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- Volume 2, Issue, 2012
Journal of Historical Linguistics - Volume 2, Issue 1, 2012
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2012
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Nyikina paradigms and refunctionalization: A cautionary tale in morphological reconstruction
Author(s): Claire Bowernpp.: 7–24 (18)More LessHere I present a case study of change in the complex verb morphology of the Nyikina language of Northwestern Australia. I describe changes which lead to reanalysis of underlying forms while preserving much of the inherited phonological material. The changes presented here do not fit into previous typologies of morphological change. Nyikina lost the distinction between past and present, and in doing so, merged two paradigms into one. The former past tense marker came to be associated with intransitive verb stems. The inflected verbs thus continue inherited material, but in a different function. These changes are most parsimoniously described in a theory of word formation which makes reference to paradigms.
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Third-person possessive suffixes as definite articles in Semitic
Author(s): John Huehnergard and Na'ama Pat-Elpp.: 25–51 (27)More LessOne of the best-known features of Neo-Ethio-Semitic languages is the use of the third-person possessive suffix as a definite article (Appleyard 2005, Rubin 2010). In this study we show that third-person possessive suffixes are also used as definite articles in other Semitic languages, although in none of them is this function fully grammaticalized, as it is in Ethio-Semitic. Beyond adding data that have received little attention so far, we offer an explanation for the phenomenon in Semitic, rather than concentrating on one branch, as has been done thus far in the literature.
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Embedding Papiamentu in the mixed language debate
Author(s): Bart Jacobspp.: 52–82 (31)More LessThis paper takes as a point of departure the hypothesis that Papiamentu descends from Upper Guinea Portuguese Creole (a term covering the sister varieties of the Cape Verde Islands and Guinea-Bissau and Casamance), speakers of which arrived on Curaçao in the second half of the 17th century, subsequently shifted their basic content vocabulary towards Spanish, but maintained the original morphosyntax. This scenario raises the question of whether, in addition to being a creole, Papiamentu can be analyzed as a so-called mixed (or intertwined) language. The present paper positively answers this question by drawing parallels between (the emergence of) Papiamentu and recognized mixed languages.
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Mechanisms of language change in a functional system: The recent semantic evolution of English future time expressions
Author(s): Nadja Nesselhaufpp.: 83–132 (50)More LessIn this paper, the semantic developments of the major future time expressions in Late Modern English are traced in detail, with the aim of uncovering mechanisms of language change in a complex functional system. The results of the study reveal that to express a pure prediction, the major shift that has taken place in the Late Modern period is from a comparatively frequent use of shall to a comparatively frequent use of ’ll; that to express a prediction based on the intention of the subject, BE going to and the present progressive have replaced will and shall to a certain degree; and that to express a prediction based on a previous arrangement, earlier uses of the simple present have been replaced to a considerable degree by the progressive with future time reference. In addition, the construction WANT to is identified as what may be called an emerging future marker, which has started to be used for predictions based on the subject’s intention. Finally, the possible contribution of certain stylistic and socio-cultural changes to the many recent changes in the system of English future time expressions is also considered, such as the complexification of society, (pseudo-)democratization, and a tendency of many text types towards a more personal style.
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Save the trees
Author(s): Guillaume Jacques and Johann-Mattis List
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