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On the Behavior of Definite Articles in Chamicuro

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

Steve Parker
Steve Parker*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Summer Institute of Linguistics
*
Dept. of Linguistics, 226 South College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 [sgparker@linguist.umass.edu]
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Abstract

This report describes the unique behavior of two clitic particles in a moribund Amazonian language. In Chamicuro na and ka are basically definite articles, yet they contrast for tense (ka indicates a past action while na is used in present and future contexts). The prosodic eneliticization of na and ka is completely predictable from general phonological constraints alone and thus does not depend on any syntactic factors. Consequently, the stranding of an article in a different clause from its head noun follows automatically from the posited constraint system without any need to stipulate additional formal devices.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , September 1999, pp. 552 - 562
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 Linguistic Society of America

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