The Morphosyntax of the Algonquian Conjunct Verb: A Minimalist Approach

This book investigates the syntactic distribution of the Algonquian Conjunct verb from the theoretical perspective of the Minimalist Program. The central thesis is that all constructions that have a Conjunct verb share an underlying syntactic structure. This thesis provides a unified account of the occurrence of the Algonquian Conjunct verb in an otherwise unrelated set of syntactic environments. The principal sytactic environments examined in this study are subordinate clauses, clauses (main and subordinate) containing a wh -question word, negated clauses, and main clause focus constructions. Data is drawn primarily from the Central Algonquian languages of Canada, focussing in particular on the dialects of the Quebec-Labrador peninsula (the Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi language complex). The linguists working on Algonquian languages, or on languages typologically similar to Algonquian. Although written from a Minimalist perspective, it is rich in data and will be of interest to linguists from a wide range of theoretical backgrounds. Dialect differences within the Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi language complex are examined; the study thus contributes to the literature on macropara variation. At a more general level, this book will be of interest to scholars of linguistic theory.