| Incorporation (linguistics) |
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Incorporation is a phenomenon by which a word, usually a Verb , forms a kind of Compound with, for instance, its Direct Object or Adverb ial modifier, while retaining its original Syntactic function. Incorporation is central to many Polysynthetic Language s such as those found in North America and Siberia , but polysynthesis does not necessarily imply incorporation. Chukchi , a Paleosiberian Language spoken in North Eastern Siberia, provides a wealth of examples of noun incorporation. The phrase ''təpelarkən qoranə'' means "I'm leaving the reindeer" and has two words (the verb in the first person singular, and the noun). The same idea can be expressed with the single word ''təqorapelarkən'', in which the noun root ''qora'' "reindeer" is incorporated into the verb word. ''atia'tawi'' "upper body garment" is present inside the verb. Cheyenne , an Algonquian Language of the plains, also uses noun incorporation on a regular basis. Consider ''nátahpe'emaheona'', meaning "I have a big house", which contains the noun morpheme ''maheo'' "house". Though not regularly, English shows some instrument incorporation, as in ''breastfeed'', and Direct Object incorporation, as in ''babysit''. Incorporation and plain compounding may be fuzzy categories: consider ''backstabbing'', ''name-calling'', ''knife murder''. SEMANTICS OF NOUN INCORPORATION In many cases, a phrase with an incorporated noun carries a different meaning with respect to the equivalent phrase where the noun is not incorporated into the verb. The difference seems to hang around the generality and definiteness of the statement. The incorporated phrase is usually generic and indefinite, while the non-incorporated one is more specific. In Yucatec Mayan , for example, the phrase "I chopped a tree", when the word for "tree" is incorporated, changes its meaning to "I chopped wood". In Burman , the definite phrase "I drink the liquor" becomes the more general "I drink liquor" when "liquor" is incorporated. This tendency is not a rule. There are languages where noun incorporation does not produce a meaning change (though it may cause a change in Syntax — as explained below). SYNTAX OF NOUN INCORPORATION Noun incorporation usually deletes one of the Arguments of the verb, and in some languages this is shown explicitly. That is, if the verb is transitive, the verb word with an incorporated direct object becomes formally intransitive and marked as such. In other languages this change does not take place, or at least it is not shown by explicit morphology. In Lakhota , a Siouan Language of the plains, for example, the phrase "the man is chopping wood" can be expressed either as a transitive ''wičháša ki čą ki kaksáhe'' ("man the wood the chopping") or as an intransitive ''wičháša ki čą-kaksáhe'' ("man the wood-chopping") in which the independent nominal ''čą'', "wood," becomes a root incorporated into the verb: "wood-chopping." The noun may not be deleted after all. In the Oneida Language (an Iroquoian Language spoken in Southern Ontario and Wisconsin), one finds classifier noun incorporation, a generic noun acting as a direct object can be incorporated into a verb, but a more specific direct object is left in place. In a rough translation, one would say for example "I animal-bought this pig", where "animal" is the generic incorporated noun. Note that this "classifier" is not an actual classifier (i. e. a class agreement morpheme) but a common noun. REFERENCES
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