This article explores the distribution, syntax, and information structure of XVS clauses in the narrative text and the reported speech of a thirteenth‐century Old Catalan chronicle, the Llibre dels Fets. It is shown that XVS occurs mainly within reported speech and in embedded clauses. This corresponds with the conservative nature of these syntactic domains (the former reproducing syntactic structures echoing epic literature, the latter being inherently conservative syntactically), while XVS is less frequent in narrative text, which, in this chronicle, is more innovative and closer to spoken language. The data presented demonstrate that by the thirteenth century, XVS constructions were mainly used to express verum focus within the scope of nonveridical operators and their use only connected with a structural V2 requirement que in conservative domains. This variation captures the loss of V2 in Old Catalan and the emergence of modern SVO grammar.
本文探讨了十三世纪旧加泰罗尼亚语编年史《Llibre dels Fets》中叙事文本和报告语音中 XVS 分句的分布、句法和信息结构。研究表明，XVS 主要出现在报告语音和嵌入式分句中。这与这些句法域的保守性相吻合（前者再现了与史诗文学相呼应的句法结构，后者在句法上固有的保守性），而 XVS 在叙事文本中出现的频率较低，在这部编年史中，叙事文本更具创新性，更接近口语。所提供的数据表明，到了 13 世纪，XVS 结构主要用于在非虚词运算符的范围内表达 verum focus，其使用只与保守语域中的 V2 结构要求 que 有关。这种变化反映了旧加泰罗尼亚语中 V2 的消失和现代 SVO 语法的出现。
{"title":"Fronting in Old Catalan: Asymmetries between Narration and Reported Speech1","authors":"Afra Pujol i Campeny","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12299","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the distribution, syntax, and information structure of XVS clauses in the narrative text and the reported speech of a thirteenth‐century Old Catalan chronicle, the <jats:italic>Llibre dels Fets</jats:italic>. It is shown that XVS occurs mainly within reported speech and in embedded clauses. This corresponds with the conservative nature of these syntactic domains (the former reproducing syntactic structures echoing epic literature, the latter being inherently conservative syntactically), while XVS is less frequent in narrative text, which, in this chronicle, is more innovative and closer to spoken language. The data presented demonstrate that by the thirteenth century, XVS constructions were mainly used to express verum focus within the scope of nonveridical operators and their use only connected with a structural V2 requirement que in conservative domains. This variation captures the loss of V2 in Old Catalan and the emergence of modern SVO grammar.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"109 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142215549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper studies the morphological structure of verbs in Takestani, an endangered Iranian dialect of Southern Tati. We analyse the effects of various morphological conditions on subject agreement allomorphy. The agreement suffix exhibits a large range of allomorphs in the past tense. We show that the primary factor for the agreement allomorphy is the valency of the root, and secondary factors are the presence of auxiliaries or perfective aspect. We also propose that the agreement allomorphy is a long‐distance process. The agreement allomorphy is conditioned by the voice or transitivity of the verb stem even though the stem is not directly adjacent to the agreement suffix. Alternative formulations in terms of clitics vs. suffixes do not negate the long‐distance nature of this allomorphy. We also find morphomic patterns of behaviour, such that the verbal agreement suffixes are mobile and can alternatively surface as possessive suffixes on nouns.
{"title":"Valency‐Conditioned Allomorphy in the Verbal Agreement of the Takestani Dialect of Southern Tati","authors":"Neda Taherkhani, Hossep Dolatian","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12300","url":null,"abstract":"This paper studies the morphological structure of verbs in Takestani, an endangered Iranian dialect of Southern Tati. We analyse the effects of various morphological conditions on subject agreement allomorphy. The agreement suffix exhibits a large range of allomorphs in the past tense. We show that the primary factor for the agreement allomorphy is the valency of the root, and secondary factors are the presence of auxiliaries or perfective aspect. We also propose that the agreement allomorphy is a long‐distance process. The agreement allomorphy is conditioned by the voice or transitivity of the verb stem even though the stem is not directly adjacent to the agreement suffix. Alternative formulations in terms of clitics vs. suffixes do not negate the long‐distance nature of this allomorphy. We also find morphomic patterns of behaviour, such that the verbal agreement suffixes are mobile and can alternatively surface as possessive suffixes on nouns.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142215550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The primary aim of this work is to propose a diachrony of complementizer systems in the upper southern Italian dialects (USIDs). While previous diachronic studies have focused mainly on the transition from Latin to Romance, we aim to address several unanswered questions about the transition from medieval southern Italo‐Romance—in particular the system documented by Ledgeway (2005)—to the attested modern USID ones that are claimed to derive from it. Using the cartographic framework, and in particular the split‐CP (Rizzi 1997), our revisitation of the literature leads us to identify at least six distinct modern systems, which differ morpholexically (what we consider “dual” systems, e.g., presenting both che and ca) and/or syntactically (which we consider “split” systems, i.e., lexicalizing both Force° and Fin°). We ultimately propose that these systems should be interpreted as distinct stages in two separate diachronic developments. This is accounted for both through novel empirical insights concerning the conservative nature of the complementizer system found in e.g. Verbicarese—which we argue coincides with the one found in 17th–19th century Neapolitan‐‐, and through the view that complementizers are generated in Fin°, which presents theoretical advantages concerning the expression of (illocutionary) force and (modal)/finiteness marking.
{"title":"Revisiting Syntactic Microvariation and Diachrony in the Dual Complementizer Systems of Upper Southern Italy1","authors":"Sara N. Cardullo, Kim A. Groothuis","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12292","url":null,"abstract":"The primary aim of this work is to propose a diachrony of complementizer systems in the upper southern Italian dialects (USIDs). While previous diachronic studies have focused mainly on the transition from Latin to Romance, we aim to address several unanswered questions about the transition from medieval southern Italo‐Romance—in particular the system documented by Ledgeway (2005)—to the attested modern USID ones that are claimed to derive from it. Using the cartographic framework, and in particular the split‐CP (Rizzi 1997), our revisitation of the literature leads us to identify at least six distinct modern systems, which differ morpholexically (what we consider “dual” systems, e.g., presenting both <jats:sc>che</jats:sc> and <jats:sc>ca</jats:sc>) and/or syntactically (which we consider “split” systems, i.e., lexicalizing both Force° and Fin°). We ultimately propose that these systems should be interpreted as distinct stages in two separate diachronic developments. This is accounted for both through novel empirical insights concerning the conservative nature of the complementizer system found in e.g. Verbicarese—which we argue coincides with the one found in 17th–19th century Neapolitan‐‐, and through the view that complementizers are generated in Fin°, which presents theoretical advantages concerning the expression of (illocutionary) force and (modal)/finiteness marking.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"122 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140625859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article summarises the synchronic system of verbal aspect manifest in three Middle Vedic prose narrative texts, investigating the use of various morphological categories with past reference (especially the imperfect, perfect and aorist). I show that the imperfect and perfect are both compatible with multiple aspectual readings (perfective, imperfective and anterior); in the terminology of Dahl (2010), both may have neutral aspect. The aorist is largely restricted to anterior readings but can be perfective. Additionally, I consider the diachronic context of this system, outlining differences from the earlier one visible in the Early Vedic of the Rigveda and discussing the probable diachronic trajectory connecting the two. After commenting on the possibility of characterising the synchronic system within the alternative framework of Altshuler (2014), which lacks the category of neutral aspect, I conclude with notes on the use of the sentential particles ha, nu and vai in the text samples. The first of these seems to be associated with perfective aspect, while the latter two are both associated with anterior aspect.
本文总结了三篇中古吠陀散文叙事文本中所体现的动词方面的同步系统，研究了带有过去指称的各种形态类别（尤其是未完成时、完成时和动名词）的使用情况。我的研究表明，未完成时和完成时都兼容多种方面读法（完成时、未完成时和前时）；用 Dahl（2010 年）的术语来说，两者都可能具有中性方面。动名词在很大程度上仅限于前读，但也可以是完成时。此外，我还考虑了这一系统的异时空背景，概述了它与早期《梨俱吠陀》吠陀语系统的不同之处，并讨论了连接两者的可能异时空轨迹。在对 Altshuler（2014 年）的替代框架（该框架缺乏中性方面的类别）中描述同步系统的可能性进行评论之后，我对文本样本中使用的句式微词 ha、nu 和 vai 进行了总结。前者似乎与完成时方面有关，而后两者都与前方面有关。
{"title":"Notes on Verbal Aspect in Three Vedic Prose Narratives","authors":"Anahita Gwenllian Hoose","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12290","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12290","url":null,"abstract":"This article summarises the synchronic system of verbal aspect manifest in three Middle Vedic prose narrative texts, investigating the use of various morphological categories with past reference (especially the imperfect, perfect and aorist). I show that the imperfect and perfect are both compatible with multiple aspectual readings (perfective, imperfective and anterior); in the terminology of Dahl (2010), both may have neutral aspect. The aorist is largely restricted to anterior readings but can be perfective. Additionally, I consider the diachronic context of this system, outlining differences from the earlier one visible in the Early Vedic of the <i>Rigveda</i> and discussing the probable diachronic trajectory connecting the two. After commenting on the possibility of characterising the synchronic system within the alternative framework of Altshuler (2014), which lacks the category of neutral aspect, I conclude with notes on the use of the sentential particles <i>ha</i>, <i>nu</i> and <i>vai</i> in the text samples. The first of these seems to be associated with perfective aspect, while the latter two are both associated with anterior aspect.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140574787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Most dialects of Breton have largely penultimate stress, and are also said to exhibit stress on certain clitics when they precede monosyllabic content words. However, data suggest that this prosodic process may not be maintained consistently by modern Breton speakers. This study explores the nature of clitic stress in Breton and investigates its potential loss by examining the indefinite article, low numerals and the adverb re ‘too’ in three pre-existing corpora: two linguistic atlases and a more recent online repository of Breton recordings. The findings show that the loss of stressed clitics is greater in south-eastern Brittany, and more advanced for the indefinite article than for other contexts. It is suggested that this is due to the fact that the process does not occur with the definite article, and that the clitics are being reanalysed such that they have a less cohering relationship with their hosts. Given the unstable nature of Breton as an endangered language with a high proportion of older speakers, it is unclear whether this ongoing language change will continue along the same path, or if revitalisation is likely either to halt or accelerate it.
大多数布列塔尼方言在很大程度上都有倒数第二音节重音，而且据说在单音节内容词之前的某些韵母上也有重音。然而，有数据表明，现代布列塔尼语使用者可能并没有始终如一地保持这种拟声过程。本研究探讨了布列塔尼语单音词重音的性质，并通过研究三个已有语料库（两个语言地图集和一个最新的布列塔尼语在线录音库）中的不定冠词、低位数字和副词 re "也"，研究了其可能的消失。研究结果表明，在布列塔尼东南部，重音单词的丢失率更高，不定冠词的丢失率也比其他语境更高。研究人员认为，这是由于定冠词不存在这一过程，而且单韵母正在被重新分析，因此它们与其宿主之间的关系不那么连贯。鉴于布列塔尼语作为一种濒危语言的不稳定性，以及较高比例的老一代使用者，目前尚不清楚这种持续的语言变化是否会沿着相同的道路继续下去，也不清楚振兴是否有可能停止或加速这种变化。
{"title":"Prosodic Change in Breton: The Loss of Stressed Clitics1","authors":"Holly J. Kennard","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12291","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12291","url":null,"abstract":"Most dialects of Breton have largely penultimate stress, and are also said to exhibit stress on certain clitics when they precede monosyllabic content words. However, data suggest that this prosodic process may not be maintained consistently by modern Breton speakers. This study explores the nature of clitic stress in Breton and investigates its potential loss by examining the indefinite article, low numerals and the adverb <i>re</i> ‘too’ in three pre-existing corpora: two linguistic atlases and a more recent online repository of Breton recordings. The findings show that the loss of stressed clitics is greater in south-eastern Brittany, and more advanced for the indefinite article than for other contexts. It is suggested that this is due to the fact that the process does not occur with the definite article, and that the clitics are being reanalysed such that they have a less cohering relationship with their hosts. Given the unstable nature of Breton as an endangered language with a high proportion of older speakers, it is unclear whether this ongoing language change will continue along the same path, or if revitalisation is likely either to halt or accelerate it.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140575270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper presents the results of a corpus study on the Wycliffe Bible and the King James Bible, examining the distribution of the pronouns who(m)/which and the complementiser that in relative clauses with a personal referent. The data indicate that the decisive factor in both periods was the function of the gap (subject vs. non-subject): wh-pronouns are preferred in object relative clauses, while that is preferred in subject relative clauses. In addition, the paper argues that the subject/non-subject distinction was decisive not only regarding the major wh/that distribution but also regarding the who(m)/which distinction. While in the case of the wh/that distinction, a syntactic difference (relative pronoun versus relative complementiser) underlies the attested asymmetry, the pronouns who(m) and which do not differ in their core syntactic properties. The data clearly indicate that both the wh-strategy in general and the pronoun who(m) in particular started to spread from the lower functions of the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy, whereby the spread of who(m) was one step behind the general spread of the wh-strategy. The findings thus suggest that asymmetries along the lines of the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy are not necessarily paired up with syntactic asymmetries.
{"title":"Subject-Object Asymmetries and the Development of Relative Clauses between Late Middle English and Early Modern English","authors":"Julia Bacskai-Atkari","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12294","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents the results of a corpus study on the Wycliffe Bible and the King James Bible, examining the distribution of the pronouns <i>who(m)</i>/<i>which</i> and the complementiser <i>that</i> in relative clauses with a personal referent. The data indicate that the decisive factor in both periods was the function of the gap (subject vs. non-subject): <i>wh</i>-pronouns are preferred in object relative clauses, while <i>that</i> is preferred in subject relative clauses. In addition, the paper argues that the subject/non-subject distinction was decisive not only regarding the major <i>wh</i>/<i>that</i> distribution but also regarding the <i>who(m)</i>/<i>which</i> distinction. While in the case of the <i>wh</i>/<i>that</i> distinction, a syntactic difference (relative pronoun versus relative complementiser) underlies the attested asymmetry, the pronouns <i>who(m)</i> and <i>which</i> do not differ in their core syntactic properties. The data clearly indicate that both the <i>wh</i>-strategy in general and the pronoun <i>who(m)</i> in particular started to spread from the lower functions of the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy, whereby the spread of <i>who(m)</i> was one step behind the general spread of the <i>wh</i>-strategy. The findings thus suggest that asymmetries along the lines of the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy are not necessarily paired up with syntactic asymmetries.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"215 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140590328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marc E. Canby, Steven N. Evans, Donald Ringe, Tandy Warnow
Understanding how languages change is important not only for the reconstruction of protolanguages and for estimating diversification dates (i.e. the dates when languages split), but also for the inference of evolutionary trees (or phylogenetic networks) of language families. We propose a parametric model of language change that addresses lexical polymorphism (two or more words for a given basic meaning) based on what is known about how languages change. Under our model, changes of state in lexical characters occur only due to semantic shift or borrowing, leading to (potentially brief) periods in which polymorphism is present. Across a wide range of model conditions, we find that a simple and natural modification to the maximum parsimony (MP) criterion (which seeks the tree with the fewest number of changes) to allow it to handle polymorphic characters has the best accuracy, substantially improving on well‐known Bayesian methods based on appearances and disappearances of words. We also provide a new analysis of Indo–European that takes polymorphism into account, finding support for a previous tree (Nakhleh et al., 2006) and a new tree that differs from the previous tree in the relationship between Italo‐Celtic and Tocharian.
{"title":"Addressing Polymorphism in Linguistic Phylogenetics","authors":"Marc E. Canby, Steven N. Evans, Donald Ringe, Tandy Warnow","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12289","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12289","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding how languages change is important not only for the reconstruction of protolanguages and for estimating diversification dates (i.e. the dates when languages split), but also for the inference of evolutionary trees (or phylogenetic networks) of language families. We propose a parametric model of language change that addresses lexical polymorphism (two or more words for a given basic meaning) based on what is known about how languages change. Under our model, changes of state in lexical characters occur <jats:italic>only</jats:italic> due to semantic shift or borrowing, leading to (potentially brief) periods in which polymorphism is present. Across a wide range of model conditions, we find that a simple and natural modification to the maximum parsimony (MP) criterion (which seeks the tree with the fewest number of changes) to allow it to handle polymorphic characters has the best accuracy, substantially improving on well‐known Bayesian methods based on appearances and disappearances of words. We also provide a new analysis of Indo–European that takes polymorphism into account, finding support for a previous tree (Nakhleh et al., 2006) and a new tree that differs from the previous tree in the relationship between Italo‐Celtic and Tocharian.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140575025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pashto is a major language of the Iranian family with multiple dialects spoken in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this paper, I examine the phonological inventory of the previously little known Khatak Pashto by a comparison with the well‐known Yusufzai, of the Northeast dialect of the language. I use primary data collected from Karak and Mardan districts of northwest Pakistan. In my analysis, I identify the similarities between these two varieties and the differences, based on at least eleven phonological isoglosses including the feature of vowel nasality, which split the two. I conclude by supporting the case for a distinct Central dialect area to represent the position of Khatak Pashto.
{"title":"The Position of Khatak in Pashto Dialectology","authors":"Munazza Saeed Khatak","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12293","url":null,"abstract":"Pashto is a major language of the Iranian family with multiple dialects spoken in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this paper, I examine the phonological inventory of the previously little known Khatak Pashto by a comparison with the well‐known Yusufzai, of the Northeast dialect of the language. I use primary data collected from Karak and Mardan districts of northwest Pakistan. In my analysis, I identify the similarities between these two varieties and the differences, based on at least eleven phonological isoglosses including the feature of vowel nasality, which split the two. I conclude by supporting the case for a distinct Central dialect area to represent the position of Khatak Pashto.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140574788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the Camuno dialect of northern Italy, ‘do’‐support may be used to form the interrogative. In some varieties, this is optional, and it co‐exists with the alternative interrogative method of using the main verb alone. Through an elicitation experiment, participants produced their preferred version of a question based on a certain main verb with given context. The likelihood that ‘do’‐support was used varied according to the supported verb's semantics and the context pragmatics, specifically: (a) the degree to which the verb denotes activity (directly or indirectly); and (b) the role of the subject as an effector, or ‘do’‐er of that activity. Unlike for ‘do’‐support in English, a purely syntactic function does not seem relevant for Camuno ‘do’. The study shows that: (1) even if, syntactically, the support verb resembles an auxiliary, it may have full lexical content; and (2) that there exists a credible grammaticalisation pathway from a lexical ‘do’ verb to a semantically bleached, contentless ‘do’, seemingly motivated by a social preference for the ‘do’‐support construction and a desire to simplify the interrogative system.
{"title":"A Semantically Rich ‘Do’‐Support Verb in the Camuno Dialect of Northern Italy","authors":"Nicola Swinburne","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12288","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12288","url":null,"abstract":"In the Camuno dialect of northern Italy, ‘do’‐support may be used to form the interrogative. In some varieties, this is optional, and it co‐exists with the alternative interrogative method of using the main verb alone. Through an elicitation experiment, participants produced their preferred version of a question based on a certain main verb with given context. The likelihood that ‘do’‐support was used varied according to the supported verb's semantics and the context pragmatics, specifically: (a) the degree to which the verb denotes activity (directly or indirectly); and (b) the role of the subject as an effector, or ‘do’‐er of that activity. Unlike for ‘do’‐support in English, a purely syntactic function does not seem relevant for Camuno ‘do’. The study shows that: (1) even if, syntactically, the support verb resembles an auxiliary, it may have full lexical content; and (2) that there exists a credible grammaticalisation pathway from a lexical ‘do’ verb to a semantically bleached, contentless ‘do’, seemingly motivated by a social preference for the ‘do’‐support construction and a desire to simplify the interrogative system.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139950077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Word formation in most languages is inextricably linked to a distinction between clitics and affixes. Although famous for its templatic morphological structure, Arabic also contains concatenative formatives some of whose status as clitics or affixes is controversial. It is well known that Arabic varieties exhibit a range of interacting shortening and lengthening processes. Some of the shortening processes have been linked to the clitic/affix distinction in the Arabic literature. In this paper, I discuss two vowel shortening processes, CSS‐Morph and CSS‐Phon, that are often conflated as the same Closed Syllable Shortening process. Based on evidence from 16 modern Arabic varieties, I show that these CSS processes are in fact two independent processes. While CSS‐Morph is a phonological alternation within a morphophonological context, CSS‐Phon is purely phonological. Neither provides evidence to classify any formative as a clitic or indeed differentiate between formatives as suffixes or clitics.
{"title":"Affix Not Clitic‐Based Vowel Shortening in Modern Arabic Varieties","authors":"Emily Lindsay‐Smith","doi":"10.1111/1467-968x.12287","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-968x.12287","url":null,"abstract":"Word formation in most languages is inextricably linked to a distinction between clitics and affixes. Although famous for its templatic morphological structure, Arabic also contains concatenative formatives some of whose status as clitics or affixes is controversial. It is well known that Arabic varieties exhibit a range of interacting shortening and lengthening processes. Some of the shortening processes have been linked to the clitic/affix distinction in the Arabic literature. In this paper, I discuss two vowel shortening processes, CSS‐<jats:sc>Morph</jats:sc> and CSS‐<jats:sc>Phon,</jats:sc> that are often conflated as the same Closed Syllable Shortening process. Based on evidence from 16 modern Arabic varieties, I show that these CSS processes are in fact two independent processes. While <jats:sc>CSS‐Morph</jats:sc> is a phonological alternation within a morphophonological context, <jats:sc>CSS‐Phon</jats:sc> is purely phonological. Neither provides evidence to classify any formative as a clitic or indeed differentiate between formatives as suffixes or clitics.","PeriodicalId":44794,"journal":{"name":"TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139950175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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