{"title":"Humans, gods, and demons","authors":"É. Mathieu","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198828105.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198828105.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"Chapter 1 discusses the latest relevant concepts needed for a good understanding of gender, noun classification, and also number, in current theoretical linguistics. The structure of the volume is presented: it is divided into three parts, each addressing a particular theoretical question that arises when we study gender and noun classification in context. This chapter demonstrates how each of the chapters in the volume speaks to these theoretical questions: (1) What is the role of gender? (2) Where is gender located in the nominal spine? (3) How is gender interpreted?","PeriodicalId":280424,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Noun Classification","volume":"98 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115742633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Partitioning the nominal domain","authors":"R. Déchaîne","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198828105.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198828105.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Class qua gender is a mechanism for introducing a partition, i.e. noun classes, into the nominal domain. Treating class/gender as a partition function—a function that exhaustively and non-intersectively assigns all members of a set to a subset—provides insight into the range of variation attested in natural languages relative to the realization of class/gender. This set-theoretic analysis is embedded in a model of interface syntax that allows a given feature’s modus and locus of association to vary. Specifically, the locus of association of class/gender varies such that it can associate with any position in the nominal spine—including Root, n, Number, and D—with concomitant differences in morphology, syntax, and semantics. Also, the modus of association of class/gender can vary, such that it can associate with the nominal spine as a feature of a functional category, e.g. DCLASS, NumberCLASS, nCLASS, ROOTCLASS, or as an independent F-category in the nominal spine. In the latter case, it hosts a distinct F-head (Class), which can be positioned anywhere in the nominal spine. The model is assessed relative to two data sets: (i) the animacy-based gender partition of Plains Cree (central Algonquian): (ii) the classificatory gender (traditionally described as a noun-class system) of Shona (southern Bantu).","PeriodicalId":280424,"journal":{"name":"Gender and Noun Classification","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130243184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}