepemctsin independent pronouns is documented,
and the characteristics of her pronominal system are compared to those of an adult fluent
speaker. Issues regarding language acquisition are discussed. It is found that although the
child gets both Secwepemctsin and English input, her performance of Secwepemctsin is also
influenced by Secwepemctsin-external and English-external factors.
While this thesis investigates the technical details of Secwepemctsin syntax, it also places the
study in the social context in which the language is in the process of being revived. A chapter
on implications discusses the importance of providing learners of endangered languages with a
positive environment in which to use the language. This chapter also points out the direction
that endangered aboriginal languages may be heading, and stresses the importance of using
language creatively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/8173 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Lai, I-Ju Sandra |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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