Dr. Maziar Toosarvandani will present - What's in a noun? Deverbal nominalization in Northern Paiute

The structure of clauses and noun phrases show striking similarities, as we know from Lees 1963 and much subsequent work. I explore whether v--a verbal functional head that introduces the external argument--has a nominal counterpart by looking at two deverbal nominalizers in Northern Paiute, a Uto-Aztecan language of the western United States. These nominalizers, -dü and -na, show an unusual asymmetry. Nominalizations created with -dü describe subject event participants, while those created with -na describe nonsubject event participants. I propose that both nominalizers are overt realizations of n--a nominal functional head, located between D and N, that introduces the possessor. My account derives the complementary functions of the two Northern Paiute nominalizers, and it correctly predicts that they also create certain types of event-denoting nominalizations.