A government and binding approach to Bella Coola

Abstract

In the time leading up to the work presented in this paper I was struck by the relative lack of Government & Binding (GB) treatments for American Indian languages. This paper will remedy the situation somewhat by investigating the adequacy of the GB framework for a language which has hitherto been neglected by current versions of the theory. Bella Coola is an isolated member of the Salish family, located on the Canadian west coast. It seems to have branched off before any other languages of the family, the two main branches being Coast Salish and Interior Salish. Bella Coola shows characteristics of both branches, but should not be considered any closer to Proto-Salish than any other language. The Salish family shares many characteristics with the neighbouring Wakashan and Chemakuan families, most notably VSO word order, reduplication, and a lack of clear distinction between verbs and nouns. The similarities between these language families have been attributed to a real diffusion, as genetic relations remain inconclusive.