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Phonological Word and Grammatical Word: A Cross-Linguistic Typology

Online ISBN:
9780191898013
Print ISBN:
9780198865681
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Phonological Word and Grammatical Word: A Cross-Linguistic Typology

Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (ed.),
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald
(ed.)

Distinguished Professor and Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre

Distinguished Professor and Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre, James Cook University
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R. M. W. Dixon (ed.),
R. M. W. Dixon
(ed.)

Adjunct Professor and Deputy Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre

Adjunct Professor and Deputy Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre, James Cook University
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Nathan M. White (ed.)
Nathan M. White
(ed.)

PhD Student, Language and Culture Research Centre

PhD Student, Language and Culture Research Centre, James Cook University
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Published online:
17 December 2020
Published in print:
5 November 2020
Online ISBN:
9780191898013
Print ISBN:
9780198865681
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

‘Word’ is a cornerstone for the understanding of every language. It is a pronounceable phonological unit. It will also have a meaning, and a grammatical characterization-a morphological structure and a syntactic function. And it will be an entry in a dictionary and an orthographic item. ‘Word’ has ‘psychological reality’ for speakers, enabling them to talk about the meaning of a word, its appropriateness for use in a certain social context, and so on. This volume investigates ‘word’ in its phonological and grammatical guises, and how this concept can be applied to languages of distinct typological make-up-from highly synthetic to highly analytic. Criteria for phonological word often include stress, tone, and vowel harmony. Grammatical word is recognized based on its conventionalized coherence and meaning, and consists of a root to which morphological processes will apply. In most instances, ‘grammatical word’ and ‘phonological word’ coincide. In some instances, a phonological word may consist of more than one grammatical word. Or a grammatical word can consist of more than one phonological word, or there may be more complex relationships. The volume starts with a typological introduction summarizing the main issues. It is followed by eight chapters each dealing with ‘word’ in an individual language—Yidiñ from Australia, Fijian from the Fiji Islands, Jarawara from southern Amazonia, Japanese, Chamacoco from Paraguay, Murui from Colombia, Yalaku from New Guinea, Hmong from Laos and a number of diasporic communities, Lao, and Makary Kotoko from Cameroon. The final chapter contains a summary of our findings.

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