What is a polysynthetic language?

Definition
	A polysynthetic language is a language in which words tend to consist of several morphemes.

Example (Yup’ik Inuit)

tuntussuqatarniksaitengqiggtuq

tuntu -ssur -qatar -ni -ksaite -ngqiggte -uq

reindeer -hunt -FUT -say -NEG -again -3SG:IND

'He had not yet said again that he was going to hunt reindeer.'

Source:

Eliza Orr, cited by Payne, T. 1997a 27–28

Kinds
	Here are the two kinds of polysynthetic languages:
	agglutinative fusional

Contrast
	The opposite of a highly polysynthetic language is a highly isolating language.

Concept module: polysynthetic language
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): P
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004