1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Journal of Historical Linguistics
  4. Volume 13, Issue 2
  5. Article
Volume 13, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2210-2116
  • E-ISSN: 2210-2124
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

The present study contributes to the description of the coding of anticausatives and causative-anticausative alternation in Classical Armenian based on conventional typologically-oriented questionnaires and a dataset of verbs attested in the Armenian translation of the Bible. The synchronic evidence is then analyzed from a diachronic perspective with an outlook on modern varieties of Armenian and the Proto-Indo-European reconstruction.

It is argued that discriminating between the derivational and inflectional tiers allows for a better explanation of the morphological links between the patterns used to code causative-anticausative alternation in verbs of different semantic types. According to preliminary quantitative estimations, the overall valency orientation of Classical Armenian is dominated by a nondirected equipollent coding strategy. Altogether, when coded by transitivizing pairs, causative-anticausative alternation shows preference for noncausal verbs of the conjugation, the paradigm of which typically combines equipollent perfective forms with labile imperfective ones.

An improved descriptive model enables a better cross-linguistic alignment of coding patterns as illustrated by comparing Classical Armenian to other cognate languages. Classical Armenian provides additional evidence on the typologically common split in the coding of causative-anticausative pairs. Whereas the transitivizing and equipollent (and marginally suppletive) patterns are diachronically stable within the prehistory of Armenian, the labile strategy constitutes a major innovation typical for the imperfective part of the verbal paradigm.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.22001.koc
2022-09-23
2024-10-05

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/jhl.22001.koc
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ackermann, Katsiaryna
    2014 Die Vorgeschichte des slavischen Aoristsystems. Leiden: Brill. 10.1163/9789004261235
     https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004261235 [Google Scholar]
  2. Aikhenvald, Alexandra
    2011 Causatives Which Do Not Cause: Non-Valency-Increasing Effects of a Valency-Increasing Derivation. Language at Large: Essays on Syntax and Semanticsed. byAlexandra Aikhenvald & Robert Dixon, 86–142. Leiden: Brill. 10.1163/ej.9789004206076.i‑606.22
     https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004206076.i-606.22 [Google Scholar]
  3. Allan, Rutger
    2003 The Middle Voice in Ancient Greek: A Study of Polysemy. Amsterdam: Brill. 10.1163/9789004409064
     https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004409064 [Google Scholar]
  4. Amalyan, Hayk
    1996 Girkʽ makabayecʽwocʽ. Kʽnnakan bnagir. Yerevan: Academy Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Arakelyan, Irina A.
    2019 Sopostavitel’nyj analiz osobennostej oforml’enija perehodno-neperehodnyh par glagolov v drevnearmjanskom i vostočnoarmjanskom jazykah. Sovremennoe sostojanie indoevropejskogo jazykoznanija i sanskritologiied. byVartan K. Kazaryan, 128–133. Moskva: MCNMO.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bahrt, Nicklas
    2021 Voice Syncretism. Berlin: Language Science Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Barton, Charles
    1989 PIE. *mer-, Arm. meṙanim ‘die’. Indogermanische Forschungen941.135–157. 10.1515/if‑1989‑0111
     https://doi.org/10.1515/if-1989-0111 [Google Scholar]
  8. Bakker, Egbert
    1994 Voice, Aspect and Aktionsart: Middle and Passive in Ancient Greek. Voice: Form and Functioned. byBarbara Fox & Paul Hopper, 23–47. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/tsl.27.04bak
     https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.27.04bak [Google Scholar]
  9. Bozzone, Chiara
    2020 The PIE Causative in Cross-Linguistic Perspective. Indo-European Linguistics81.1–45. 10.1163/22125892‑bja10006
     https://doi.org/10.1163/22125892-bja10006 [Google Scholar]
  10. Clackson, James
    2007 Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511808616
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808616 [Google Scholar]
  11. Comrie, Bernard
    2006 Transitivity Pairs, Markedness, and Diachronic Stability. Linguistics44:2.303–318. 10.1515/LING.2006.011
     https://doi.org/10.1515/LING.2006.011 [Google Scholar]
  12. Comrie, Bernard, Iren Hartmann, Martin Haspelmath, Andrej Malchukov & Søren Wichmann
    2015 Introduction. Volume 1. Introducing the Framework, and Case Studies from Africa and Eurasiaed. byAndrej Malchukov & Bernard Comrie, 3–26. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110338812‑004
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110338812-004 [Google Scholar]
  13. Covini, Andrea
    2016 Formazioni causative nelle lingue indoeuropee di più antica attestazione. Tesi di dottorato. Università per stranieri di Siena, Universität zu Köln.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Croft, William
    1990 Typology and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Diakonoff, Igor
    1985 Hurro-Urartian Borrowings in Old Armenian. Journal of the American Oriental Society105:4.597–603. 10.2307/602722
     https://doi.org/10.2307/602722 [Google Scholar]
  16. Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond
    2004 Dictionary of Manichaean Texts. Volume III, 1: Texts from Central Asia and China (=Texts in Middle Persian and Parthian). Turnhout: Brepols.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. 2014 Grammatik des Westmitteliranischen (=Parthisch und Mittelpersisch). Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Fortson, Benjamin W.
    2010 Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction. 2nd ed.Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Gianollo, Chiara
    2014 Labile Verbs in Late Latin. Linguistics52:4.945–1002. 10.1515/ling‑2014‑0013
     https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2014-0013 [Google Scholar]
  20. Gonda, Jan
    1979 The Medium in the R̥gveda. Leiden: Brill.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Greenberg, Joseph
    1966 Universals of Language. 2nd ed.Cambridge: MIT Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Gyzoghian, Hovhannes
    ed. 2003 Armenian Classical Authors. 5th Century. 21vols.Antelias: Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Haspelmath, Martin
    1987 Transitivity Alternations of the Anticausative Type. Cologne: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Universität zu Köln (Arbeitspapiere, N.F. 5).
     [Google Scholar]
  24. 1993 More on the Typology of Inchoative/Causative Verb Alternations. Causatives and Transitivityed. byBernard Comrie & Maria Polinsky, 87–120. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 10.1075/slcs.23.05has
     https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.23.05has [Google Scholar]
  25. 2006 Against Markedness (and What to Replace It With). Journal of Linguistics421.25–70. 10.1017/S0022226705003683
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226705003683 [Google Scholar]
  26. 2008 Frequency vs. Iconicity in Explaining Grammatical Asymmetries. Cognitive Linguistics191.1–33. 10.1515/COG.2008.001
     https://doi.org/10.1515/COG.2008.001 [Google Scholar]
  27. 2016 Universals of Causative and Anticausative Verb Formation and the Spontaneity Scale. Lingua Posnaniensis58:2.33–63. 10.1515/linpo‑2016‑0009
     https://doi.org/10.1515/linpo-2016-0009 [Google Scholar]
  28. Hume, Elizabeth
    2008 Markedness and the Language User. Phonological Studies111.295–310.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Inglese, Guglielmo
    2020 The Hittite Middle Voice. Synchrony, Diachrony, Typology. Boston: Brill. 10.1163/9789004432307
     https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004432307 [Google Scholar]
  30. 2021 Anticausativization and Basic Valency Orientation in Latin. Valency over Time Diachronic Perspectives on Valency Patterns and Valency Orientationed. bySilvia Luraghi & Elisa Roma, 133–168. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110755657‑005
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110755657-005 [Google Scholar]
  31. Jakobson, Roman
    1932 Zur Struktur des russischen Verbums. Charisteria Guilelmo Mathesio quinquagenario: a discipulis et circuli linguistici Pragensis sodalibus oblataed. byVilém Mathesius, 74–83. Prague: Pražský Linguistický Kroužek.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Jensen, Hans
    1959 Altarmenische Grammatik. Heidelberg: Winter.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Jungmann, Paul & Jos J. S. Weitenberg
    1993 A Reverse Analytical Dictionary of Old Armenian. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110866049
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110866049 [Google Scholar]
  34. Kassian, Alexei S., Mikhail Zhivlov, George Starostin, Artem A. Trofimov, Petr A. Kocharov, Anna Kuritsyna & Mikhail N. Saenko
    2021 Rapid Radiation of the Inner Indo-European Languages: An Advanced Approach to Indo-European Lexicostatistics. Linguistics – An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences59:4.949–979. 10.1515/ling‑2020‑0060
     https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2020-0060 [Google Scholar]
  35. Kemmer, Suzanne
    1993 The Middle Voice. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 10.1075/tsl.23
     https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.23 [Google Scholar]
  36. Khurshudian, Victoria & Michael Daniel
    2015 Valency Classes in Eastern Armenian. Volume 1. Introducing the Framework, and Case Studies from Africa and Eurasiaed. byAndrej Malchukov & Bernard Comrie, 483–540. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Klingenschmitt, Gert
    1982 Das altarmenische Verbum. Wiesbaden: Reichert.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Kloekhorst, Alwin
    2008 Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon. Leiden: Brill.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Kocharov, Petr
    2018 A Note on the Origin of the Old Armenian Mediopassive Endings. Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies14:1.137–148. 10.30842/alp2306573714105
     https://doi.org/10.30842/alp2306573714105 [Google Scholar]
  40. . Forthcoming. The Mixed Aorist Subjunctive in Classical Armenian. Indogermanische Forschungen.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Kölligan, Daniel
    2014 Indogermanisch und Armenisch Studien zur historischen Grammatik des Klassisch Armenischen. Habilitationsschrift. Universität zu Köln.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Koontz-Garboden, Andrew
    2009 Anticausativization. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory271.77–138. 10.1007/s11049‑008‑9058‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-008-9058-9 [Google Scholar]
  43. Kortlandt, Frederik
    2003 Armeniaca. Comparative Notes. With an Appendix on the Historical Phonology of Classical Armenian by Robert S. P. Beekes. Ann Arbor: Caravan Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Kulikov, Leonid
    1998 Passive, Anticausative and the Classification of Verbs: The case of Vedic. Typology of Verbal Categories, Papers Presented to Vladimir Nedjalkov on the Occasion of His 70th birthday (Linguistische Arbeiten)ed. byLeonid Kulikov & Heinz Vater, 139–153. Tübingen: Niemeyer. 10.1515/9783110913750.139
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110913750.139 [Google Scholar]
  45. 2003 The Labile Syntactic Type in a Diachronic Perspective: The Case of Vedic. SKY Journal of Linguistics161. 93–112.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. 2009 Valency-Changing Categories in Indo-Aryan and Indo-European: A Diachronic Typological Portrait of Vedic Sanskrit. Multilingualism: Proceedings of the 23rd Scandinavian Conference of Lingusiticsed. byAnju Saxena & Åke Viberg, 75–92. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. 2014 The Decline of Labile Syntax in Old Indo-Aryan: A Diachronic Typological Perspective. Linguistics52:4.1139–1165. 10.1515/ling‑2014‑0018
     https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2014-0018 [Google Scholar]
  48. Künzle, Beda O.
    1984 Das altarmenische Evangelium. Teil I: Edition. Teil II: Lexikon. Bern; Frankfurt am Main; New York: Peter Lang.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. de Lamberterie, Charles
    1992 Introduction à l’arménien classique. LALIES101. Paris: CNRS Édition.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Letuchiy, Alexander
    2009 Towards a Typology of Labile Verbs: Lability vs. Derivation. New Challenges in Typology: Transcending the Borders and Refining the Distinctionsed. byPatience Epps & Alexandre Arkhipov, 223–244. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110219067.4.247
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110219067.4.247 [Google Scholar]
  51. Levin, Beth & Malka Rappaport Havov
    2005 Argument Realization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511610479
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511610479 [Google Scholar]
  52. Levinson, Stephen
    2000 Presumptive Meanings. Cambridge: MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/5526.001.0001
     https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/5526.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  53. Lundquist, Jesse & Anthony D. Yates
    2018 The Morphology of Proto-Indo-European. Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Volume 3ed. byJared Klein, Brian Joseph & Matthias Fritz, 2079–2195. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110542431‑043
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110542431-043 [Google Scholar]
  54. Luraghi, Silvia
    2012 Basic Valency Orientation and the Middle Voice in Hittite. Studies in Language36:1.1–32. 10.1075/sl.36.1.01lur
     https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.36.1.01lur [Google Scholar]
  55. 2022 Basic Valency Orientation, the Anticausative Alternation, and Voice in PIE. Zurück zur Wurzel – Struktur, Funktion und Semantik der Wurzel im Indogermanischen. Akten der Tagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft vom 13. bis 16. September 2016 in Wiened. byMelanie Malzahn, Hannes Fellner & Theresa-Susanna Illés, 185–196. Wiesbaden: Reichert 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Luraghi, Silvia, Guglielmo Inglese & Daniel Kölligan
    2021 The Passive Voice in Ancient Indo-European Languages: Inflection, Derivation, Periphrastic Verb Forms. Folia Linguistica Historica42:2.339–391. 10.1515/flin‑2021‑2033
     https://doi.org/10.1515/flin-2021-2033 [Google Scholar]
  57. Malchukov, Andrej
    2005 Case Pattern Splits, Verb Types, and Construction Competition. Competition and Variation in Natural Languagesed. byMengistu Amberber & Helen de Hoop, 73–117. London: Elsevier. 10.1016/B978‑008044651‑6/50006‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008044651-6/50006-9 [Google Scholar]
  58. Martirosyan, Hrach
    2013 The Place of Armenian in the Indo-European Language Family: The Relationship with Greek and Indo-Iranian. Journal of Language Relationship101.85–137. 10.31826/jlr‑2013‑100107
     https://doi.org/10.31826/jlr-2013-100107 [Google Scholar]
  59. Meillet, Antoine
    1913 Altarmenisches Elementarbuch. Heidelberg: Winter.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. 1962 Études de linguistique et de philologie arméniennes. I. Recherches sur la syntaxe comparée de l’arménien. Lisbonne: Imprensa nacional de Lisboa.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Meiser, Gerhard
    1993 Zur Funktion des Nasalpräsens im Urindogermanischen. Indogermanica et italica: Festschrift für Helmut Rix zum 65. Geburtstag G. Meisered. byJadwiga Bendahman, Jón A. Harðarson, Christiane Schaefer, 280–313. Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Meyer, Robin
    2017 Iranian-Armenian Language Contact In and Before the 5th Century CE. An Investigation into Pattern Replication and Societal Multilingualism. Ph.D. thesis. Oxford: University of Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Nedjalkov, Vladimir P.
    1969 Nekotorye verojatnostnye universalii v glagol’nom slovoobrazovanii. Jazykovye universalii i lingvističeskaya tipologijaed. byIgor F. Vardul’, 106–114. Moskva: Nauka.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Nedjalkov, Vladimir P. & Georgiy G. Sil’nickij
    1969 Tipologija morfologičeskogo i leksičeskogo kauzativov. Tipologija kauzativnykh konstrukcij. Morfologičeskij kauzatived. byAlexander A. Kholodovič, 20–50. Leningrad: Nauka.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Nichols, Johanna
    1982 Ingush Transitivization and Detransitivization. Berkeley Linguistics Society81.445–462.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. 1993 Transitive and Causative in the Slavic Lexicon: Evidence from Russian. Causatives and Transitivityed. byBernard Comrie & Maria Polinsky, 63–86. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 10.1075/slcs.23.04nic
     https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.23.04nic [Google Scholar]
  67. Nichols, Johanna, David A. Peterson & Jonathan Barnes
    2004 Transitivising and Detransitivising Languages. Linguistic Typology8:2.149–211. 10.1515/lity.2004.005
     https://doi.org/10.1515/lity.2004.005 [Google Scholar]
  68. Nichols, Johanna
    2017 Realization of the Causative Alternation: Revised Wordlist and Examples. Online: www.academia.edu/34318209 (last accessed23 Sept. 2021).
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Plank, Frans & Aditi Lahiri
    2015 Macroscopic and Microscopic Typology: Basic Valence Orientation, More Pertinacious than Meets the Naked Eye. Linguistic Typology19:1.1–54. 10.1515/lingty‑2015‑0001
     https://doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2015-0001 [Google Scholar]
  70. Ravnæs, Erling
    1991 The Chronology of Sound Changes from PIE to Classical Armenian. Thesis. Oslo: University of Oslo.
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Rix, Helmut, Martin Kümmel, Thomas Zehnder, Reiner Lipp & Brigitte Schirmer
    2001 Lexikon der indogermanisichen Verben. Die Wurzeln und ihre Primärstammbildungen. 21Aufl.Wiesbaden: Reichert.
     [Google Scholar]
  72. Sausa, Eleonora
    2016 Basic Valency Orientation in Homeric Greek. Folia Linguistica Historica371.205–238. 10.1515/flih‑2016‑0007
     https://doi.org/10.1515/flih-2016-0007 [Google Scholar]
  73. Schmitt, Rüdiger
    1983 Iranisches Lehrgut im Armenischen. Revue des études arméniennes n.s.171.73–112.
     [Google Scholar]
  74. Shibatani, Masayoshi & Prashant Pardeshi
    2002 The Causative Continuum. Typological Studies in Language481ed. byMasayoshi Shibatani, 85–126. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/tsl.48.07shi
     https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.48.07shi [Google Scholar]
  75. Weiss, Michael
    2020 Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin. 2nd ed.Ann Arbor: Beech Stave Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  76. Wilhelm, Gernot
    2008 Urartian. The Ancient Languages of Asia Minored. byRoger D. Woodard, 105–123. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511486845.013
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486845.013 [Google Scholar]
  77. Willi, Andreas
    2018 Origins of the Greek Verb. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108164207
     https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108164207 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.22001.koc
Loading
Anticausatives in Classical Armenian
Journal of Historical Linguistics 13, 255 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.22001.koc
/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.22001.koc
/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.22001.koc
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): anticausative; causative-anticausative alternation; Classical Armenian; diachronic typology; valency orientation

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error