On Reconstructing Grammar: Comparative Cariban Morphosyntax

By Spike Gildea

This book shows how to combine grammaticalization theory with the comparative method to reconstruct the grammar of Proto-Languages. To showcase the methodology, seven morphosyntactically distinct verbal systems in the Cariban family--three ergative, three nominative, and one inverse--are
reconstructed. Spike Gildea presents detailed data in his reconstruction of Proto-Carib verbal and nominal morphologies. The inverse verbal system reconstructs to Proto-Carib; the other six are innovative, and reconstruct to Proto-Carib nonfinite source-constructions.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019510952X
• ISBN13: 9780195109528
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.3"