{"title":"Unity and diversity in grammaticalization scenarios, Bisang, Walter & Andrej\u0000 Malchukov","authors":"M. Hilpert","doi":"10.1075/dia.20005.hil","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.20005.hil","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":"37 1","pages":"127-132"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45070235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While analysing lexical data of Western Kho-Bwa languages of the Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan family with the help of a computer-assisted approach for historical language comparison, we observed gaps in the data where one or more varieties lacked forms for certain concepts. We employed a new workflow, combining manual and automated steps, to predict the most likely phonetic realisations of the missing forms in our data, by making systematic use of the information on sound correspondences in words that were potentially cognate with the missing forms. This procedure yielded a list of hypothetical reflexes of previously identified cognate sets, which we first preregistered as an experiment on the prediction of unattested word forms and then compared with actual word forms elicited during secondary fieldwork. In this study we first describe the workflow which we used to predict hypothetical reflexes and the process of elicitation of actual word forms during fieldwork. We then present the results of our reflex prediction experiment. Based on this experiment, we identify four general benefits of reflex prediction in historical language comparison. These comprise (1) an increased transparency of linguistic research, (2) an increased efficiency of field and source work, (3) an educational aspect which offers teachers and learners a wide plethora of linguistic phenomena, including the regularity of sound change, and (4) the possibility of kindling speakers’ interest in their own linguistic heritage.
{"title":"Benefits of reflex prediction: a case study of Western Kho-Bwa","authors":"Tomotheus A. Bodt, Johann-Mattis List","doi":"10.17613/T3NM-Q348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17613/T3NM-Q348","url":null,"abstract":"While analysing lexical data of Western Kho-Bwa languages of the Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan family with the help of a computer-assisted approach for historical language comparison, we observed gaps in the data where one or more varieties lacked forms for certain concepts. We employed a new workflow, combining manual and automated steps, to predict the most likely phonetic realisations of the missing forms in our data, by making systematic use of the information on sound correspondences in words that were potentially cognate with the missing forms. This procedure yielded a list of hypothetical reflexes of previously identified cognate sets, which we first preregistered as an experiment on the prediction of unattested word forms and then compared with actual word forms elicited during secondary fieldwork. In this study we first describe the workflow which we used to predict hypothetical reflexes and the process of elicitation of actual word forms during fieldwork. We then present the results of our reflex prediction experiment. Based on this experiment, we identify four general benefits of reflex prediction in historical language comparison. These comprise (1) an increased transparency of linguistic research, (2) an increased efficiency of field and source work, (3) an educational aspect which offers teachers and learners a wide plethora of linguistic phenomena, including the regularity of sound change, and (4) the possibility of kindling speakers’ interest in their own linguistic heritage.","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67654472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. A. Johnson, P. A. Kerkhof, L. Kulikov, Esther Le Mair, Jóhanna Barðdal
Abstract In contrast to grammaticalization studies of lexical verbs changing into auxiliaries, the realm of semantic changes associated with lexical verbs is an understudied area of historical semantics. We concentrate on the emergence of verbs of success from more semantically concrete verbs, uncovering six conceptual metaphors which all co-occur with non-canonical encoding of subjects in Indo-European. Careful scrutiny of the relevant data reveals a semantic development most certainly inherited from Indo-European; hence, we reconstruct a dat-‘succeeds’ construction at different levels of schematicity for Proto-Indo-European, including a novel reconstruction of a conceptual metaphor, success is motion forward, and the mapping between this metaphor and the verb-class-specific argument structure construction. Hence, this article offers a systematic analysis of regularity in semantic change, highlighting the importance of predicate and argument structure for lexical semantic developments.
{"title":"Argument structure, conceptual metaphor and semantic change","authors":"C. A. Johnson, P. A. Kerkhof, L. Kulikov, Esther Le Mair, Jóhanna Barðdal","doi":"10.1075/DIA.00014.BAR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/DIA.00014.BAR","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In contrast to grammaticalization studies of lexical verbs changing into auxiliaries, the realm of semantic changes associated with lexical verbs is an understudied area of historical semantics. We concentrate on the emergence of verbs of success from more semantically concrete verbs, uncovering six conceptual metaphors which all co-occur with non-canonical encoding of subjects in Indo-European. Careful scrutiny of the relevant data reveals a semantic development most certainly inherited from Indo-European; hence, we reconstruct a dat-‘succeeds’ construction at different levels of schematicity for Proto-Indo-European, including a novel reconstruction of a conceptual metaphor, success is motion forward, and the mapping between this metaphor and the verb-class-specific argument structure construction. Hence, this article offers a systematic analysis of regularity in semantic change, highlighting the importance of predicate and argument structure for lexical semantic developments.","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":"36 1","pages":"463-508"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47172898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Based on the number of words per meaning across the Indo-European Swadesh list, Pagel et al. (2007) suggest that frequency of use is a general mechanism of linguistic evolution. We test this claim using within-language change. From the IDS (Key & Comrie 2015) we compiled a comparative word list of 1,147 cognate pairs for Classical Latin and Modern Spanish, and 1,231 cognate pairs for Classical and Modern Greek. We scored the amount of change for each cognate pair in the two language histories according to a novel 6-point scale reflecting increasing levels of change from regular sound change to external borrowing. We find a weak negative correlation between frequency of use and lexical change for both the Latin-Spanish and Classical-Modern Greek language developments, but post hoc tests reveal that low frequency of use of borrowed words drive these patterns, casting some doubt on frequency of use as a general mechanism of language change.
{"title":"The role of frequency of use in lexical change","authors":"Fiona M. Wilson, Panayiotis A. Pappas, A. Mooers","doi":"10.1075/dia.00017.wil","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.00017.wil","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Based on the number of words per meaning across the Indo-European Swadesh list, Pagel et al. (2007) suggest that frequency of use is a general mechanism of linguistic evolution. We test this claim using within-language change. From the IDS (Key & Comrie 2015) we compiled a comparative word list of 1,147 cognate pairs for Classical Latin and Modern Spanish, and 1,231 cognate pairs for Classical and Modern Greek. We scored the amount of change for each cognate pair in the two language histories according to a novel 6-point scale reflecting increasing levels of change from regular sound change to external borrowing. We find a weak negative correlation between frequency of use and lexical change for both the Latin-Spanish and Classical-Modern Greek language developments, but post hoc tests reveal that low frequency of use of borrowed words drive these patterns, casting some doubt on frequency of use as a general mechanism of language change.","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":"36 1","pages":"584-612"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46788304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This paper investigates the role of negation in grammaticalization in Iquito, an endangered Zaparoan language of the Peruvian Amazon. Iquito has a verb, pajɨɨni, which has undergone two paths of grammaticalization only in negated clauses. First, pajɨɨni has grammaticalized from “learn” to “be able to.” Subsequently, it is undergoing grammaticalization from an ability verb to a future auxiliary. Given that ability verbs are an uncommon source for future auxiliaries (Bybee et al. 1994), this study provides a detailed case study of this rare path. Our analysis of Iquito demonstrates that grammaticalization paths are not limited to affirmative contexts and may behave differently depending on the polarity of the utterance.
摘要本文研究了秘鲁亚马逊地区濒危的萨帕罗安语Iquito中否定在语法化中的作用。Iquito有一个动词，paj [j]] ni，它只在否定从句中经历了两条语法化的路径。首先，paj [j] [ni]在语法上从“学习”变成了“能够”。随后，它经历了从能力动词到将来助动词的语法化。鉴于能力动词是将来助动词的罕见来源(Bybee et al. 1994)，本研究提供了这一罕见途径的详细案例研究。我们对Iquito的分析表明，语法化路径并不局限于肯定语境，并且可能根据话语的极性而表现不同。
{"title":"The role of negation in the grammaticalization of ability verbs","authors":"Brianna Wilson, C. Hansen","doi":"10.1075/dia.00016.wil","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.00016.wil","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper investigates the role of negation in grammaticalization in Iquito, an endangered Zaparoan language of the Peruvian Amazon. Iquito has a verb, pajɨɨni, which has undergone two paths of grammaticalization only in negated clauses. First, pajɨɨni has grammaticalized from “learn” to “be able to.” Subsequently, it is undergoing grammaticalization from an ability verb to a future auxiliary. Given that ability verbs are an uncommon source for future auxiliaries (Bybee et al. 1994), this study provides a detailed case study of this rare path. Our analysis of Iquito demonstrates that grammaticalization paths are not limited to affirmative contexts and may behave differently depending on the polarity of the utterance.","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":"36 1","pages":"546-583"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43159288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The concept of Gliederungsverschiebung (rebracketing) was introduced by the Neogrammarians and it is probably the first explanation of syntactic change proper. Originally, it was conceived of to explain the emergence of the complementizer dass “that”, which was held to go back to a demonstrative pronoun that refers cataphorically to a following main clause and which was eventually reanalyzed as introducing the second clause. This paper presents several examples of rebracketing (mainly from various stages of German) and argues that rebracketing is only possible if the clause whose boundary is shifted is embedded under and selected by a lexical head that is eventually reanalyzed as a complementizer. This condition on rebracketing follows from the fact that otherwise, the respective clause would be a phase and no longer accessible for operations from outside (thus excluding rebracketing). Additionally, the paper argues that rebracketing is economy-driven in that it minimizes the structure and it is motivated by the Principle of Early Merge that applies whenever no further movement follows.
{"title":"Rebracketing (Gliederungsverschiebung) and the Early Merge Principle","authors":"H. Weiß","doi":"10.1075/dia.00015.wei","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.00015.wei","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The concept of Gliederungsverschiebung (rebracketing) was introduced by the Neogrammarians and it is probably the first explanation of syntactic change proper. Originally, it was conceived of to explain the emergence of the complementizer dass “that”, which was held to go back to a demonstrative pronoun that refers cataphorically to a following main clause and which was eventually reanalyzed as introducing the second clause. This paper presents several examples of rebracketing (mainly from various stages of German) and argues that rebracketing is only possible if the clause whose boundary is shifted is embedded under and selected by a lexical head that is eventually reanalyzed as a complementizer. This condition on rebracketing follows from the fact that otherwise, the respective clause would be a phase and no longer accessible for operations from outside (thus excluding rebracketing). Additionally, the paper argues that rebracketing is economy-driven in that it minimizes the structure and it is motivated by the Principle of Early Merge that applies whenever no further movement follows.","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":"36 1","pages":"509-545"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48363112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground-breaking studies on how Bangkok Thai tones have changed over the past 100 years (Pittayaporn 2007, 2018; Zhu et al. 2015) reveal a pattern that Zhu et al. (2015) term the “clockwise tone shift cycle:” low > falling > high level or rising-falling > rising > falling-rising or low. The present study addresses three follow-up questions: (1) Are tone changes like those seen in Bangkok Thai also attested in other languages? (2) What other tone changes are repeated across multiple languages? (3) What phonetic biases are most likely to be the origins of the reported changes? A typological review of 52 tone change studies across 45 Sinitic, Tai-Kadai, Hmong-Mien, and Tibeto-Burman languages reveals that clockwise changes are by far the most common. The paper concludes by exploring how tonal truncation (Xu 2017) generates synchronic variation that matches the diachronic patterns; this suggests that truncation is a key mechanism in tone change.
关于曼谷泰语声调在过去100年里如何变化的开创性研究(Pittayaporn 2007, 2018;Zhu et al.(2015)揭示了Zhu et al.(2015)称之为“顺时针音调移位周期”的模式:低>下降>高水平或上升-下降>上升>下降-上升或低。本研究解决了三个后续问题:(1)在曼谷泰语中看到的音调变化是否也在其他语言中得到证实?(2)还有哪些声调变化在多种语言中重复出现?(3)哪些语音偏差最有可能是报告变化的来源?对45种汉语、台加泰语、苗族语和藏缅语的52项声调变化研究的类型学回顾表明，顺时针变化是迄今为止最常见的。本文最后探讨了音调截断(Xu 2017)如何产生与历时模式相匹配的共时变化;这表明截断是声调变化的关键机制。
{"title":"Crosslinguistic trends in tone change","authors":"Cathryn Yang, Yi Xu","doi":"10.1075/dia.18002.yan","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.18002.yan","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Ground-breaking studies on how Bangkok Thai tones have changed over the past 100 years (Pittayaporn 2007, 2018; Zhu et al. 2015) reveal a pattern that Zhu et al. (2015) term the\u0000 “clockwise tone shift cycle:” low > falling > high level or rising-falling > rising > falling-rising or low. The\u0000 present study addresses three follow-up questions: (1) Are tone changes like those seen in Bangkok Thai also attested in other\u0000 languages? (2) What other tone changes are repeated across multiple languages? (3) What phonetic biases are most likely to be the\u0000 origins of the reported changes? A typological review of 52 tone change studies across 45 Sinitic, Tai-Kadai, Hmong-Mien, and\u0000 Tibeto-Burman languages reveals that clockwise changes are by far the most common. The paper concludes by exploring how tonal\u0000 truncation (Xu 2017) generates synchronic variation that matches the diachronic\u0000 patterns; this suggests that truncation is a key mechanism in tone change.","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42398173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Historical linguists have been debating for decades about whether the classical comparative method provides sufficient evidence to consider Altaic languages as part of a single genetic unity, like Indo-European and Uralic, or whether the implicit statistical robustness behind regular sound correspondences is lacking in the case of Altaic. In this paper, I run a significance test on Swadesh-lists representing Turkish, Mongolian and Manchu to see if there are regular patterns of phonetic similarities or correspondences among word-initial phonemes in the basic vocabulary that cannot be expected to have arisen by chance. The methodology draws on Oswalt (1970), Ringe (1992), Baxter & Manaster Ramer (2000) and Kessler (2001, 2007). The results only partially point towards an Altaic family: Mongolian and Manchu show significant sound correspondences, while Turkish and Mongolian show some marginally significant phonological similarity, that might however be the consequence of areal contact. Crucially, Turkish and Manchu do not test positively under any condition.1
{"title":"Significance testing of the Altaic family","authors":"Andrea Ceolin","doi":"10.1075/dia.17007.ceo","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.17007.ceo","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Historical linguists have been debating for decades about\u0000 whether the classical comparative method provides sufficient evidence to\u0000 consider Altaic languages as part of a single genetic unity, like Indo-European\u0000 and Uralic, or whether the implicit statistical robustness behind regular sound\u0000 correspondences is lacking in the case of Altaic. In this paper, I run a\u0000 significance test on Swadesh-lists representing Turkish, Mongolian and Manchu to\u0000 see if there are regular patterns of phonetic similarities or correspondences\u0000 among word-initial phonemes in the basic vocabulary that cannot be expected to\u0000 have arisen by chance. The methodology draws on Oswalt (1970), Ringe (1992), Baxter &\u0000 Manaster Ramer (2000) and Kessler (2001, 2007).\u0000 The results only partially point towards an Altaic family: Mongolian and Manchu\u0000 show significant sound correspondences, while Turkish and Mongolian show some\u0000 marginally significant phonological similarity, that might however be the consequence of areal\u0000 contact. Crucially, Turkish and Manchu do not test positively under any\u0000 condition.1\u0000","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49499859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper we propose an alternative scenario for the grammaticalization of passive constructions in German and English. According to the received view, the development starts with the frequent combinations of copula verbs with past participles, which then increasingly gain in frequency during the grammaticalization process. In contrast to the received view, we argue that marginal – i.e., atypical and infrequent – constellations of constructions play an important role in the grammaticalization process. These constellations are ambiguous in their interpretation, and consequently have an inherent potential to trigger semantic reinterpretation and syntactic reanalysis. The alternative scenario is more consistent with theoretical considerations and the patterns in corpus data of German and English between 1050 and 1350. Our paper supports the hypothesis that the grammaticalization of the passive in German started from constellations of the become copula with past participles of atelic verbs, i.e., activities and semelfactives. By contrast, no such change can be observed in the corresponding construction in English. We discuss the implications of our findings for constructional change and grammaticalization in general.
{"title":"The role of atypical constellations in the grammaticalization\u0000 of German and English passives","authors":"E. Smirnova, Robert Mailhammer, S. Flach","doi":"10.1075/dia.16033.smi","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.16033.smi","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In this paper we propose an alternative scenario for the\u0000 grammaticalization of passive constructions in German and English. According to\u0000 the received view, the development starts with the frequent combinations of\u0000 copula verbs with past participles, which then increasingly gain in frequency\u0000 during the grammaticalization process. In contrast to the received view, we\u0000 argue that marginal – i.e., atypical and infrequent – constellations of\u0000 constructions play an important role in the grammaticalization process. These\u0000 constellations are ambiguous in their interpretation, and consequently have an\u0000 inherent potential to trigger semantic reinterpretation and syntactic\u0000 reanalysis. The alternative scenario is more consistent with theoretical\u0000 considerations and the patterns in corpus data of German and English between\u0000 1050 and 1350. Our paper supports the hypothesis that the grammaticalization of\u0000 the passive in German started from constellations of the become copula\u0000 with past participles of atelic verbs, i.e., activities and semelfactives. By\u0000 contrast, no such change can be observed in the corresponding construction in\u0000 English. We discuss the implications of our findings for constructional change\u0000 and grammaticalization in general.","PeriodicalId":44637,"journal":{"name":"Diachronica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48687226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：