TY - CHAP
T1 - Dyadic Constructions
AU - Evans, N.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Dyad constructions provide a way of referring to pairs or groups of people based on the social relationship they share, but so far they have escaped systematization within general linguistics. This article defines and exemplifies the various kinds of dyad construction, distinguishes them from related categories (reciprocals, duals, associative duals, family group classifiers, additive cocompounds), and examines their geographical distribution. Dyad constructions form, from kin and other relational expressions, terms denoting pairs of the type 'uncle and nephew(s),' 'mother and child(ren).' They may be formed by morphological derivation - cf. Kayardild (Australian) ngamathu 'mother', ngamathu-ngarrba 'mother and child' - or may be unanalyzeable lexical roots, such as Mianmin (Papuan) lum 'father and child.' Dyad constructions may be related, formally, to reciprocals, duals, or proprietive or possessive constructions, or may involve dedicated morphemes or unanalyzable lexical stems. They have a skewed geographic distribution, with a hotbed in Oceania and the Western Pacific, sporadic occurrence in Siberia and North America, and only occasional attestation elsewhere (Caucasus, Amazonia, and Southern Africa).
AB - Dyad constructions provide a way of referring to pairs or groups of people based on the social relationship they share, but so far they have escaped systematization within general linguistics. This article defines and exemplifies the various kinds of dyad construction, distinguishes them from related categories (reciprocals, duals, associative duals, family group classifiers, additive cocompounds), and examines their geographical distribution. Dyad constructions form, from kin and other relational expressions, terms denoting pairs of the type 'uncle and nephew(s),' 'mother and child(ren).' They may be formed by morphological derivation - cf. Kayardild (Australian) ngamathu 'mother', ngamathu-ngarrba 'mother and child' - or may be unanalyzeable lexical roots, such as Mianmin (Papuan) lum 'father and child.' Dyad constructions may be related, formally, to reciprocals, duals, or proprietive or possessive constructions, or may involve dedicated morphemes or unanalyzable lexical stems. They have a skewed geographic distribution, with a hotbed in Oceania and the Western Pacific, sporadic occurrence in Siberia and North America, and only occasional attestation elsewhere (Caucasus, Amazonia, and Southern Africa).
KW - Associative plurals
KW - Assymetric
KW - Australia
KW - Compounds
KW - Converse
KW - Correlative
KW - Dual
KW - Dyad
KW - Family group classifiers
KW - Inclusory
KW - Kinship
KW - Oceania
KW - Polysemy
KW - Proprietive
KW - Reciprocal
KW - Symmetric
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=65349126476&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00188-7
DO - 10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00188-7
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9780080448541
SP - 24
EP - 28
BT - Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics
PB - Elsevier Ltd.
ER -