This book offers an innovative approach to three interlaced topics: A systematic analysis of the morphosyntatic organization of Nivkh (Paleosiberian); a cross-linguistic investigation of complex noun forms (parallel to complex (polysynthetic) verb forms); and a typology of polysynthesis. Nivkh (Gilyak) is linguistically remarkable because of its highly complex word forms, both verbs and nouns. They are formed productively from ad hoc concatenation of lexical roots in dependent - head relations without further morphological marking: primary object - predicate, attribute - noun, noun - relational morpheme ("adposition"). After an in-depth examination of the wordhood of such complexes the morphological type of Nivkh is explored against the background of polysynthesis, noun incorporation, verb root serialization, noun complexes and head/dependent marking. For this purpose, a new delimitation and classification of polysynthesis is proposed on the basis of an evaluation of 75 languages. Besides contributing to a reconciliation of previous diametrically opposed approaches to polysynthesis, this study challenges some common preconceived notions with respect to how languages "should be".

Table of contents

Abbreviations viii Acknowledgements x 1. Introduction 1–34 2. Nivkh phonology and morphophonemics 35–64 3. Head-dependent synthesis and wordhood in Nivkh 65–121 4. The Nivkh noun plus verb complex 122–168 5. Is there noun incorporation in Nivkh? 169–181 6. The Nivkh verb plus verb complex 182–201 7. Is Nivkh a polysynthetic language? 202–219 8. The Nivkh nominal complex 220–248 9. Complex noun forms in the world’s languages 249–272 10. Typological outlook 273–289 Appendix 290–297 References 298–314 Bibliography on Nivkh 315–340 Index 341–350