This volume aims to extend both the range of analyses and the database on nominal classification systems. Previous analyses of nominal classification systems have focussed on two areas: the semantics of the classification system and the role of the system in discourse. In many nominal… read more
A number of indigenous languages of northern Australia have complex systems of noun class prefixation incorporating the formal realization of case or topicality, as well as class. The markers of case and topicality occur inside the marking of class, in an unexpected position according to… read more
Evaluation of hypotheses on genetic relationships depends on two factors: database size and criteria on correspondence quality. For hypotheses on remote relationships, databases are often small. Therefore, detailed consideration of criteria on correspondence quality is important. Hypotheses on… read more
Current analyses present lexical borrowing as a pervasive phenomenon in pre-colonial Australia. They propose that this follows from the high levels of multilingualism and language group exogamy which characterized pre-colonial sociality. This article shows that lexical borrowing was not pervasive… read more
This article provides a counterexample to the commonly held, if unexamined, proposition that morphemes reconstructed as affixes do not change their position with respect to the root. We do not expect to find that a proto-prefix has suffix reflexes, nor that a proto-suffix has prefix reflexes. In… read more
