Introduction

Abstract The first chapter of The Oxford Handbook of Polysynthesis introduces the notion of polysynthesis and the related issues that the volume addresses, such as complexity, the definition of the word, the nature of the lexicon, idiomaticity, and typological features such as argument structure and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fortescue, Michael, Mithun, Marianne, Evans, Nicholas
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199683208.013.1
https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/40413/chapter/347380468
Description
Summary:Abstract The first chapter of The Oxford Handbook of Polysynthesis introduces the notion of polysynthesis and the related issues that the volume addresses, such as complexity, the definition of the word, the nature of the lexicon, idiomaticity, and typological features such as argument structure and head marking. It also outlines the part structure of the volume: Part I addresses polysynthesis from different perspectives; Part II contains areal studies of those geographical regions of the world where polysynthesis is particularly common, such as the Arctic and Sub-Arctic and northern Australia; Part III examines diachronic topics such as language contact and language obsolescence; Part IV looks at acquisition issues in different polysynthetic languages.