A grammar of the Seneca language /Wallace Chafe ; with the help and collaboration of Alberta Austin [and 27 others.
- Oakland, California : University of California Press, (c)2015.
- 1 online resource (xvi, 234 pages).
- University of California publications in linguistics ; volume 149 .
Includes bibliographies and index.
Introduction -- Phonetics and phonology -- Verb morphology part 1 : the minimal verb -- Verb morphology part 2 : the prepronominal prefixes -- Verb morphology part 3 : expanded verb bases -- Verb morphology part 4 : extended aspect suffixes -- Noun morphology -- Clitics -- Kinship terms -- Syntax part 1 : amplifying a pronominal meaning -- Syntax part 2 : Amplifying a spatial, temporal, or modal meaning -- Syntax part 3 : amplifying the meaning of an entire verb -- Questions -- Imperatives -- Interjections -- Example texts.
The Seneca language belongs to the Northern Iroquoian branch of the Iroquoian language family, where its closest relatives are Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora. Seneca holds special typological interest because of its high degree of polysynthesis and fusion. It is historically important because of its central role in the Longhouse religion and its place in the pioneering linguistic work of the 19th century missionary Asher Wright. This grammatical description, which includes four extended texts in several genres, is the culminatin of Chafe's long term study of the language over half a century.