- Home
- e-Journals
- Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation “Foundations of Language”
- Previous Issues
- Volume 37, Issue, 2013
Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation “Foundations of Language” - Volume 37, Issue 1, 2013
Volume 37, Issue 1, 2013
-
Describing and explaining the variation of Bantu imperatives and prohibitives
Author(s): Maud Devos and Daniël Van Olmenpp.: 1–57 (57)More LessThis paper describes Bantu imperatival and prohibitival speech acts. The study is set against the background of the formal instability of directives and grammaticalization theory. On the basis of a sample of 100 languages, we conclude that imperatival strategies are limited to imperatives, subjunctives, and indicatives while prohibitival strategies range from negative subjunctives and negative auxiliary constructions through constructions with prohibitive markers and negative infinitives to negative indicatives and negative imperatives. Politeness is shown to play an important role in the development of new strategies, which often have a more polite character and which become neutral themselves over time. We argue that it may even partly explain why prohibitival strategies exhibit more variation than imperatival ones. However, it is also clear that new directive strategies need not be more polite and that politeness is just one of the possible factors contributing to the difference between imperatival and prohibitival strategies.
-
Reciprocal constructions in Mian
Author(s): Sebastian Feddenpp.: 58–93 (36)More LessDespite the ongoing interest in reciprocal situations, which form a central part of our social, intellectual, and moral lives, and the linguistic encoding of such situations in different languages, studies of reciprocals in Papuan languages remain underrepresented in the reciprocal literature. The Trans New Guinea languages Mian, Amele, and Hua have a reciprocal construction in which the reciprocal subevents are expressed by individual transitive verbs plus an existential verb expressing that the reciprocal action is done together. Mian goes one step further and fuses this construction into a single verb with a reciprocal suffix -sese. The present paper is an in-depth analysis of the morphology, syntax, and semantics of reciprocal constructions in Mian, including a comparison with Amele, and an analysis of the diachronic development of the Mian reciprocal, whose origin presumably lies in a biclausal description in which the reciprocal subevents are spelled out separately and sequentially.
-
The evolution of number in Otomi: The many faces of the dual
Author(s): Enrique L. Palancarpp.: 94–142 (49)More LessOtomi (Oto-Pamean, Oto-Manguean) is a small group of languages spoken in Mexico which has emerged as a linguistic family in recent times. In this paper, I study relevant changes in the number system of the Otomi languages. These changes constitute an interesting object of study to gain a better understanding of two main phenomena: aspects of language change involving the loss of the dual number; and the constraints on number agreement restricted to conjoining structures. I show that changes in the number system in the Otomi family have different outcomes depending on the dialectal area. Such outcomes include the loss of dual morphology through a semantic rearrangement where the old dual forms have become exponents of either paucal or plural number. In some of the varieties, the old dual is still preserved, but it is relegated to male speech as a token of partnership and camaraderie.
-
Analogy, automation and diagrammatic causation: The evolution of Tibeto-Burman *lak
Author(s): Jamin Pelkeypp.: 144–195 (52)More LessOne areal feature of East and Southeast Asian languages is the grammaticalization of an augmentative-diminutive pair from the nominals ‘mother’ and ‘child’, respectively (Matisoff 1992). Many Sino-Tibetan languages further grammaticalize noun-class affixes from these kinship nominals, adding a parallel ‘father’ analogy in the process. Some Tibeto-Burman (TB) languages further grammaticalize the resulting kinship trio into numeral classifiers and lexical and clausal nominalizers. This paper presents evidence from the Ngwi branch of Burmic demonstrating a novel, yet parallel, polygrammaticalization process involving ‘youth’ (from TB *lak) as an analogous lexical source. Data from 30 languages inform a gradient reconstruction of two integrated, parallel clines: a nominal suffix series, YOUTH > SPROUT > SLENDER > OBLONG > GENERIC, complemented by a numeral classifier series, YOUTH(S) > AFFINAL KIN > CONSANGUINEAL KIN > NARROW > GENERIC. Both paths underlie the emergence of a collectivizing clausal nominalizer. The results support an emerging consensus: Analogy, automation and diagrammatic causation are irreducibly interdependent components of grammaticalization.
-
Ergative case attrition in Central Indo-Aryan: NP-splits and the Referential Hierarchy
Author(s): Maxwell Phillipspp.: 196–216 (21)More LessDifferential case marking is often determined on the basis of inherent semantic properties associated with core arguments of the verb. This frequently results in a hierarchical split in which certain types of NPs are more or less likely to be case marked when in the role of agent/patient. The Referential Hierarchy (RH) (see Silverstein 1976; Comrie 1981) models this phenomenon in terms of the markedness of agent vs. patient roles, based on the semantic parameters of animacy/definiteness. Yet recent studies have raised doubts as to the constistency of the RH in predicting split-ergative marking (e.g. Filimonova 2005; Bickel 2008). This paper explores an Indo-Aryan dialect with an NP-split in ergative marking that appears to contradict the RH: Kherwada Wagdi. It examines the possible historical scenarios that could result in a reverse NP-split, suggesting that such historical transitions tend to follow a non-linear course and are frequently left incomplete.
Volumes & issues
-
Volume 49 (2025)
-
Volume 48 (2024)
-
Volume 47 (2023)
-
Volume 46 (2022)
-
Volume 45 (2021)
-
Volume 44 (2020)
-
Volume 43 (2019)
-
Volume 42 (2018)
-
Volume 41 (2017)
-
Volume 40 (2016)
-
Volume 39 (2015)
-
Volume 38 (2014)
-
Volume 37 (2013)
-
Volume 36 (2012)
-
Volume 35 (2011)
-
Volume 34 (2010)
-
Volume 33 (2009)
-
Volume 32 (2008)
-
Volume 31 (2007)
-
Volume 30 (2006)
-
Volume 29 (2005)
-
Volume 28 (2004)
-
Volume 27 (2003)
-
Volume 26 (2002)
-
Volume 25 (2001)
-
Volume 24 (2000)
-
Volume 23 (1999)
-
Volume 22 (1998)
-
Volume 21 (1997)
-
Volume 20 (1996)
-
Volume 19 (1995)
-
Volume 18 (1994)
-
Volume 17 (1993)
-
Volume 16 (1992)
-
Volume 15 (1991)
-
Volume 14 (1990)
-
Volume 13 (1989)
-
Volume 12 (1988)
-
Volume 11 (1987)
-
Volume 10 (1986)
-
Volume 9 (1985)
-
Volume 8 (1984)
-
Volume 7 (1983)
-
Volume 6 (1982)
-
Volume 5 (1981)
-
Volume 4 (1980)
-
Volume 3 (1979)
-
Volume 2 (1978)
-
Volume 1 (1977)
Most Read This Month
Article
content/journals/15699978
Journal
10
5
false

-
-
On thetical grammar
Author(s): Gunther Kaltenböck, Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva
-
-
-
Where Have all the Adjectives Gone?
Author(s): R.M.W. Dixon
-
-
-
On contact-induced grammaticalization
Author(s): Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva
-
-
-
Irrealis and the Subjunctive
Author(s): T. Givón
-
- More Less