A Relational Grammar approach to verb agreement in Lakota

Authors

Gray C. Plunkett, SIL-UND
Michael McKeever, SIL-UND

DOI

10.31356/silwp.vol30.06

Abstract

From the introduction: "This paper examines verb agreement rules and their application in Lakota, a Siouan language. In particular, it explores how to best account for verb agreement in Lakota in a Relational Grammar framework. We will argue that certain concepts of Relational Grammar (RG), especially the notions of level and working 2, provide the necessary theoretical apparatus for formulating concise rules of verb agreement in Lakota. These rules account for all major transitive, ditransitive, and intransitive clause types. It also lends support to Perlmutter's claim that the notion of working term-x is needed to state rules in the grammars of natural language (Perlmutter1982). We will also show the importance of disjunctive ordering in the grammars of natural languages."

Recommended Citation

Plunkett, Gray C. and McKeever, Michael (1986) "A Relational Grammar approach to verb agreement in Lakota," Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session: Vol. 30, Article 6.
DOI: 10.31356/silwp.vol30.06
Available at: https://commons.und.edu/sil-work-papers/vol30/iss1/6