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DEIXIS AND REFERENCE TRACKING IN TSOVA-TUSH A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN LINGUISTICS MAY 2020 by Bryn Hauk Dissertation committee: Andrea Berez-Kroeker, Chairperson Alice C. Harris Bradley McDonnell James N. Collins Ashley Maynard Acknowledgments I should not have been able to finish this dissertation. In the course of my graduate studies, enough obstacles have sprung up in my path that the odds would have predicted something other than a successful completion of my degree. The fact that I made it to this point is a testament to thekind, supportive, wise, and generous people who have picked me up and dusted me off after every pothole. Forgive me: these thank-yous are going to get very sappy. First and foremost, I would like to thank my Tsova-Tush host family—Rezo Orbetishvili, Nisa Baxtarishvili, and of course Tamar and Lasha—for letting me join your family every summer forthe past four years. Your time, your patience, your expertise, your hospitality, your sense of humor, your lovingly prepared meals and generously poured wine—these were the building blocks that supported all of my research whims. My sincerest gratitude also goes to Dantes Echishvili, Revaz Shankishvili, and to all my hosts and friends in Zemo Alvani. It is possible to translate ‘thank you’ as მადელ შუნ, but you have taught me that gratitude is better expressed with actions than with set phrases, sofor now I will just say, ღაზიშ ხილჰათ, ბედნიერ ხილჰათ, მარშმაკიშ ხილჰათ... მოკლეთ, გაგიმარჯოთ! I also thank my adviser, Andrea Berez-Kroeker, who can always tell when I’m on the right track even before I can see it myself. Andrea, I wouldn’t have made it to this point without you advocating for me. You believed in me so much that you pulled me here from across an ocean twice. Your mentorship has shaped so much of who I’ve become as a scholar. Do you remember how my voice shook in our first meeting? Look at me now! I am deeply grateful to my other committee members as well. I would like to thank Alice Harris for years of mentorship, almost entirely by email, for building up my confidence and showing me how linguistics is done in the Caucasus. I thank James Collins for our long discussions that helped me work through much confusion. I also thank Brad McDonnell helpful discussions, and also for letting me borrow your recorder for well over a year now (it’s safely on lockdown in MooreHall). Thanks also to Ashley Maynard for sharing thoughtful feedback. A special thank you is owed to all my language teachers, who equipped me with the skills I needed to do this research. Thank you to Zurab Baratashvili for translating my abstract and coining some technical linguistic terms in the process. i This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (award no. 1840668) andthe Bilinski Educational Foundation. I am grateful to both of these organizations for making this research possible. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the faculty of the UHM Department of Linguistics. I believe I’ve shown up in each of your offices at some point, feeling like a hopelessly confused impostor, and so many of you have a remarkable talent for making sure I leave those meetings feeling smart and purposeful. I’m thinking in particular of William O’Grady, Rory Turnbull, Amy Schafer, and Victoria Anderson, but all of you are part of what has made UHM such a wonderful experience for me. I meant to write you all thank-you cards for your support after my apartment fire, but since time got away from me, I’ll say it here: thank you. That same thanks goes to my friends, cohort-mates, and peers at UHM. I have been soluckyto know you, to study with you, and to have your friendship when I needed it most. I can’t wait to see what you all do. Special thanks goes to Brad Rentz for helping me fix my code countless times, and to my avowed dissertation buddy, Claire Stabile. To my family and friends from all over: thank you for your love, support, and encouragement, for making me laugh and for listening to my complaints and frustrations. If you are in a group chat with me, know that you were instrumental in keeping me going on tough days. To my mom: thanks for always nurturing my curiosity and inspiring my love of reading and writing. It’s hard to believe at this point, but I’m finally done with school! To my big sister: you’ll always be my first friendand the person I try hardest to impress. I hope you’d be proud of me now. And to Dima—who gave me the space to be weird, who made sure I was fed, who kept our home safe from invading microorganisms, who forced me to at least occasionally step away from my com- puter and go outside—спасибо, Димуля: now let’s go the beach! ii Abstract This dissertation takes an in-depth look at deixis and reference tracking in Tsova-Tush, a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in the Republic of Georgia. First, I establish basic patterns of argument structure, complementation, and question formation using available corpora. I identify an unusual type of subordination that combines properties of complement and relative clauses, and I outline patterns of apparent long-distance agreement and long-distance reflexivization. Together, thesede- scriptions characterize the structure of simple clauses through complex sentences in Tsova-Tush. Building off these insights, I undertake an investigation of deixis in embedded contexts, typically established within complement clauses. I show that Tsova-Tush has a restricted type of indexical shift, in which all context parameters shift together under verbs of speech, while indexically shifted clauses retain the ability to form semantic dependencies. Beyond indexical shift, I detail other types of embedded perspectives, including quotation and perspective-taking under perception verbs, and I use corpus methods to describe the function of quotatives and discourse markers. Finally, I explore reference tracking in thirteen narratives. I identify an indefinite marker for first mentions of animate referents and discuss the use of demonstrative adjectives as markers of definite- ness at subsequent mentions. Conditions for covert reference, including activation status and syntac- tic position, are described. Argument dropping is found to be preferred when reference is continuous across clauses and when the referent serves as the subject of a transitive verb. Further, in contrast to some other languages, I show that gender in Tsova-Tush is a poor strategy for reference tracking, but that shifted attitudes assist in maintaining the activation and prominence of the attitude holder. This examination of narratives further contributes a description of several additional discourse-level features, including tail-head linkage. Altogether, this dissertation provides a detailed examination of patterns in Tsova-Tush syntax, semantics, and discourse relevant to the study of deixis and reference tracking. I show that Tsova- Tush exhibits syntactic phenomena found in other Caucasian languages, such as indexical shift and long-distance agreement. Further, I find that one purpose of shifted indexicals is to aid in reference tracking, while gender agreement can fail to exhibit this function. iii აბსტრაქტი: დეიქსისი და რეფერენტის კვალი წოვათუშურში დისერტაცია საფუძვლიანად შეისწავლის დეიქსისსა და რეფერენტის კვალს (reference track- ing) საქართველოში გავრცელებულ ერთ-ერთ ჩრდილო-აღმოსავლურ კავკასიურ ენაში---წოვა- თუშურში. უპირველეს ყოვლისა, არსებულ კორპუსთა გამოყენებით ვაყალიბებ აქტანტური სტრუქტურის ბაზისურ მოდელებს, კომპლემენტაციასა და კითხვით კონსტრუქციათა ფორმირ- ებას (question formation). ვადგენ დაქვემდებარების უჩვეულო ტიპს, რომელიც აერთიანებს კომპლემენტისა და მიმართებითი დამოკიდებული წინადადების თვისებებს, წარმოვაჩენ სა- კუთრივ დისტანციურ შეთანხმებასა (long-distance agreement) და დისტანციურ რეფლექსივ- იზაციას (long-distance reflexivization). ერთობლივად კი ახასიათებენ ყველაფერს მარტივი წინადადების სტრუქტურიდან დაწყებული რთული ქვეწყობილი წინადადების ჩათვლით. შემდეგ ამ ცოდნის საფუძველზე შევისწავლი დეიქსისს ჩართულ კონტექსტში, რომელიც, ჩვეულებრივ, გამოირკვევა დამატებითი დამოკიდებული წინადადების ფარგლებში. ვაჩვენებ, რომ წოვათუშურს მოეპოვება ინდექსური გადაწევის (indexical shift) შეზღუდული ტიპი, რომელ- შიც მეტყველების ზმნების გავლენით მაშინ იცვლება კონტექსტის ყველა პარამეტრი, როცა ინდექსურად გადაწეული წინადადებები ინარჩუნებენ სემანტიკური დამოკიდებულებების შე- ქმნის უნარს. ინდექსური გადაწევის გარდა დეტალურად განვიხილავ ჩართულ პერსპექტივათა (embedded perspectives) სხვა ტიპებსაც (მათ შორის, ციტირებასა და პერსპექტივის ფორმებს აღქმის გამომხატველ ზმნათათვის) და ვხმარობ კორპუსულ მეთოდებს ციტატივებისა და დის- კურსის მარკერთა ფუნქციის აღსაწერად. დასასრულ, შევისწავლი რეფერენტის კვალს ცამეტ ნარატივში. გამოვარკვევ სულიერ რეფერენტთა ტექსტში პირველად მოხსენიების განუსაზღვრელ მარკერს და განვიხილავ ჩვენებ- ითი ზედსართავი სახელების ხმარებას განსაზღვრულობის მარკერებად ყოველი მომდევნო ხსენებისას. აღვწერ ფარული რეფერენციის (covert reference) პირობებს, აქტივაციის სტატუს- ისა და სინტაქსური პოზიციის ჩათვლით. აქტანტი არ გამოიყენება მაშინ, როცა უპირატესობა ენიჭება უწყვეტ რეფერენციას წინადადებებს (clause) შორის და როცა რეფერენტი გარდა- მავალი ზმნის ქვემდებარის ფუნქციას ასრულებს. გარდა ამისა, ზოგიერთი სხვა ენისაგან განსხვავებით, ვაჩვენებ, რომ სქესი წოვათუშურში არის ღარიბი სტრატეგია რეფერენტის კვალ- ისათვის, მაგრამ ეს გადართული განწყობა (shifted attitudes) ხელს უწყობს განწყობის შემქმნ- ელის (attitude holder) აქტივაციისა და წინ წამოწევის (prominence)
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    University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Faculty Publications Linguistics, Program of 1981 Remarks on the History of the Indo-European Infinitive Dorothy Disterheft University of South Carolina - Columbia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ling_facpub Part of the Linguistics Commons Publication Info Published in Folia Linguistica Historica, Volume 2, Issue 1, 1981, pages 3-34. Disterheft, D. (1981). Remarks on the History of the Indo-European Infinitive. Folia Linguistica Historica, 2(1), 3-34. DOI: 10.1515/ flih.1981.2.1.3 © 1981 Societas Linguistica Europaea. This Article is brought to you by the Linguistics, Program of at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Foli.lAfl//ui.tfcoFolia Linguistica HfltorlcGHistorica II/III/l 'P'P.pp. 8-U3—Z4 © 800£etruSocietae lAngu,.ticaLinguistica Etlropaea.Evropaea, 1981lt)8l REMARKSBEMARKS ONON THETHE HISTORYHISTOKY OFOF THETHE INDO-EUROPEANINDO-EUROPEAN INFINITIVEINFINITIVE i DOROTHYDOROTHY DISTERHEFTDISTERHEFT I 1.1. INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION WithWith thethe exceptfonexception ofof Indo-IranianIndo-Iranian (Ur)(Hr) andand CelticCeltic allall historicalhistorical Indo-EuropeanIndo-European (IE)(IE) subgroupssubgroups havehave a morphologicalIymorphologically distinctdistinct II infinitive.Infinitive. However,However, nono singlesingle proto-formproto-form cancan bebe reconstructedreconstructed
  • Deixis and Reference Tracking in Tsova-Tush a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Division of the University of Hawaiʻi at M

    Deixis and Reference Tracking in Tsova-Tush a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Division of the University of Hawaiʻi at M

    DEIXIS AND REFERENCE TRACKING IN TSOVA-TUSH A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN LINGUISTICS MAY 2020 by Bryn Hauk Dissertation committee: Andrea Berez-Kroeker, Chairperson Alice C. Harris Bradley McDonnell James N. Collins Ashley Maynard Acknowledgments I should not have been able to finish this dissertation. In the course of my graduate studies, enough obstacles have sprung up in my path that the odds would have predicted something other than a successful completion of my degree. The fact that I made it to this point is a testament to thekind, supportive, wise, and generous people who have picked me up and dusted me off after every pothole. Forgive me: these thank-yous are going to get very sappy. First and foremost, I would like to thank my Tsova-Tush host family—Rezo Orbetishvili, Nisa Baxtarishvili, and of course Tamar and Lasha—for letting me join your family every summer forthe past four years. Your time, your patience, your expertise, your hospitality, your sense of humor, your lovingly prepared meals and generously poured wine—these were the building blocks that supported all of my research whims. My sincerest gratitude also goes to Dantes Echishvili, Revaz Shankishvili, and to all my hosts and friends in Zemo Alvani. It is possible to translate ‘thank you’ as მადელ შუნ, but you have taught me that gratitude is better expressed with actions than with set phrases, sofor now I will just say, ღაზიშ ხილჰათ, ბედნიერ ხილჰათ, მარშმაკიშ ხილჰათ..
  • Navajo Verb Stem Position and the Bipartite Structure of the Navajo

    Navajo Verb Stem Position and the Bipartite Structure of the Navajo

    678 REMARKSANDREPLIES NavajoVerb Stem Positionand the BipartiteStructure of the NavajoConjunct Sector Ken Hale TheNavajo verb stem appears at the rightmost edge of the verb word. Innumerouscases it forms a lexicalconstituent with a preverb,occur- ringat theleftmost edge of thesurface verb word, much in themanner ofDutchand German verb-particle arrangements in verb-secondfinite clauses.In Navajothe initial and finalpositions are separated by eight morphemeorder ‘ ‘slots’’ recognizedin the Athabaskan literature (and describedin detail for Navajo in Young and Morgan 1987). A phono- logicalsolution to this and a numberof otherdeep-surface disparities isexploredhere, based on theinsights of earlierworks on theNavajo verb,including Speas 1984, 1990, McDonough 1996, 2000, and Rice 1989, 2000. Keywords: verbmorphology, morphosyntactic disparity, spell-out, Navajo,Athabaskan 1Verb Stem Position TheNavajo verb stem forms asinglelexical constituent with the prefixal, particle-like category called preverb inthe Athabaskan linguistic literature (see Rice2000). However, like particle- verbcombinations in Dutchand German verb-second clauses, the parts of thisconstituent in the Navajocounterpart are separated in the surface forms ofverbal projections in syntax. In the Navajoversion of thisarrangement, the preverb occupies the leftmost position in the verb word, andthe verb stem occupies the rightmost position. TheNavajo verb in (1) canbe used to illustrate the phenomenon. The verb is segmented intoits various parts in (2), and the components are identified in slightly greater detail in (3). (1) Sila´o t’o´o´’go´o´ ch’´õ shidinõ´daøzh.(Young and Morgan 1987:283) ‘Thepoliceman jerked me outdoors (to get me out of afight).’ (2) ch’´õ sh d n-´ daøzh PreverbObject Qualifier Mode/ SubjVoice V (stem) Iwishto dedicate thisarticle totheNavajo Language Academy, asmall groupof linguists and teachers devotedto Navajolanguage research andeducation.
  • Compositionality in English Deverbal Compounds

    Compositionality in English Deverbal Compounds

    Chapter 3 Compositionality in English deverbal compounds: The role of the head Gianina Iordăchioaia University of Stuttgart Lonneke van der Plas University of Malta Glorianna Jagfeld Lancaster University This paper is concerned with the compositionality of deverbal compounds such as budget assessment in English. We present an interdisciplinary study on how the morphosyntactic properties of the deverbal noun head (e.g., assessment) can pre- dict the interpretation of the compound, as mediated by the syntactic-semantic relationship between the non-head (e.g., budget) and the head. We start with Grim- shaw’s (1990) observation that deverbal nouns are ambiguous between composi- tionally interpreted argument structure nominals, which inherit verbal structure and realize arguments (e.g., the assessment of the budget by the government), and more lexicalized result nominals, which preserve no verbal properties or arguments (e.g., The assessment is on the table.). Our hypothesis is that deverbal compounds with argument structure nominal heads are fully compositional and, in our system, more easily predictable than those headed by result nominals, since their composi- tional make-up triggers an (unambiguous) object interpretation of the non-heads. Linguistic evidence gathered from corpora and human annotations, and evaluated with machine learning techniques supports this hypothesis. At the same time, it raises interesting discussion points on how different properties of the head con- tribute to the interpretation of the deverbal compound. Gianina Iordăchioaia, Lonneke van der Plas & Glorianna Jagfeld. 2020. Compositionality in English deverbal compounds: The role of the head. In Sabine Schulte im Walde & Eva Smolka (eds.), The role of constituents in multiword expressions: An interdisciplinary, cross-lingual perspec- tive, 61–106.