Mock viva: Filip Larsson: Nominal and verbal affixation in the Caucasus. A morphological and phonological approach. (External mock opponent: Prof. Matthew Baerman, Univ. of Surrey)

Nominal and verbal affixation in the Caucasus
A morphological and phonological approach

Filip Larsson

Abstract: The Caucasus is a linguistically diverse region on the border between Europe and Asia where more than 60 languages from five language families are spoken in these mountainous areas reaching from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. The Caucasus furthermore contains some of the world’s most elaborate affixation patterns (Daniel & Ganenkov 2009: 671), which is paired with some of the world’s largest consonant inventories outside of Africa (Beguš 2020: 699). The languages of the Caucasus therefore constitute a highly interesting case to examine the possible correlations between morphology and consonant inventories from a phonological perspective. The Caucasus is furthermore interesting as it contains three endemic language families which all have rich morphology but with clear differences in affixation patterns. The aim of this thesis is twofold as it examines both the phonology and morphology of affixation in the languages of the Caucasus.