Mutation in Spatial Deixis (Dx)
Mutation in Spatial Deixis (Dx)
“PPs” in Blackfoot and Plains Cree
Two neighboring Algonquian languages, Blackfoot and Plains Cree, differ as to how spatial expressions are represented structurally. Blackfoot it- is an adpositional element occurring within the verbal complex, radically discontinuous from a location-denoting DP; Plains Cree -ihk is an adpositional suffix to a DP, with which it forms a morphological unit. This chapter argues that the contrasting behavior of those morphemes is a function of two factors: (i) which head of the adpositional extended projection each morpheme realizes; (ii) whether or not they have undergone a transcategorial shift—dubbed “mutation”—in the lexicon. This mutation approach applies, for example, to the [PERSON] nature of Blackfoot INFL and to the [TENSE] use of source-denoting Plains Cree adposition ohci and its occurrence within the verbal complex. The emergent category status of adpositions is implicated, too.
Keywords: adposition, discontinuous constituency, extended projection, deixis, transcategorial shift, emergent category, Blackfoot, Plains Cree, Algonquian
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