Second-Position Enclitics Occur within Constituents in Maliseet-Passamaquoddy

Abstract

Like many languages of the Algonquian family, Maliseet-Passamaquoddy (MP, New Brunswick and Maine) has a set of enclitic particles that are usually stationed in second position in a clause: they follow the first word of the clause or, less often, the first phrase.1 There are thirteen of these enclitics in MP, plus two conjunctions that appear either initially in the clause or in second position. Included among the enclitics are future and conditional markers, a reportative particle, several adverbials, and particles indicating contrast and emphasis. Seven of these particles figure in the examples in this paper: =al ‘uncertain’, =(ŏ)lu ‘but, however’, =(ŏ)na ‘also’, =op ‘would’ (conditional), =tahk ‘surprisingly’ (mirative), =yaka ‘afterward, furthermore’, and =yaq ‘it is said, they say’ (reportative).2 The examples in (1) and (2) illustrate the two modes of second-position placement that are characteristic of MP enclitics.3