The Semantics of Time: A Spectural Categorization in Koyukon Athabaskan by Melissa Axelrod (1952- ) - 1993

xi+199 pages with tables and index. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 6 1/4") bound in original publisher's grey cloth with black and silver lettering to spine and cover, issued without dust jacket. Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians series. First edition.

The languages of the Athabaskan family are noted for their rich aspectual systems-inventories of grammatical forms that denote the nature of the action of a verb in relation to its beginning, duration, completion, or repetition, but without reference to its position in time. Koyukon is an Athabaskan language spoken along the Yukon and Koyukuk rivers in Alaska. Among Athabaskan languages, Koyukon has the most elaborate and profusely varied possibilities of morphological marked derivational aspect. This work comprises three parts. The first describes the aspectual system, which sorts out a complex network of four aspect-dependent derivations prefix strings. The second analyzes the organization of verb them categories, which are directly linked to aspectual categories. The third assesses the function of the aspectual system as a whole.

Condition:

This is a fine copy.