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Vol. 48, no. 3 (Fall 2006)

Contents

Abstracts

Recovering Sociolinguistic Context from Early Sources: The Case of Northwestern California

Lisa Conathan
Yale University

Abstract. Information about the past social context of language use can be recovered from early sources. This article describes such a recovery of sociolinguistic information about early historic Northwestern California. Early records document the mismatch between commonly used modern ethnonyms and earlier indigenous interpretations and usage. The personal and family histories of consultants reveal the nature and extent of multilingualism. Comparison of early records documents dialect variation and localizes ongoing sound changes. It is shown that comparative and historical research can benefit from mining archival records for sociolinguistic information, even when such information is incomplete or inconclusive.

“’Alk’idáá’ Má’ii Jooldlosh, Jiní”: Poetic Devices in Navajo Oral and Written Poetry

Anthony K. Webster
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

Abstract. This article compares poetic devices of traditional Navajo oral poetry with those of contemporary written Navajo poetry, as well as the languages chosen by Navajo poets when employing these devices in literate media. It aims to improve our understanding of what points Navajo poets assert to be incommensurable across media and codes, and of how decisions on these matters vary from poet to poet. The article also discusses various issues concerned with Navajo language shift from an ethnopoetic perspective.

The Origins of the Wakashan Classificatory Verbs of Location and Handling

Michael Fortescue
University of Copenhagen

Abstract. The classificatory verbs typical of certain polysynthetic American language families pose a number of typological and diachronic conundrums. Only one source has been proposed in the literature so far—incorporated nouns—but an investigation of the phenomenon in the Wakashan family suggests that this cannot be their only source. A number of potential factors leading to the emergence of classificatory verbs are discussed and it is shown how new members of the category may still be in the process of forming today.

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