Noun-Incorporation

Noun-incorporation is a phenomenon in which a noun that is an argument of a verb is tightly

attached to the verb, rather than appearing in the traditional object position. The following examples
from Yucatec Mayan (spoken in Mexico and Belize) illustrate this phenomenon:1
(1) a. tinakah
e
tinak- COMP- Ichop- it
I chopped a tree.

b.
ah
ASP

e
tree

akenahen
ak- e- nahchop- tree- APASS- ASPI chopped wood.

en
I.ABS

In (1a), the verb and the direct object are separate words. In (1b), the noun has incorporated into the
verb, forming a single word. Notice the meaning of the sentence changes slightly from (1a) to (1b).
This happens often, but not always, as we will see later. Another example from Lahu (a TibetoBurman language spoken in China, Burma, Thailand and Laos) illustrates the same point.
(2) a. j$
th d$
liquor ACC drink
to drink the liquor

b.

j$d$
liquor- drink
to drink liquor

In (2a), where the NP is an independent word, there is some specific liquor to be drunk. The action in
(2b), where noun-incorporation has taken place, refers to the generic act of drinking liquor.
There are two kinds of noun-incorporation: Classifier noun-incorporation and compound
noun-incorporation. Classifier noun-incorporation does not affect the transitivity of the verb. In other
words, if a verb has a subject and a direct object as in (3), then the presence of an incorporated noun
does not alter that (4). Examples (3) and (4) are drawn from Oneida (an Iroquoian language spoken in
Southern Ontario and Wisconsin).
(3)

wa/khnihn: ne: ka/:k

kskos
wa/- khnihn- u
ne: ka/:k
PST1.SG.NOMbuy- ASP
this
I bought this pig.

kskos
pig

COMP = complementizer, APASS = antipassive, ABS = absolutive, ACC = accusative, PST = past tense, SG = singular, NOM =
nominative, ASP = aspect, EPEN = epenthetic, TRANS = transitive, INTRANS = intransitive. Do not worry about any terms
you do not understand!

(4)

wa/kneskwahnihn: ne: ka/:k

wa/- kneskwaPST1.SG.NOManimalI bought this pig.

kskos
hnihn- u
buy- ASP

ne: ka/:k
this

kskos
pig

Notice that the independent NP (this pig in (4)) must be a type of the incorporated noun (animal in
(4)). For obvious reasons, one cannot replace pig in (4) with something that is not an animal.
Compound noun-incorporation does affect the transitivity of the verb. Specifically, when a
noun incorporates, the argument it represents can no longer appear in the sentence. For example, a
direct object can appear either as a separate noun phrase (5) or can be incorporated (6). However,
(unlike Oneida and other classifier noun-incorporating languages) both the incorporated noun and the
full direct object noun phrase cannot appear (7). These examples are from Ponapean, an Austronesian
language spoken in the south Pacific.
(5)

I pahn ihkos-e
kikou ehu
I
pahn ihkos- e
likou ehu
I
will pleat- TRANS dress a
I will pleat a dress.

(6)

I pahn ihkos-likou
I
pahn ihkos- likou
I
will pleat- INTRANS
dress
I will dress-pleat. (= I will pleat a dress.)

(7)

*I pahn ihkos-e-likou

likou ehu

In Ponapean, the effect of noun-incorporation on transitivity is seen in the morphology. Once the noun
incorporates into the verb, the transitive marker (/e-/ in (5)) is lost.
Does English have noun-incorporation? Not exactly as described here. When noun
incorporation happens in English, the noun-verb complex can only be used as a gerund or another noun
as the following examples show: (bird-watching, baby-sitting, axe-murderer). Thus, the following
sentence is ungrammatical: (*I bird-watched (the Canada geese).) This kind of incorporation is usually
referred to as compounding. This process is highly productive in English as the following examples
illustrate: cherry-flambing, elk-hunting and demitasse-collecting.
2