%0 Journal Article %A Bruil, Martine %T The development of the portmanteau verbal morphology in Ecuadorian Siona: A story of the formal merger of linguistic categories %D 2018 %J Journal of Historical Linguistics %V 8 %N 1 %P 128-167 %@ 2210-2116 %R https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.17003.bru %K Tukanoan languages %K tense %K clause-typing %K portmanteau morphology %K Ecuadorian Siona %I John Benjamins %X Subject marking in the Western Tukanoan language Ecuadorian Siona is part of a complex system of portmanteau morphology that also marks tense and clause type. This system shows a remarkable number of regularities that hint that it might be possible to tease apart these functions. Synchronically, it is problematic to posit distinct markers for each of the three relevant linguistic categories, but diachronically, it is likely that these categories were expressed by distinct markers. This article reconstructs the pathway of the formal merger of these three linguistic categories, comparing the expression of Ecuadorian Siona’s system to the expression of these categories in other Tukanoan languages. %U https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.17003.bru