Verbal Derivation in Micmac

Abstract

In Indo-European languages the most frequent morphosyntactic device for distinguishing verbs that are transitive, intransitive, reflexive, reciprocal, etc., is the addition of nominal or pronominal elements to the Verb Phrase. In Algonkian languages, these differences are handled by the derivational morphology of the verb, several layers of derivation being possible. The ordering of these different layers will be illustrated from the derivational verb morphology of Micmac, an Algonkian language spoken in the five most easterly provinces of Canada, to show how several dozen different verbs can be formed from a single stem, providing rich representational possibilities for the individual speaker. The interplay of the different categories also allows us to draw conclusions about certain aspects of transitivity and the way that it is represented in different languages.