This book treats aspects of the syntax of Halkomelem, a Salish language spoken in southwestern British Columbia, specifically those constructions which involve objects, and seeks to accomplish two goals. First, it provides natural language fodder for the debate concerning the nature of grammatical relations and their place in syntactic theory. Second, by showing that Halkomelem draws from a familiar class of universal constructions and organizes its syntax around some simple and common parameters, the author has brought the Salish languages, which due to their phonological and morphological complexity seemed particularly fearsome, into cross-linguistic perspective.

This book treats aspects of the syntax of Halkomelem, a Salish language spoken in southwestern British Columbia, specifically those constructions which involve objects, and seeks to accomplish two goals. First, it provides natural language fodder for the debate concerning the nature of grammatical relations and their place in syntactic theory. Second, by showing that Halkomelem draws from a familiar class of universal constructions and organizes its syntax around some simple and common parameters, the author has brought the Salish languages, which due to their phonological and morphological complexity seemed particularly fearsome, into cross-linguistic perspective.

Each paper in this collection provides theoretical solutions to empirically-based problems. Some papers deal with structures which are perennial favourites. Others deal with morphosyntactic issues including the representation of ergativity, mood, case, agreement, and polysynthesis. Some contributors diverge from straightforward relational accounts to use linking or mapping devices or specifier positions to represent the interface of morphology and syntax. The included data is from languages as diverse as Abkhaz, Bantu, Basque, Cheyenne, Dutch, Eskimo, French, Fula, Georgian, Italian, Halkomelem, Jakaltek, Japanese, Kwa, Malagasy, Potawatomi, Russian, Southern Tiwa, Spanish, Tagalog, Telugu, Wakashan, and Yimas. The data is derived from original fieldwork of the contributors. Thus the volume makes an empirical, as well as a theoretical contribution to linguistic research.

Each paper in this collection provides theoretical solutions to empirically-based problems. Some papers deal with structures which are perennial favourites. Others deal with morphosyntactic issues including the representation of ergativity, mood, case, agreement, and polysynthesis. Some contributors diverge from straightforward relational accounts to use linking or mapping devices or specifier positions to represent the interface of morphology and syntax. The included data is from languages as diverse as Abkhaz, Bantu, Basque, Cheyenne, Dutch, Eskimo, French, Fula, Georgian, Italian, Halkomelem, Jakaltek, Japanese, Kwa, Malagasy, Potawatomi, Russian, Southern Tiwa, Spanish, Tagalog, Telugu, Wakashan, and Yimas. The data is derived from original fieldwork of the contributors. Thus the volume makes an empirical, as well as a theoretical contribution to linguistic research.