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Showing papers by "James J. Collins published in 1979"


Journal ArticleDOI
18 Jul 1979
TL;DR: In this article, the authors view the verb classifier prefixes from the perspective of comparative subject (actor)2properties, and from discourse structure, and see the interplay of Person and Anaphora on two levels of historical grammar.
Abstract: When we view the verb classifier prefixes from the perspective of comparative subject (actor)2properties, and from the perspective of discourse structure, we see the interplay of Person and Anaphora on two levels of historical grammar. Comparative subject (actor) properties, indefiniteness and depersonalization, figure importantly in the constitution of the morphological set known in the Athapaskan literature as "classifiers." In particular, we find that depersonalization via pluralization of first person subject (actor) plays a major role in the regularization of this paradigm. Additionally, deictic elements employed in discourse coreference and deference behaviors intersect the Proto-Athapaskan person system at first person plural.

1 citations