Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation “Foundations of Language” - Volume 36, Issue 1, 2012

This paper discusses basic valency orientation in Hittite, based on the typology proposed in Nichols et al. (2004). Verb pairs usually employed to test basic valency indicate the clearly transitivizing character of this language; a closer scrutiny of intransitive verbs further reveals the existence of a three-fold distinction featuring two intransitive verbs, a basic stative one (or an adjective), and an overtly marked intransitive change-of-state, in addition to a transitive counterpart overtly marked as causative. The high productivity of causative derivation is shown by the fact that morphologically marked causatives are not only derived from stative verbs, but also from telic intransitives and from transitive verbs. In the case of telic intransitive verbs, a minor pattern is also attested, whereby valency alternation is encoded through voice alternation, with intransitive forms inflected in the middle voice and transitive forms in the active. Since neither voice can be considered to be derived with respect to the other, verbs that display this behavior are indeterminate as to basic valency orientation. In spite of the limited extent to which voice indicates valency alternation, this finding becomes more significant when set into the framework of valency alternation in the early Indo-European languages, and sheds some light (or raises more questions) on the original function of the Hittite and of the Indo-European middle voice, a typologically puzzling category.

This paper investigates the weight of head nouns in noun-modifying constructions (NMCs) in conversational Japanese. In my data about 70% of head nouns are ‘light’, 20% of the nouns are ‘heavy’, and the remaining is in a ‘gray zone.’ As a close observation of NMCs reveals the issues of two-way light-heavy classification for heads, I establish six parameters according to which I can model the head nouns on a scale from ‘heaviest’ to ‘lightest.’ I argue that in NMCs ‘lighter’ heads are employed instead of ‘heavier’ ones. I also argue that usage of ‘heavy’ heads is further motivated by the factors: (a) pragmatic or referential concerns, and (b) fixed expressions.

With the goal of elucidating the diachronic trajectory of a progressive, multivariate analysis is used to track the linguistic factors conditioning variation between the Spanish Progressive and the simple Present, in 13th–15th, 17th, and 19th century texts. The Progressive begins as more of a locative construction, as shown by the early favoring effect of co-occurring locatives. The direction of this co-occurring locative effect is retained over time, but the magnitude weakens relative to aspectual constraints (limited vs. extended duration contexts, dynamic vs. stative verbs), and the Progressive is increasingly disfavored in negatives and interrogatives. Increasing frequency is accompanied by changes in linguistic conditioning. An aspectual opposition arises as, in the course of speakers’ recurrent choices between variant forms, the variants develop functional differentiation.

This paper presents an analysis of complement insubordination in Dutch, i.e. structures that are formally marked as subordinate complement clauses but conventionally used as main clauses. We develop a typology of seven distinct construction types (in three semantic domains), none of which have been analyzed in detail before. From a more general perspective, we show that insubordinate constructions provide a fresh perspective on the analysis of modality and evaluation, with semantic parameters that are not found in more typical exponents like modal verbs. In addition, we show that it is difficult to develop a schematic generalization across the different construction types, in spite of their apparent formal similarity as complement structures. We argue that this points to separate developmental trajectories for the different types, with a point of origin in different main-subordinate constructions, and different degrees of conventionalization for the resulting insubordinate constructions.

The paper describes epistemic marking in Ika (Arwako-Chibchan, Colombia) and proposes an analysis in terms of a typologically unusual pattern called conjunct/disjunct, which has been attested for a small number of Asian and South American languages. Canonically, conjunct occurs with first person subjects in statements and with second person in questions, as opposed to any other combination of subject and sentence-type, which is disjunct.The pattern found in Ika both conforms to expectations and, at the same time, contributes to a more nuanced analysis of the functional motivations of the conjunct/disjunct pattern. In Ika, conjunct marking encodes the speaker’s direct access to an event that involves either (or both) of the speech participants. In addition, conjunct/disjunct marking interacts predictably with a second set of epistemic markers that encode asymmetries in the epistemic authority of the speaker and the addressee. The analysis builds on first-hand data but remains tentative, awaiting further investigation.