Abstract We give an overview of current research questions pursued in connection with an ongoing project on nominal classification systems in Africa, with a particular focus on Niger-Congo. We first introduce our cross-linguistically applicable methodological approach which provides new insights into the design of a range of gender systems on the continent. We then apply these ideas to the “noun class” systems of Niger-Congo. We focus on non-canonical phenomena of poorly known languages, which attest to an unexpected systemic diversity beyond the well-known Bantu type and promise to change the synchronic and diachronic perspective on the gender systems of this family.
{"title":"More diversity enGENDERed by African languages: an introduction","authors":"Tom Güldemann, Ines Fiedler","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1030","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We give an overview of current research questions pursued in connection with an ongoing project on nominal classification systems in Africa, with a particular focus on Niger-Congo. We first introduce our cross-linguistically applicable methodological approach which provides new insights into the design of a range of gender systems on the continent. We then apply these ideas to the “noun class” systems of Niger-Congo. We focus on non-canonical phenomena of poorly known languages, which attest to an unexpected systemic diversity beyond the well-known Bantu type and promise to change the synchronic and diachronic perspective on the gender systems of this family.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"80 1","pages":"221 - 240"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80420695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Julius-Maximilian Elstermann, Ines Fiedler, Tom Güldemann
Abstract This article describes the gender system of Longuda. Longuda class marking is alliterative and does not distinguish between nominal form and agreement marking. While it thus appears to be a prototypical example of a traditional Niger-Congo “noun-class” system, this identity of gender encoding makes it look morpho-syntactic rather than lexical. This points to a formerly independent status of the exponents of nominal classification, which is similar to a classifier system and thus less canonical. Both types of class marking hosts involve two formally and functionally differing allomorphs, which inform the historical reconstruction of Longuda noun classification in various ways.
{"title":"The gender system of Longuda","authors":"Julius-Maximilian Elstermann, Ines Fiedler, Tom Güldemann","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1035","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article describes the gender system of Longuda. Longuda class marking is alliterative and does not distinguish between nominal form and agreement marking. While it thus appears to be a prototypical example of a traditional Niger-Congo “noun-class” system, this identity of gender encoding makes it look morpho-syntactic rather than lexical. This points to a formerly independent status of the exponents of nominal classification, which is similar to a classifier system and thus less canonical. Both types of class marking hosts involve two formally and functionally differing allomorphs, which inform the historical reconstruction of Longuda noun classification in various ways.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"19 1","pages":"327 - 346"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84839508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract We re-assess the gender system of Ogbe-Oloma, an Edoid village variety of Nigeria. System exponents are prefixes that define form class and reflect grammatical number. We find that eight agreement classes undergird fourteen genders, while seventeen nominal form classes frame twenty-five number inflections. Prefix mapping from inflection to gender is non-isomorphic. Mapping is however constrained by syllable shape, CV- versus V-, and alliterative sound quality of prefix consonant, not vowel. In addition, several number inflections trigger agreement in multiple genders leading to one gender that exclusively refers to nouns with human reference.
{"title":"Reassessing gender in Ogbe-Oloma","authors":"R. P. Schaefer, F. Egbokhare","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1038","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We re-assess the gender system of Ogbe-Oloma, an Edoid village variety of Nigeria. System exponents are prefixes that define form class and reflect grammatical number. We find that eight agreement classes undergird fourteen genders, while seventeen nominal form classes frame twenty-five number inflections. Prefix mapping from inflection to gender is non-isomorphic. Mapping is however constrained by syllable shape, CV- versus V-, and alliterative sound quality of prefix consonant, not vowel. In addition, several number inflections trigger agreement in multiple genders leading to one gender that exclusively refers to nouns with human reference.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"68 1","pages":"387 - 403"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73414056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This chapter examines the gender and deriflection systems of the Noon language of Senegal. The Noon deriflection system is notable for exhibiting a high number of unprefixed nouns, in contrast with the pervasive gender system characterized by prefixes on a variety of agreement targets. Two related but distinct gender systems can be identified. The first system is sensitive only to the lexical identity of the noun. The second system is influenced by the semantic factors of animacy and diminutiveness, as well as the phenomenon of reduction to a “default” gender, which can be seen as a reorganization of the first, more conservative agreement scheme.
{"title":"The gender system of Noon: insights into the reorganization of agreement","authors":"J. Merrill, V. Apel","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1036","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This chapter examines the gender and deriflection systems of the Noon language of Senegal. The Noon deriflection system is notable for exhibiting a high number of unprefixed nouns, in contrast with the pervasive gender system characterized by prefixes on a variety of agreement targets. Two related but distinct gender systems can be identified. The first system is sensitive only to the lexical identity of the noun. The second system is influenced by the semantic factors of animacy and diminutiveness, as well as the phenomenon of reduction to a “default” gender, which can be seen as a reorganization of the first, more conservative agreement scheme.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"538 1","pages":"347 - 368"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80210334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This chapter deals with some characteristics of two more-or-less isolated Slavic varieties in the south-eastern Alps: Resian and Carinthian Slovene, whose nearest relative among the Slavic standard languages is Slovene. Both have been for centuries in situations of total language contact with Romance and Germanic varieties. I will concentrate on the come passive. At least in Resian, it developed due to direct Romance influence, which could be claimed to be the overall reason for this grammatical feature in the Alps. The situation in Molise Slavic in southern Italy will serve as a point of comparison.
{"title":"Slavic Alpine micro-varieties as part of an “Alpensprachbund”?","authors":"Malinka Pila","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1027","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This chapter deals with some characteristics of two more-or-less isolated Slavic varieties in the south-eastern Alps: Resian and Carinthian Slovene, whose nearest relative among the Slavic standard languages is Slovene. Both have been for centuries in situations of total language contact with Romance and Germanic varieties. I will concentrate on the come passive. At least in Resian, it developed due to direct Romance influence, which could be claimed to be the overall reason for this grammatical feature in the Alps. The situation in Molise Slavic in southern Italy will serve as a point of comparison.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"64 1","pages":"163 - 184"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74367633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract As is well-known, the Alps are a zone of long-standing, intensive contact and multilingualism among Germanic, Romance and Slavic languages and varieties. In this introductory paper, some reflections are presented on the viability of the Sprachbund hypothesis to encompass the occurring phenomena of convergence observed throughout the whole area.
{"title":"A specter is haunting Europe: the Alps as a linguistic area?","authors":"Livio Gaeta, G. Seiler","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1021","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract As is well-known, the Alps are a zone of long-standing, intensive contact and multilingualism among Germanic, Romance and Slavic languages and varieties. In this introductory paper, some reflections are presented on the viability of the Sprachbund hypothesis to encompass the occurring phenomena of convergence observed throughout the whole area.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"80 1","pages":"1 - 16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72992463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In the context of the Alps – a broad region characterized by common geographical and cultural features – the isolation caused by the geographical setting makes it possible for conservative strategies to survive from the Middle Ages through present times. This isolation, however, does not exclude that conservative patterns evolve into innovative strategies. To illustrate this, we surveyed causative and progressive constructions in the historical German minority varieties on the southern side of the Alps. Greschòneytitsch, a particularly dynamic variety, shows the remarkable development of a causative particle, tònz, and the grammaticalization of an adverb, eister, into a marker of progressive aspect.
{"title":"Contact phenomena in the verbal complex: the Walser connection in the Alpine area","authors":"Marco Angster, Livio Gaeta","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In the context of the Alps – a broad region characterized by common geographical and cultural features – the isolation caused by the geographical setting makes it possible for conservative strategies to survive from the Middle Ages through present times. This isolation, however, does not exclude that conservative patterns evolve into innovative strategies. To illustrate this, we surveyed causative and progressive constructions in the historical German minority varieties on the southern side of the Alps. Greschòneytitsch, a particularly dynamic variety, shows the remarkable development of a causative particle, tònz, and the grammaticalization of an adverb, eister, into a marker of progressive aspect.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"24 1","pages":"73 - 107"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72664339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The term Sprachbund refers to the convergence of typologically different languages in the same region and represents an interesting challenge to the notion of parameter conceived as a fixed value of a core syntactic option, i.e. ±null subjects. This contrast could be resolved by the methodological differentiation between surface forms and structural differences. Analyzing the status of clitic subjects and the effects of the so called “that-trace filter” in both Northern Italian and Bavarian dialects we will observe that continua primarily refer to surface forms – i.e. linear word orders – whereas the core option of a given (macro)parameter captures basic typological differences. In this perspective, we revisit the traditional Wellentheorie as a prototypical approach to analyze contact phenomena.
{"title":"Language synchronization north and south of the Brenner Pass: modeling the continuum","authors":"Ermenegildo Bidese, A. Tomaselli","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1028","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The term Sprachbund refers to the convergence of typologically different languages in the same region and represents an interesting challenge to the notion of parameter conceived as a fixed value of a core syntactic option, i.e. ±null subjects. This contrast could be resolved by the methodological differentiation between surface forms and structural differences. Analyzing the status of clitic subjects and the effects of the so called “that-trace filter” in both Northern Italian and Bavarian dialects we will observe that continua primarily refer to surface forms – i.e. linear word orders – whereas the core option of a given (macro)parameter captures basic typological differences. In this perspective, we revisit the traditional Wellentheorie as a prototypical approach to analyze contact phenomena.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"13 1","pages":"185 - 216"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90790125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In this paper, I will deal with the diffusion pattern of the progressive periphrases (PROGPER) attested in the minority languages that are present in the areas of Swiss Grisons, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friulian Carnia. I will individualize on the one hand the vectors of diffusion between the standard languages and the minority varieties; on the other hand, I will explain the mechanism of adaptation or re-elaboration of the borrowed structure in the replica language. Finally, I will pinpoint which of this structure replication seems to be the result of an internal development witnessed in the Alpine area.
{"title":"Progressive periphrases in language contact","authors":"Rossella Maraffino","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1025","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this paper, I will deal with the diffusion pattern of the progressive periphrases (PROGPER) attested in the minority languages that are present in the areas of Swiss Grisons, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friulian Carnia. I will individualize on the one hand the vectors of diffusion between the standard languages and the minority varieties; on the other hand, I will explain the mechanism of adaptation or re-elaboration of the borrowed structure in the replica language. Finally, I will pinpoint which of this structure replication seems to be the result of an internal development witnessed in the Alpine area.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"95 1","pages":"109 - 127"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78555190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Middle and Upper German dialects exhibit a phonological process of s-retraction neutralizing alveolar [s] to palatoalveolar [ʃ] in preconsonantal contexts. Based on a corpus of dialect data from own fieldwork, dialect atlases and dictionaries, we examine this process in Germanic, Romance and Slavic varieties of the Eastern Alps. It is attested in most Germanic varieties and in Ladin and Rumantsch, but not in other Romance varieties or in the Slovenian dialects of the region. We propose that the emergence of s-retraction may be supported by language contact, but crucially relies on specific diachronic changes affecting the sibilant inventories of the varieties displaying it.
{"title":"Preconsonantal s-retraction in the Alps: Germanic, Romance, Slavic","authors":"B. Alber, Joachim Kokkelmans, S. Rabanus","doi":"10.1515/stuf-2021-1022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1022","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Middle and Upper German dialects exhibit a phonological process of s-retraction neutralizing alveolar [s] to palatoalveolar [ʃ] in preconsonantal contexts. Based on a corpus of dialect data from own fieldwork, dialect atlases and dictionaries, we examine this process in Germanic, Romance and Slavic varieties of the Eastern Alps. It is attested in most Germanic varieties and in Ladin and Rumantsch, but not in other Romance varieties or in the Slovenian dialects of the region. We propose that the emergence of s-retraction may be supported by language contact, but crucially relies on specific diachronic changes affecting the sibilant inventories of the varieties displaying it.","PeriodicalId":43533,"journal":{"name":"STUF-Language Typology and Universals","volume":"61 12 1","pages":"17 - 38"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78382794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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