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- Volume 26, Issue, 2009
Diachronica - Volume 26, Issue 2, 2009
Volume 26, Issue 2, 2009
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Inhibited sound change: An evolutionary approach to lexical competition
Author(s): Juliette Blevins and Andrew Wedelpp.: 143–183 (41)More LessThe study of regular sound change reveals numerous types of exceptionality. The type studied here has the profile of regular sound change, but appears to be inhibited where homophony would result. The most widely cited cases of this phenomenon are reviewed and new cases presented. If sound change can be inhibited by impending homophony, how is this to be represented and understood? Here we offer a model of variation-based sound change where category evolution incorporates lexical competition. Lexical Character Displacement predicts accentuation of differences among similar words when syntagmatic disambiguation is limited. In the cases under discussion, this accentuation inhibits merger. However, as we show, the same principle can inhibit sound change altogether, or give rise to extreme phonological contrasts under similar conditions.
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What were the four divisions of Middle Chinese?
Author(s): Michel Ferluspp.: 184–213 (30)More LessDetermining the nature of the four Divisions of the Qièyùn is a fundamental problem in the study of the phonetic history of Chinese. Analyses by Pulleyblank and Baxter make it possible to bring out two major changes from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese: a two-way split of the vowel system, and later the lenition of medial -r-. The use of models drawn from Mon-Khmer voice type register languages made it possible to reconstruct the phonetic bases of the four divisions. Div. I groups tense rimes, Div. II groups velarized rimes resulting from medial -r-, Div. III groups lax/breathy rimes. As for Div. IV, it represents rimes with the diphthong ie.
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Pronominal borrowing among the Maya
Author(s): Danny Lawpp.: 214–252 (39)More LessA central concern in the study of language contact phenomena is the question of what linguistic features are more or less likely to be borrowed, and why. Pronominal borrowing, at least the direct borrowing of the phonological forms, is often ranked among the least common outcomes of language contact. This paper presents an extended case study of contact-induced changes in the system of person markers in several Mayan languages over nearly two thousand years of intense linguistic contact. The contact phenomena discussed appear to include the direct borrowing of pronominal ‘matter’, as well as the diffusion of structural and semantic ‘patterns’ that have led to a high degree of convergence in the overall system of pronominal reference in these languages. Possible social and linguistic motivations for the unusual contact-induced changes are considered.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 41 (2024)
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Volume 40 (2023)
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Volume 39 (2022)
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Volume 38 (2021)
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Volume 37 (2020)
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Volume 36 (2019)
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Volume 35 (2018)
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Volume 34 (2017)
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Volume 33 (2016)
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Volume 32 (2015)
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Volume 31 (2014)
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Volume 30 (2013)
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Volume 29 (2012)
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Volume 28 (2011)
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Volume 27 (2010)
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Volume 26 (2009)
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Volume 25 (2008)
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Volume 24 (2007)
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Volume 23 (2006)
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Volume 22 (2005)
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Volume 21 (2004)
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Volume 20 (2003)
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Volume 19 (2002)
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Volume 18 (2001)
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Volume 17 (2000)
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Volume 16 (1999)
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Volume 15 (1998)
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Volume 14 (1997)
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Volume 13 (1996)
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Volume 12 (1995)
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Volume 11 (1994)
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Volume 10 (1993)
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Volume 9 (1992)
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Volume 8 (1991)
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Volume 7 (1990)
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Volume 6 (1989)
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Volume 5 (1988)
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Volume 4 (1987)
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Volume 3 (1986)
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Volume 2 (1985)
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Volume 1 (1984)
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What happened to English?
Author(s): John McWhorter
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