GURINDJI
SUMMARY
Indexation of possessors in Gurindji is attested in two syntactically distinct constructions. In Inalienable Possessor Constructions the possessor and the possessum are syntactically juxtaposed and the possessor is neither internal nor external to the phrase headed by the possessum. In Prominent Alienable Possessor Constructions, the possessor is demonstrably internal to the NP yet nonetheless indexed at the clausal level. Prominent Alienable Possessor Constructions are most frequently encountered when a human possessor is contrastively focussed. Agreement with a non-local internal possessor is thus possible, providing it has sufficient discourse prominence.
See also Warlpiri.
LANGUAGE PROFILE
EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF PIPS
- Since word order is pragmatically determined and contiguity of constituents is variable within the NP, the principle indicator of the internal nature of the possessor in this construction is that it must show case agreement with the head of the NP, like other nominal dependents.
- In contrast, juxtaposed possessors do not show this behaviour, since they are not internal to the same phrase as the possessed noun.
- The possessor must also occur in the adnominal dative case, signalling its dependency on the head.
KEY SOURCES
Meakins, Felicity and Rachel Nordlinger. 2017. Possessor dissension: Agreement mismatch in Ngumpin-Yapa possessive constructions. Linguistic Typology 21(1): 143-76.
Bond, Oliver, Felicity Meakins and Rachel Nordlinger. 2019. Prominent possessor indexing in Gurindji, in András Bárány, Oliver Bond and Irina Nikolaeva (eds), Prominent internal possessors, 80-106. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
