Universal 1634: polysynthesis ⇒ ¬ nonfinite verb forms
Original
IF there is polysynthesis (essentially, noun incorporation and bound agreement/cross-reference markers for subject and object(s) on the verb, thus with no independent NPs necessary for complete clauses, and without the absence of NPs being analysable as pro-drop), THEN there are no non-finite verbal forms (i.e., every verb form exhibits full inflection for person and tense-aspect) / no non-finite subordinate clauses.
Standardized
IF there is polysynthesis, THEN there will be no non-finite verb forms / no non-finite subordinate clauses.
Keywords
polysynthesis, finiteness, verb
Domain
morphology, syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
Polysynthetic languages in Baker 1996 like Mohawk (Iroquoian), Nahuatl (Uto-Aztecan), Kiowa (Kiowa- Tanoan), Gunwinjguan (Gunwingguan, Australian), Wichita (Caddoan), Chukchi (Chukchi-Kamchatkan), Ainu (isolate). Non-polysynthetic languages like Greenlandic (Eskimo-Aleut), Lakhota (Siouan), Slave (Athabaskan), Alamblak (Sepik-Ramu), Chichewa (Bantoid, Niger-Congo), Choctaw (Muskogean)
Possible counterexamples: Rembarrnga (Gunwingguan, Australian), Chukchi (Chukchi-Kamchatkan) (Baker 1996: 475-484). However, Nordlinger & Saulwick (2002) argue against Baker who claims the verb in the relevant constructions are either fully finite (owing to the presence of pronominal prefixes) or nominalisations).
For Baker (1996), this implication follows from the Morphological Visibility Condition, requiring that arguments must be encoded on the verb, which is only possible in tensed clauses, since agreement morphemes can only be adjoined to heads that have structural Case-assigning features (and tenseless INFL isn’t such a head).
For Baker (1996), this implication follows from the Morphological Visibility Condition, requiring that arguments must be encoded on the verb, which is only possible in tensed clauses, since agreement morphemes can only be adjoined to heads that have structural Case-assigning features (and tenseless INFL isn’t such a head).