The Dynamics of Nominal Classification: Productive and Lexicalised Uses of Gender Agreement in Mawng

Abstract

The starting point for this book is a relatively unusual phenomenon – the lexicalisation of verbal agreement. Recognition of the centrality of expressions with lexicalised agreement in Mawng prompts a re-evaluation of more commonplace phenomena such as selectional restrictions and nominal classification. This takes us straight into the very heart of language: the role arguments play in the characterisation of events. The role arguments play means that, for example, ‘squashing a pillow’ is not quite the same as ‘squashing a tomato’. In addition, each language provides us with a quite different set of resources for referring to arguments, and these enable different kinds of semantic interactio..