From Possessor Agreement to Object Marking: the Functional Evolution of the Udmurt -Jez Suffix1
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The Ongoing Eclipse of Possessive Suffixes in North Saami
Te ongoing eclipse of possessive sufxes in North Saami A case study in reduction of morphological complexity Laura A. Janda & Lene Antonsen UiT Te Arctic University of Norway North Saami is replacing the use of possessive sufxes on nouns with a morphologically simpler analytic construction. Our data (>2K examples culled from >.5M words) track this change through three generations, covering parameters of semantics, syntax and geography. Intense contact pressure on this minority language probably promotes morphological simplifcation, yielding an advantage for the innovative construction. Te innovative construction is additionally advantaged because it has a wider syntactic and semantic range and is indispensable, whereas its competitor can always be replaced. Te one environment where the possessive sufx is most strongly retained even in the youngest generation is in the Nominative singular case, and here we fnd evidence that the possessive sufx is being reinterpreted as a Vocative case marker. Keywords: North Saami; possessive sufx; morphological simplifcation; vocative; language contact; minority language 1. Te linguistic landscape of North Saami1 North Saami is a Uralic language spoken by approximately 20,000 people spread across a large area in northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. North Saami is in a unique situation as the only minority language in Europe under intense pressure from majority languages from two diferent language families, namely Finnish (Uralic) in the east and Norwegian and Swedish (Indo-European 1. Tis research was supported in part by grant 22506 from the Norwegian Research Council. Te authors would also like to thank their employer, UiT Te Arctic University of Norway, for support of their research. -
Rule Based Morphological Analyzer of Kazakh Language
Rule Based Morphological Analyzer of Kazakh Language Gulshat Kessikbayeva Ilyas Cicekli Hacettepe University, Department of Hacettepe University, Department of Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering, Ankara,Turkey Ankara,Turkey [email protected] [email protected] Abstract Zaurbekov, 2013) and it only gives specific Having a morphological analyzer is a very alternation rules without generalized forms of critical issue especially for NLP related alternations. Here we present all generalized tasks on agglutinative languages. This paper forms of all alternation rules. Moreover, many presents a detailed computational analysis studies and researches have been done upon on of Kazakh language which is an morphological analysis of Turkic languages agglutinative language. With a detailed (Altintas and Cicekli, 2001; Oflazer, 1994; analysis of Kazakh language morphology, the formalization of rules over all Coltekin, 2010; Tantug et al., 2006; Orhun et al, morphotactics of Kazakh language is 2009). However there is no complete work worked out and a rule-based morphological which provides a detailed computational analyzer is developed for Kazakh language. analysis of Kazakh language morphology and The morphological analyzer is constructed this paper tries to do that. using two-level morphology approach with The organization of the rest of the paper is Xerox finite state tools and some as follows. Next section gives a brief implementation details of rule-based comparison of Kazakh language and Turkish morphological analyzer have been presented morphologies. Section 3 presents Kazakh vowel in this paper. and consonant harmony rules. Then, nouns with their inflections are presented in Section 4. 1 Introduction Section 4 also presents morphotactic rules for nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs and Kazakh language is a Turkic language which numerals. -
Genitive Constructions in Coptic Barbara Egedi
Genitive constructions in Coptic Barbara Egedi 1. Introduction 1.1. Definition of ‘Coptic’ Coptic is the language of Christian Egypt (4th to 14th century) written in a specific version of the Greek alphabet. It was gradually superseded by Ara- bic from the ninth century onward, but it survived to the present time as the liturgical language of the Christian church of Egypt. In this paper I examine only one of its main dialects, the Sahidic Coptic and I use a transcription which simply reflects the Coptic letters irrespectively of phonological de- tails.1 1.2. UG in the reconstruction of dead languages Natural languages are claimed to have universal properties or principles which constitute what is referred to as Universal Grammar. Accepting cer- tain universal principles and observing the corresponding parameters in Coptic, we can also analyse a language without living native speakers, and explain its structural relations with the help of coherent models. For example, it is considered a universal principle that the projections of lexical heads are extended by one or more functional projections. If we assume that it can be demonstrated in many languages, why could not we suppose the same in the case of Coptic? Indeed, as it will be shown in chap- ter 4, there are at least two functional projections above Coptic lexical noun phrase as well. The aim of this paper is to provide an adequate account of the basic structure of the Coptic NP within the theoretical framework of the Mini- malist Program (a short summary of which will be found in the following section); at the same time, I intend to find the answer to unsolved questions related to genitive constructions. -
Possessive Constructions in Najdi Arabic
Possessive Constructions in Najdi Arabic Eisa Sneitan Alrasheedi A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Linguistics School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics Newcastle University July, 2019 ii Abstract This thesis investigates the syntax of possession and agreement in Najdi Arabic (NA, henceforth) with a particular focus on the possession expressed at the level of the DP (Determiner Phrase). Using the main assumptions of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995, and subsequent work) and adopting Abney’s (1987) DP-hypothesis, this thesis shows that the various agreement patterns within the NA DP can be accounted for with the use of a probe/goal agreement operation (Chomsky 2000, 2001). Chapter two discusses the syntax of ‘synthetic’ possession in NA. Possession in NA, like other Arabic varieties, can be expressed synthetically using a Construct State (CS), e.g. kitaab al- walad (book the-boy) ‘the boy’s book’. Drawing on the (extensive) literature on the CS, I summarise its main characteristics and the different proposals for its derivation. However, the main focus of this chapter is on a lesser-investigated aspect of synthetic possession – that is, possessive suffixes, the so-called pronominal possessors, as in kitaab-ah (book-his) ‘his book’. Building on a previous analysis put forward by Shlonsky (1997), this study argues (contra Fassi Fehri 1993), that possessive suffixes should not be analysed as bound pronouns but rather as an agreement inflectional suffix (à la Shlonsky 1997), where the latter is derived by Agree between the Poss(essive) head and the null pronoun within NP. -
An Investigation of Possession in Moroccan Arabic
Family Agreement: An Investigation of Possession in Moroccan Arabic Aidan Kaplan Advisor: Jim Wood Submitted to the faculty of the Department of Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts Yale University May 2017 Abstract This essay takes up the phenomenon of apparently redundant possession in Moroccan Arabic.In particular, kinship terms are often marked with possessive pronominal suffixes in constructions which would not require this in other languages, including Modern Standard Arabic. In the following example ‘sister’ is marked with the possessive suffix hā ‘her,’ even though the person in question has no sister. ﻣﺎ ﻋﻨﺪﻫﺎش ُﺧﺘﻬﺎ (1) mā ʿend-hā-sh khut-hā not at-her-neg sister-her ‘She doesn’t have a sister’ This phenomenon shows both intra- and inter-speaker variation. For some speakers, thepos- sessive suffix is obligatory in clausal possession expressing kinship relations, while forother speakers it is optional. Accounting for the presence of the ‘extra’ pronoun in (1) will lead to an account of possessive suffixes as the spell-out of agreement between aPoss◦ head and a higher element that contains phi features, using Reverse Agree (Wurmbrand, 2014, 2017). In regular pronominal possessive constructions, Poss◦ agrees with a silent possessor pro, while in sentences like (1), Poss◦ agrees with the PP at the beginning of the sentence that expresses clausal posses- sion. The obligatoriness of the possessive suffix for some speakers and its optionality forothers is explained by positing that the selectional properties of the D◦ head differ between speakers. In building up an analysis, this essay draws on the proposal for the construct state in Fassi Fehri (1993), the proposal that clitics are really agreement markers in Shlonsky (1997), and the account of clausal possession in Boneh & Sichel (2010). -
Positions for Oblique Case-Marked Arguments in Hungarian Noun Phrases1
17.1-2 (2016): 295-319 UDC 811.511.141'367.4=111 UDC 811.511.411'367.622=111 Original scientific article Received on 10. 07. 2015 Accepted for publication on 12. 04. 2016 Judit Farkas1 Gábor Alberti2 1Hungarian Academy of Sciences 2University of Pécs Positions for oblique case-marked arguments in Hungarian noun phrases1 We argue that there are four positions open to oblique case-marked arguments within the Hungarian noun phrase structure, of which certain ones have never been mentioned in the literature while even the others have been discussed very scarcely (for different reasons, which are also pointed out in the paper). In order to formally account for these four positions and the data “legitimizing” them, we provide a new DP structure integrating the basically morphology-based Hungarian traditions with the cartographic Split-DP Hypothesis (Giusti 1996; Ihsane and Puskás 2001). We point out that, chiefly by means of the four posi- tions for oblique case-marked arguments in Hungarian noun phrases and the operator layers based upon them, this language makes it possible for its speakers to explicitly express every possible scopal order of arguments of verbs, even if the given verbs are deeply embedded in complements of deverbal nominalizers. Key words: Hungarian noun phrase; generative syntax; Split-DP Hypothesis; oblique case-marked arguments; possessive construction. 1 We are grateful to OTKA NK 100804 (Comprehensive Grammar Resources: Hungarian) for their financial support. The present scientific contribution is dedicated to the 650th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Pécs, Hungary. 295 Judit Farkas – Gábor Alberti: Positions for obliques case-marked arguments in Hungarian noun phrases 1. -
Spanish and Nahuatl Convergence: the Case of Pre- and Post-Positions *
SPANISH AND NAHUATL CONVERGENCE: THE CASE OF PRE- AND POST-POSITIONS * Alma P. Ramírez-Trujillo The University of Western Ontario This paper discusses the possible effects of Spanish on the structure of Nahuatl due to contact. In particular, I focus on adpositions (pre and postpositions). According to the Nahuatl classic grammars Nahuatl is a postpositional language and since Spanish is a prepositional language I predicted that a change from postpositions to prepositions could have taken place in Nahuatl because of its extreme contact with Spanish. The prediction was confirmed with the results. However, I also found evidence that showed that Nahuatl allowed prepositions even before this language started to be in contact with Spanish, even though modern Nahuatl prepositions are more frequent and in most cases the use of postpositions is ungrammatical. This research was carried out in two towns where Nahuatl and Spanish are spoken. In the first town (Cuetzalan), the traditional linguistic method of eliciting particular structures from a small number of informants (n=2) was applied. For the second town (San Isidro Buen Suceso) a production task was designed and then applied to the participants (n=6). I argue that the change from postpositions to prepositions in modern Nahuatl is due to convergence (between Spanish and Nahuatl) and not to transference. That is, Spanish did not introduce prepositions into Nahuatl; rather, it increased the preference for prepositions. This paper contributes evidence in favor to the Functional Convergence Hypothesis (FCH) proposed by Sanchez (2003). 1. Introduction: Socio-historical background of the contact between Spanish and Nahuatl Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish was a place where many indigenous languages were spoken. -
2018 the Distribution of Quantifiers in Old and Modern
Word Order Change Edited by ANA MARIA MARTINS and ADRIANA CARDOSO 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OXDP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © editorial matter and organization Ana Maria Martins and Adriana Cardoso © the chapters their several authors The moral rights of the authors have been asserted First Edition published in Impression: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press Madison Avenue, New York, NY , United States of America British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Control Number: ISBN –––– Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CRYY Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work. -
Differential Object Marking in Hungarian and the Morphosyntax of Case and Agreement
Differential object marking in Hungarian and the morphosyntax of case and agreement András Bárány Downing College, University of Cambridge November 2015 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Voor ⴰⵎⵓⵛⵛ Contents Declaration ix Acknowledgements xi Abbreviations xiii List of Tables xv List of Figures xvii 1 DOM, case and agreement 1 1.1 Introduction .................................... 1 1.2 Differential object marking ........................... 2 1.3 Person features and hierarchies ........................ 5 1.3.1 Hierarchies and functional approaches to DOM ......... 9 1.4 Case and agreement ............................... 10 1.5 Theoretical assumptions ............................. 14 1.5.1 Cyclic Agree ............................... 14 1.5.2 Agree can fail .............................. 17 1.5.3 Syntax and morphology ........................ 18 1.6 The sample of languages ............................ 21 Part I Differential object marking in Hungarian 23 2 DOM in Hungarian 25 2.1 Introduction: Hungarian object agreement ................. 25 v Contents 2.2 The distribution of object agreement ..................... 27 2.2.1 Direct objects and subject agreement ................ 28 2.2.2 Direct objects that trigger object agreement ............ 33 2.2.3 “Unexpected” object agreement ................... 43 2.3 Summary ...................................... 45 3 A hybrid analysis of object agreement: syntactic structure and π-features 47 3.1 Introduction .................................... 47 3.2 Towards an analysis ............................... 48 3.2.1 Problems for semantic approaches ................. 48 3.2.2 Problems for syntactic approaches ................. 50 3.2.3 Syntactic structure and person features .............. 53 3.3 Evidence from possessive noun phrases in Hungarian .......... 58 3.3.1 Types of possessors: nominative, dative, pronominal ...... 58 3.3.2 Non-specific possessives and dative possessors .......... 61 3.3.3 Possessed noun phrases and object agreement ......... -
The Internal Structure of Noun Phrases in the Scandinavian Languages a Comparative Study Delsing, Lars-Olof
The Internal Structure of Noun Phrases in the Scandinavian Languages A Comparative Study Delsing, Lars-Olof 1993 Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Delsing, L-O. (1993). The Internal Structure of Noun Phrases in the Scandinavian Languages: A Comparative Study. Institutionen för nordiska språk, Lunds universitet. Total number of authors: 1 Creative Commons License: CC BY-NC-ND General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Read more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 Tun INrnnN¡¡ SrnucruRn oF NouN Pnnasns IN THE Sc.lNnrNAvrAN Lr¡¡cuacBs A ConrpaRATrvE Sruoy Lars-Olof Delsing Departrnent of Scandinavian Languages University of Lund 1993 O Lars-Olof Delsing 1993 ISBN 91-628-0988-1 Printed in Sweden Team Offset Malmri, 1993 Acknowledgements Six years ago, I asked my supervisor, Christer Platzack, if he could think of a sub¡ect within generative grammar, which would be suit- able for a paper that should be done in five weeks. -
Possessive Predicate Constructions in Indonesian
Possessive Predicate Constructions in Indonesian David Moeljadi Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Letters The University of Tokyo 2010 1 2 Preface This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics at the University of Tokyo. This graduation thesis has profited greatly from the help, support, advice and comments of linguistics professors, Austronesian experts, and a number of friends. Most of all, my gratitude is due to my supervisor, Professor Hayasi, for lots of ideas and comments. I feel I should also direct my gratitude towards Professor Tsunoda, for giving me the inspiration to write about ‘possession’. If I did not take his class in summer 2009, I would not have realized that Indonesian has many possessive predicate constructions. Furthermore, my gratitude is due to the members of Austronesian workshop at the University of Tokyo, in particular to Professor Utsumi for priceless comments during my presentation in October last year, Professor Shiohara, who provided insightful comments on Christmas Day last month, Naonori Nagaya for wonderful ideas and support, Kazuhiro Imanishi and Kanae Iwasaki for critical comments and advice. I also wish to thank Professor Hull for advice and comments during the winter holiday, Mark Rosa, Sami Petteri Honkasalo and Chityee Chang for substantive comments on my English. Finally, I wish to thank my Indonesian friends: Yuliana Lukamto, Fuad Indra Alzakia, Reza Aryaditya Setyagraha, Adeline Muliandi, Candraningratri Ekaputri Widodo, Raffles Senjaya and Michael Nathanel Maramis for their cooperation and comments on examples of Indonesian phrases and sentences, and Mariko Kamba for precious comments on this thesis. -
Appositive Possession in Ainu and Around the Pacific
Appositive possession in Ainu and around the Pacific Anna Bugaeva1,2, Johanna Nichols3,4,5, and Balthasar Bickel6 1 Tokyo University of Science, 2 National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Tokyo, 3 University of California, Berkeley, 4 University of Helsinki, 5 Higher School of Economics, Moscow, 6 University of Zü rich Abstract: Some languages around the Pacific have multiple possessive classes of alienable constructions using appositive nouns or classifiers. This pattern differs from the most common kind of alienable/inalienable distinction, which involves marking, usually affixal, on the possessum and has only one class of alienables. The language isolate Ainu has possessive marking that is reminiscent of the Circum-Pacific pattern. It is distinctive, however, in that the possessor is coded not as a dependent in an NP but as an argument in a finite clause, and the appositive word is a verb. This paper gives a first comprehensive, typologically grounded description of Ainu possession and reconstructs the pattern that must have been standard when Ainu was still the daily language of a large speech community; Ainu then had multiple alienable class constructions. We report a cross-linguistic survey expanding previous coverage of the appositive type and show how Ainu fits in. We split alienable/inalienable into two different phenomena: argument structure (with types based on possessibility: optionally possessible, obligatorily possessed, and non-possessible) and valence (alienable, inalienable classes). Valence-changing operations are derived alienability and derived inalienability. Our survey classifies the possessive systems of languages in these terms. Keywords: Pacific Rim, Circum-Pacific, Ainu, possessive, appositive, classifier Correspondence: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2 1.