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Volume 42, Issue 2
  • ISSN 0176-4225
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9714
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Abstract

Abstract

Classifier systems apply a semantic classification to nouns or verbs, though in some systems the number of classes is much reduced, and classes may lose their semantic coherence. In this article I investigate the diachronic process by which classifier systems undergo set reduction and semantic dissolution, shifting them along a cline towards purely morphological classes. Following previous literature I identify two potential mechanisms, obsolescence and mergers, each of which reduces a set of classifiers by one. We might expect obsolescence to be the more dominant mechanism, since mergers are generally presumed to be rare. However, in a case study of verbal classifiers in Daly languages of northern Australia, I find extensive evidence for mergers, suggesting they play a major role in class reduction. I also consider the extent to which mergers may occur in other classifier systems, hypothesising a general relationship between compounding, information load and phonological erosion.

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2025-05-19
2025-06-24

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The diachrony of verbal classification
Diachronica 42, 161 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.24036.man
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Australian languages; classifiers; erosion; grammaticalisation; mergers; morphology; semantics

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