Degrees of Polysynthesis: The Nawatl Case

Una Canger

February 10, 2014

Event Description

Nawatl is a strongly polysynthetic language: its words are often very long and made up of many morphemes. Canger will compare the polysynthetic features of a Nawatl dialect spoken in Puebla with a version spoken in northern Guerrero in which, possibly due to Spanish influence, some polysynthetic features have been lost.

Speaker

Una Canger is a professor emeritus of Native American Languages and Cultures at Copenhagen University and the recipient of Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle for her cultural contributions.

Cosponsors

Co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Linguistics.