The Structure and Function on Yaqui complementation

This book examines the structure and function of Yaqui complementation, an understudied Native American Language spoken in Sonora (Mexico) and Arizona. The analysis follows the lines characteristic of recent works, since it underscores the form-function iconicity principle, and the syntax-semantic interface of the sentence. The language presents interesting challenges. On the one hand, Yaqui-specific relations between event integration and the complement-taking predicates are compatible but not identical to cross-linguistic predictions based on iconicity. On the other hand, the traditional definition of complementation based on morphosyntactic criteria does not cover all the strategies found, especially for those predicates showing alternative encoding.

This study is an important contribution not only to our understanding of the syntax of the Yaqui language and the theoretical framework in which it is formulated, but it also provides linguistic data, virtually absent in most grammatical studies of indigenous languages, relevant for typological studies.