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Insubordination
Edited by Nicholas Evans and Honoré Watanabe
[Typological Studies in Language 115] 2016
► pp. 283–309

Chapter 11. Insubordination in Aleut

| Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska

Examples of insubordination are well attested in Eskimo languages, but they are rarely noted for the related language Aleut. In this chapter, therefore, I examine the possibility of insubordination in Aleut. The question is complicated by a number of factors, which I address here. For example, for there to be insubordination in a language, there must be subordination; in Aleut, there is little formal distinction between independence and subordination, and the identification of subordinate structures is formally (but not necessarily semantically) problematic. Furthermore, one of the primary mechanisms by which clauses become insubordinate is through ellipsis of an independent clause; this rarely occurs in Aleut. Finally, functions commonly associated with insubordination, e.g. evidentials, exhortations, prohibitions, etc., are often expressed via means other than subordination in Aleut. I conclude that Aleut does not have insubordination; nevertheless, this study may help in understanding the factors that block or disfavor the rise of insubordination.

Published online: 18 November 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.115.11ber
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