Vestigial possessive morphology in Na-Dene and Yeniseian

External comparison with possessive constructions in the Yeniseian languages of Siberia suggests a diachronic explanation for morphological idiosyncrasies associated with NaDene possessed nouns, postpositions, directionals, and demonstrative prefixes. Section 2 discusses the nasal-class prefix that appears before certain inalienably possessed nouns in Athabaskan (Dene) languages. Section 3 introduces comparative Yeniseian morphology to propose that this element is a remnant of a generic possessive affix once regularly present between possessor and possessum in both families but surviving today in Athabaskan mostly before high frequency nouns. Section 4 considers Eyak, where, as is known, the l-qualifier is sometimes cognate with the Athabaskan nasal-class prefix (Krauss, in prep.). The comparison with Yeniseian suggests that some instances of the Eyak dand l-qualifiers may derive from fossilized possessive affixes, though most other qualifiers derive from anatomical nouns. Section 5 compares postpositional constructions in both families, which also show evidence of once having contained possessive connectors. Section 6 considers directionals, defined by Leer (1989: 576) as “words that specify direction with regard to a frame of reference, such as a body of water”. Directionals in the two families have striking semantic and morphological parallels, including vestiges of possessive connectors. Section 7 examines evidence showing that Yeniseian and Na-Dene demonstrative prefixes were originally connected to the following stem by a possessive affix. Finally, section 8 considers non-canonical onset correspondences between Tlingit and Athabaskan-Eyak body-part nouns that may have arisen when the noun in Pre-Tlingit absorbed a prefix cognate to the nasal/lateral elements attested in Athabaskan-Eyak and Yeniseian possessive constructions. Section 9 summarizes these findings and considers a few unanswered questions brought to light by the discussion.