Verb morphology in Paresi-Haliti (Arawak)

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2010-05

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Abstract

This report provides a preliminary description of verb morphology in Paresi, including a linguistic profile and some socio-cultural aspects of the language. The Paresi people, who number approximately 2000, live in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. To date the Paresi language has had limited documentation. Chapter 1 provides background information on Paresi. Chapter 2 provides some typologically important information. Paresi segmental phonology is simple, morphophonemic alternations occur with pronominal markers and some stems. Stress is on the penultimate syllable, with some exceptions. Nouns, verbs and adjectives are distinguishable. In Paresi, nouns prototypically are roots that, morphologically, have affixes indicating number, and possessed markers. Chapter 3 describes the verb classes. Paresi verb roots can be intransitive, transitive or ambitransitive. Chapter 4 addresses the valence-changing operations occurring with verbs, such as causative constructions. Chapter 5 describes the tense, aspect and mood systems, with a discussion of the spatial and aspectual meanings of some morphemes. Chapter 6 provides an overview of the different negation strategies. Chapter 7 provides a summary and final considerations on Paresi verb morphology.

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