Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Noun Classification Or Spatial Categorization: Damana Orientation Verbs, Larry P. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues against a nominal classification analysis of orientation verbs in Damana, A Chibchan language of northern Colombia. As shown through a careful analysis of eleven verbs, the verbal system of Damana primarily encodes spatial relations and does not classify objects by shape.

The evidence for this conclusion proceeds from several areas. First, I show that Damana does not meet the requirement for a noun class system. Secondly, I show that the same object can be freely associated with various verb stems depending on the object's orientation. Thirdly, in metaphorical extensions involving these 'noun class' verbs, it is a …

An Introduction To The Verbal System Of Central Dangaleat, Lawrence R. Burke

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an analysis of the verbal system of Central Dangaleat, an Eastern Chadic language spoken in central Chad. Following the general introduction in chapter 1, the second chapter provides a basic introduction to the phonological system of the Central Dangaleat verbal system, focusing especially on syllable structure and epenthesis, vowel harmony and the tone system. Special attention is given to the relationship between consonant quality and tone in the language. Chapters 3 through 7 attempt to relate the Central Dangaleat tense, aspect and mood system to the proposals concerning the development of aspectual categories in Chadic as a …