Algonquian morphosyntax : toward a new descriptive model from innuaimun data (Quebec) ; La morphosyntaxe algonquienne : vers un nouveau modèle de description à partir des données de l’innu-aimun, langue algonquienne du Québec

The morphosyntax of Algonquian languages, spoken in North America, is little known in Europe. The way they are traditionally described remains inherited from the first descriptions, dating back to the end of the 16th Century. These languages appear even more ‘exotic’ as the terminology used is idiosyncratic: “direct-inverse” system, “obviation”, “person hierarchy”, etc. This makes it seem like we are faced with linguistic facts never attested anywhere else. Hence, our subject is at once a descriptive and analytic one  through our study of innu-aimun morphosyntax, an Algonquian language spoken in Quebec , and a subject of linguistic history and epistemology. Our analytic model is based on the immediate constituent analysis, which uncovers the structural logic specific to the innu language, where semantic factors interact with syntax at different constituency levels. This model places diathesis at the center of the exceptionally rich and complex Algonquian morphosyntax, which entails diathesis, voice and alignment phenomena, notably through different strategies of verbal argument making depending on argument semantics and referential values. Our study aims at contributing to general linguistic improvements, by bringing a new light to the complexity of Algonquian languages. We hope that the model we propose, quite divergent from Algonquian linguistic tradition but aligned with more recent works, would enable, through a new, global and comprehensive approach, to solve some aporia and to fill some gaps present in the descriptions of Algonquian languages. ; La morphosyntaxe des langues algonquiennes (Amérique du Nord), est encore peu connue en Europe. Leur tradition descriptive demeure ancrée dans l’héritage des premières descriptions, remontant à la fin du XVIème siècle. Ces langues apparaissent d’autant plus ‘exotiques’ que la terminologie utilisée est idiosyncratique : système « direct-inverse », « obviation », « hiérarchie des personnes », etc. Cela donne l’impression que l’on est face à des faits attestés nulle ...