From Juxtaposition to Incorporation: an Approach to Generic-specific Constructions

In this paper, we present an analysis of classifier noun incorporation in Gunwinyguan languages from northern Australia, focussing particularly on generic specific constructions. We show how the analysis of Sadler and Nordlinger (2006) for generic-specific constructions forms through nominal juxtaposition can be extended to account for incorporated generic-specific constructions also. In this analysis, each nominal (or incorporated noun) is treated as belonging to a set at fstructure, on a par with the standard LFG treatment of coordination. The difference between the various set-based constructions (including coordinations, generic-specific constructions and partwhole constructions) arises in the mapping to the semantic structure. We show how this provides a single unified analysis for all generic-specific constructions in these languages, whether incorporated or juxtaposed. In doing so, we provide the first LFG analysis of classifier incorporation with doubling.