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Incorporation is a phenomenon by which a word, usually a verb, forms a kind of compound with, for instance, its direct object or adverbial modifier, while retaining its original syntactic function. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. ... A compound is a word (lexeme) that consists of more than one free morpheme. ... The accusative case of a noun is, generally, the case used to mark the direct object of a verb. ... An adverb is a part of speech-class. ... Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning co- or together) and τάξις (táxis, meaning sequence, order, arrangement), can in linguistics be described as the study of the rules, or patterned relations that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. ...

Incorporation is central to many polysynthetic languages such as those found in North America and Siberia, but polysynthesis does not necessarily imply incorporation. Polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Siberia is also an album by Echo & The Bunnymen. ...

Chukchi, a Paleosiberian language spoken in North Eastern Siberia, provides a wealth of examples of noun incorporation. The phrase təpelarkən qoranə means "I'm leaving the reindeer" and has two words (the verb in the first person singular, and the noun). The same idea can be expressed with the single word təqorapelarkən, in which the noun root qora "reindeer" is incorporated into the verb word. Chukchi (Luoravetlan (in native language), Chukot, Chukcha) is a Palaeosiberian language spoken by circa 10,400 people (2001) (Chukchi) in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in the region called Chukotka. ... Paleosiberian (Palaeosiberian, Paleo-Siberian) languages or Paleoasian languages (from Greek palaios, ancient) is a term of convenience used in linguistics to classify a disparate group of languages spoken in remote regions of Siberia. ...

Mohawk, an Iroquoian language makes heavy use of incorporation, as in: watia'tawi'tsherí:io "it is a good shirt", where the noun root atia'tawi "upper body garment" is present inside the verb. Mohawk is a Native American language spoken in the United States and Canada. ... Iroquoian languages The Iroquoian languages are a Native American language family. ... The root is the primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. ...

Cheyenne, an Algonquian language of the plains, also uses noun incorporation on a regular basis. Consider nátahpe'emaheona, meaning "I have a big house", which contains the noun morpheme maheo "house". The Cheyenne language is a Native American language spoken in present-day Montana and Oklahoma, USA. It is part of the Algonquian language family. ... Pre-contact distribution of Algonquian languages The Algonquian (also Algonkian) languages are a subfamily of Native American languages that includes most of the languages in the Algic language family (the two Algic languages that are not Algonquian are Wiyot and Yurok of northwestern California). ...

Though not regularly, English shows some instrument incorporation, as in breastfeed, and direct object incorporation, as in babysit. Incorporation and plain compounding may be fuzzy categories: consider backstabbing, name-calling, knife murder. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The accusative case of a noun is, generally, the case used to mark the direct object of a verb. ...

Semantics of noun incorporation

In many cases, a phrase with an incorporated noun carries a different meaning with respect to the equivalent phrase where the noun is not incorporated into the verb. The difference seems to hang around the generality and definiteness of the statement. The incorporated phrase is usually generic and indefinite, while the non-incorporated one is more specific.

In Yucatec Mayan, for example, the phrase "I chopped a tree", when the word for "tree" is incorporated, changes its meaning to "I chopped wood". In Burman, the definite phrase "I drink the liquor" becomes the more general "I drink liquor" when "liquor" is incorporated.

This tendency is not a rule. There are languages where noun incorporation does not produce a meaning change (though it may cause a change in syntax — as explained below). Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning co- or together) and τάξις (táxis, meaning sequence, order, arrangement), can in linguistics be described as the study of the rules, or patterned relations that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. ...

Syntax of noun incorporation

Noun incorporation usually deletes one of the arguments of the verb, and in some languages this is shown explicitly. That is, if the verb is transitive, the verb word with an incorporated direct object becomes formally intransitive and marked as such. In other languages this change does not take place, or at least it is not shown by explicit morphology. A syntactic verb argument, in linguistics, is a phrase that appears in a relationship with the verb in a proposition. ...

In Lakhota, a Siouan language of the plains, for example, the phrase "the man is chopping wood" can be expressed either as a transitive wičháša ki čą ki kaksáhe ("man the wood the chopping") or as an intransitive wičháša ki čą-kaksáhe ("man the wood-chopping") in which the independent nominal čą, "wood," becomes a root incorporated into the verb: "wood-chopping." Lakota (also Lakhota, Teton, Teton Sioux) is the largest of the three languages of the Sioux, of the Siouan family. ... Pre-contact distribution of the Siouan languages The Siouan (a. ...

The noun may not be deleted after all. In the Oneida language (an Iroquoian language spoken in Southern Ontario and Wisconsin), one finds classifier noun incorporation, a generic noun acting as a direct object can be incorporated into a verb, but a more specific direct object is left in place. In a rough translation, one would say for example "I animal-bought this pig", where "animal" is the generic incorporated noun. Note that this "classifier" is not an actual classifier (i. e. a class agreement morpheme) but a common noun. Oneida is an Iroquoian language spoken primarily in the American states of New York and Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario. ... The Iroquoian languages are a Native American language family. ...

References

• Baker, Marc (1996). The Polysynthesis Parameter. New York [etc.]: Oxford University Press.
• Kroeber, Alfred L. (1909). Noun incorporation in American languages. In F. Heger (Ed.), XVI Internationaler Amerikanisten-Kongress (pp. 569-576). Vienna: Hartleben.
• Kroeber, Alfred L. (1911). Incorporation as a linguistic process. American Anthropologist, 13 (4), 577-584.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1984). The evolution of noun incorporation. Language, 60 (4), 847-895.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1986). On the nature of noun incorporation. Language, 62 (1), 32-38.
• Rosen, Sara T. (1989). Two types of noun incorporation: A lexical analysis. Language, 65 (2), 294-317.
• Sadock, Jerrold M. (1980). Noun incorporation in Greenlandic: A case of syntactic word-formation. Language, 57 (2), 300-319.
• Sadock, Jerrold M. (1986). Some notes on noun incorporation. Language, 62 (1), 19-31.
• Sapir, Edward. (1911). The problem of noun incorporation in American languages. American Anthropologist, 13 (2), 250-282.
• Van Valin, Robert D.; & LaPolla, Randy. (1997). Syntax: Structure, meaning and function. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Examples and text were taken from

• Conlang: Advanced Polysynthesis (Wikibooks)
• Lexicon of Linguistics
• Noun-Incorporation (PDF, unsigned)
• Van Valin & LaPolla:1997

External links