Complex Predicates in Arrernte

Abstract

Using the example of Murrinh-Patha, Seiss (2011) illustrates how Australian Aboriginal languages can shed light on the morphology-syntax interface: one aspect of their polysynthetic nature is that information often encoded in phrases and clauses in other languages is instead found in a single morphological word. In this paper, we look at another instance, the Australian Aboriginal language Arrernte, and in particular at complex predicates within the language, to examine the implications for the morphology-syntax interface. Following from this, we show how a glue semantics-based approach can be applied to Arrernte complex predicates, in a way that fits neatly with the use of glue semantics to model lexical functions in LFG in a multilingual natural language generation environment.