{"title":"The grammaticalization of manner expressions into complementizers: insights from Semitic languages","authors":"Rodrigo Hernáiz","doi":"10.1515/ling-2021-0197","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Complementation strategies in both ancient and modern Semitic languages include the use of a series of cognate complementizers typically sharing a k-element: e.g., Tigrinya käm, Modern Hebrew ki, Akkadian kī(ma) or Ge’ez kama. The sources and the developments that led to the complementizer use of these multifunctional k-subordinators are not sufficiently clear, and diverse interpretations have been proposed. The present article analyses the oldest written record of k-complement markers in Semitic, focusing on Old Akkadian, Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian. The analysis of the type and distribution of complement constructions suggest a different explanation for their development based on the grammaticalization of similative manner expressions, a process attested in Afro-Asiatic and other languages. The article also highlights the presence and potential role of nominal complementation among the earliest recorded forms of complementation in Akkadian. The data presented here provide insights into the origin of k-complementizers in Semitic languages with less ancient written evidence, from Ancient Hebrew to Ethiosemitic.","PeriodicalId":47548,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Linguistics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2021-0197","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract Complementation strategies in both ancient and modern Semitic languages include the use of a series of cognate complementizers typically sharing a k-element: e.g., Tigrinya käm, Modern Hebrew ki, Akkadian kī(ma) or Ge’ez kama. The sources and the developments that led to the complementizer use of these multifunctional k-subordinators are not sufficiently clear, and diverse interpretations have been proposed. The present article analyses the oldest written record of k-complement markers in Semitic, focusing on Old Akkadian, Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian. The analysis of the type and distribution of complement constructions suggest a different explanation for their development based on the grammaticalization of similative manner expressions, a process attested in Afro-Asiatic and other languages. The article also highlights the presence and potential role of nominal complementation among the earliest recorded forms of complementation in Akkadian. The data presented here provide insights into the origin of k-complementizers in Semitic languages with less ancient written evidence, from Ancient Hebrew to Ethiosemitic.
摘要 古代和现代闪米特语言中的补语策略包括使用一系列同源补语,这些补语通常共享一个 k 元素:如提格雷亚语 käm、现代希伯来语 ki、阿卡德语 kī(ma) 或 Ge'ez 语 kama。导致使用这些多功能 k 副词的补语的来源和发展还不够清楚,人们提出了各种不同的解释。本文以古阿卡德语、古巴比伦语和古亚述语为重点,分析了闪米特语中最古老的 k 补码标记的书面记录。对补语结构的类型和分布的分析表明,对补语结构的发展有不同的解释,其基础是相似方式表达的语法化,这一过程已在非洲-亚洲语言和其他语言中得到证实。文章还强调了在阿卡德语最早记录的补语形式中,名词补语的存在和潜在作用。本文提供的数据有助于我们深入了解从古希伯来语到伊塞米语等书面证据较少的闪米特语言中 k 补语的起源。
期刊介绍:
Linguistics publishes articles in the traditional subdisciplines of linguistics as well as in neighboring disciplines insofar as these are deemed to be of interest to linguists and other students of natural language. This includes grammar, both functional and formal, with a focus on morphology, syntax, and semantics, pragmatics and discourse, phonetics and phonology, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics. The focus may be on one or several languages, but studies with a wide crosslinguistic (typological) coverage are also welcome. The perspective may be synchronic or diachronic. Linguistics also publishes up to two special issues a year in these areas, for which it welcomes proposals.