Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana
E755545
Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana is a landmark descriptive linguistic work that provides a comprehensive analysis of the Amazonian Cariban language Hixkaryana, noted especially for its documentation of object–verb–subject word order.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana canonical | 1 |
| descriptive grammar of Hixkaryana | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8758167 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana Context triple: [Hixkaryana language, hasImportantWork, Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana]
-
A.
Handbook of American Indian Languages
The *Handbook of American Indian Languages* is a foundational early 20th-century linguistic work that systematically documents and analyzes numerous Indigenous languages of the Americas.
-
B.
A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia
"A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia" is a comprehensive linguistic reference work detailing the structure and usage of the Tariana language spoken in the Northwest Amazon region.
-
C.
A Grammar of Tukang Besi
A Grammar of Tukang Besi is a comprehensive linguistic reference work detailing the structure and usage of the Tukang Besi language.
-
D.
A Grammar of Toqabaqita (Lichtenberk)
"A Grammar of Toqabaqita (Lichtenberk)" is a comprehensive linguistic description of the Oceanic language Toqabaqita, authored by linguist Frantisek Lichtenberk and widely used as a reference work in Austronesian linguistics.
-
E.
A Grammar of Kokota
A Grammar of Kokota is a linguistic reference work that systematically describes the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the Kokota language spoken in the Solomon Islands.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana Target entity description: Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana is a landmark descriptive linguistic work that provides a comprehensive analysis of the Amazonian Cariban language Hixkaryana, noted especially for its documentation of object–verb–subject word order.
-
A.
Handbook of American Indian Languages
The *Handbook of American Indian Languages* is a foundational early 20th-century linguistic work that systematically documents and analyzes numerous Indigenous languages of the Americas.
-
B.
A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia
"A Grammar of Tariana, from Northwest Amazonia" is a comprehensive linguistic reference work detailing the structure and usage of the Tariana language spoken in the Northwest Amazon region.
-
C.
A Grammar of Tukang Besi
A Grammar of Tukang Besi is a comprehensive linguistic reference work detailing the structure and usage of the Tukang Besi language.
-
D.
A Grammar of Toqabaqita (Lichtenberk)
"A Grammar of Toqabaqita (Lichtenberk)" is a comprehensive linguistic description of the Oceanic language Toqabaqita, authored by linguist Frantisek Lichtenberk and widely used as a reference work in Austronesian linguistics.
-
E.
A Grammar of Kokota
A Grammar of Kokota is a linguistic reference work that systematically describes the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the Kokota language spoken in the Solomon Islands.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (41)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
linguistic description ⓘ reference grammar ⓘ |
| academicDiscipline | linguistics ⓘ |
| author | Desmond C. Derbyshire ⓘ |
| context | fieldwork among Hixkaryana speakers ⓘ |
| contributesTo |
comparative studies within the Cariban family
ⓘ
understanding of Cariban language structure ⓘ |
| describesFeature |
alignment and case-marking patterns in Hixkaryana
ⓘ
basic object–verb–subject word order ⓘ clause structure in Hixkaryana ⓘ nominal morphology of Hixkaryana ⓘ pronominal system of Hixkaryana ⓘ subordination and clause combining in Hixkaryana ⓘ verb-final clauses with postverbal subjects ⓘ verbal morphology of Hixkaryana ⓘ word order variation in Hixkaryana ⓘ |
| focusesOn |
morphology of Hixkaryana
ⓘ
phonology of Hixkaryana ⓘ semantics of Hixkaryana ⓘ syntax of Hixkaryana ⓘ |
| geographicRegion |
Amazon basin
ⓘ
linked to:
Amazon Basin
|
| hasImpactOn |
cross-linguistic studies of OVS languages
ⓘ
documentation of Amazonian languages ⓘ theory of basic word order universals ⓘ |
| languageDescribed |
Hixkaryana
ⓘ
linked to:
Hixkaryána
|
| languageFamily |
Cariban languages
ⓘ
linked to:
Carib languages
|
| notableFor |
comprehensive description of Hixkaryana grammar
ⓘ
documentation of object–verb–subject word order ⓘ influence on typological studies of word order ⓘ |
| provides |
extensive example sentences from Hixkaryana
ⓘ
interlinear glossed texts ⓘ paradigms of verbal and nominal inflection ⓘ |
| subdiscipline |
descriptive linguistics
ⓘ
language documentation ⓘ linguistic typology ⓘ |
| subjectOf | research on basic word order typology ⓘ |
| timePeriodDescribed | 20th-century Hixkaryana ⓘ |
| usedBy |
Amazonianists
ⓘ
field linguists ⓘ typologists ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana Description of subject: Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana is a landmark descriptive linguistic work that provides a comprehensive analysis of the Amazonian Cariban language Hixkaryana, noted especially for its documentation of object–verb–subject word order.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Desmond C. Derbyshire’s grammar of Hixkaryana