Dependencies in Language on the Causal Ontology of Linguistic Systems
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Dependencies in language On the causal ontology of linguistic systems Edited by N. J. Enfield language Studies in Diversity Linguistics 14 science press Studies in Diversity Linguistics Chief Editor: Martin Haspelmath Consulting Editors: Fernando Zúñiga, Peter Arkadiev, Ruth Singer, Pilar Valen zuela In this series: 1. Handschuh, Corinna. A typology of marked-S languages. 2. Rießler, Michael. Adjective attribution. 3. Klamer, Marian (ed.). The Alor-Pantar languages: History and typology. 4. Berghäll, Liisa. A grammar of Mauwake (Papua New Guinea). 5. Wilbur, Joshua. A grammar of Pite Saami. 6. Dahl, Östen. Grammaticalization in the North: Noun phrase morphosyntax in Scandinavian vernaculars. 7. Schackow, Diana. A grammar of Yakkha. 8. Liljegren, Henrik. A grammar of Palula. 9. Shimelman, Aviva. A grammar of Yauyos Quechua. 10. Rudin, Catherine & Bryan James Gordon (eds.). Advances in the study of Siouan languages and linguistics. 11. Kluge, Angela. A grammar of Papuan Malay. 12. Kieviet, Paulus. A grammar of Rapa Nui. 13. Michaud, Alexis. Tone in Yongning Na: Lexical tones and morphotonology. 14. Enfield, N. J (ed.). Dependencies in language: On the causal ontology of linguistic systems . 15. Gutman, Ariel. Attributive constructions in North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic. 16. Bisang, Walter & Andrej Malchukov (eds.). Unity and diversity in grammaticalization scenarios. ISSN: 2363-5568 Dependencies in language On the causal ontology of linguistic systems Edited by N. J. Enfield language science press N. J. Enfield (ed.). 2017. Dependencies in language: On the causal ontology of linguistic systems (Studies in Diversity Linguistics 14). Berlin: Language Science Press. This title can be downloaded at: http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/96 © 2017, the authors Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence (CC BY 4.0): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ISBN: 978-3-946234-88-3 (Digital) 978-3-946234-74-6 (Hardcover) 978-3-946234-66-1 (Softcover) ISSN: 2363-5568 DOI:10.5281/zenodo.573773 Cover and concept of design: Ulrike Harbort Typesetting: Sebastian Nordhoff, Gus Wheeler Illustration: Felix Kopecky Proofreading: Martin Haspelmath Fonts: Linux Libertine, Arimo, DejaVu Sans Mono Typesetting software:Ǝ X LATEX Language Science Press Habelschwerdter Allee 45 14195 Berlin, Germany langsci-press.org Storage and cataloguing done by FU Berlin Language Science Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents 1 Dependencies in language N. J. Enfield 1 2 Implicational universals and dependencies Sonia Cristofaro 9 3 New approaches to Greenbergian word order dependencies Jennifer Culbertson 23 4 From biology to language change and diversity Dan Dediu 39 5 Language intertwined across multiple timescales: Processing, acquisition and evolution Morten H. Christiansen 53 6 What comes first in language emergence? Wendy Sandler 63 7 Is language development dependent on early communicative development? Elena Lieven 85 8 Dependency and relative determination in language acquisition: The case of Ku Waru Alan Rumsey 97 9 Beyond binary dependencies in language structure Damián E. Blasi & Seán G. Roberts 117 10 Real and spurious correlations involving tonal languages Jeremy Collins 129 Contents 11 What (else) depends on phonology? Larry M. Hyman 141 12 Dependencies in phonology: hierarchies and variation Keren Rice 159 13 Understanding intra-system dependencies: Classifiers in Lao Sebastian Fedden & Greville G. Corbett 171 14 Structural and semantic dependencies in word class William A. Foley 179 15 On the margins of language: Ideophones, interjections and dependencies in linguistic theory Mark Dingemanse 195 Index 203 iv Chapter 1 Dependencies in language N. J. Enfield University of Sydney Consider the if-then statements about language listed in Table 1 (overleaf). Each of these statements implies a kind of dependency between systems or structures in language (and sometimes with systems or structures outside of lan- guage), though the statements invoke different timescales, and imply different types of causal relation. Do these statements – and the many more that exist like them – belie a unified notion of dependency in language? Or do they merely point to family resemblances among loosely related concepts? Here are some of the (non-exclusive) ways in which we might mean that A is dependent on B: • To state a rule concerning A one must refer to B • When a process affects B, it will necessarily affect A • The existence of B is a condition for the existence ofA • The existence of B is a cause of the existence ofA • A cannot be expressed without also expressing B • If B is the case, A is also likely to be the case It is important to define dependency clearly, because the notion of dependency in language is central to our understanding of key questions in our discipline. These questions include: How are linguistic sub-systems related? Are there con- straints on language change? How are languages learned by infants? How is language processed in the brain? What is the relation between language and social context? This book explores the question of dependency in language with case studies and reviews from across the language sciences. Despite the importance of the concept of dependency in our work, its nature is seldom defined or made explicit. What kinds of dependencies exist among language-related systems, and how do we define and explain them in natural, causal terms? N. J. Enfield. 2017. Dependencies in language. In N. J. Enfield (ed.), Dependencies in language, 1–9. Berlin: Language Science Press. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.573780 N. J. Enfield Table 1: Some of the if-then statements found in language If the verb comes before the object in a language, then Greenberg that language probably has prepositions and not (1966) postpositions If a speaker has just heard a passive construction, then Pickering & they are more likely to produce one now Ferreira (2008) In Estonian, if the verb ‘to be’ is negated, then no Aikhenvald & distinctions in person or number may be marked Dixon (1998: 63) If a conceptual theme is expressed in multiple different semantic systems of a language, then that theme will be Hale (1986) of cultural importance to speakers of the language If a language has three places of articulation in fricatives, then it has at least three places of articulation Lass (1984: 154) in stops If a transitive clause in Hindi is not in perfective aspect, Kellogg (1893: then no ergative marking may occur 239) If a language expresses manner and path of motion separately in its lexical semantics, then speakers of the Özyürek et al. language will express manner and path separately in (2007) their gestures If there is a voicing contrast in stops, then /t/ and /k/ Sherman (1975) are present If a child has not yet learned to produce and Tomasello comprehend pointing gestures, then she will not (2008) acquire language If a specific structure is highly embedded in Thomason language-specific grammatical structures, then it is less (2001: 69) likely to be borrowed into an unrelated language 2 1 Dependencies in language 1 Condition One important kind of relation that can define a dependency between co-occur- ring features is the relation of condition. This is where the existence of Bisa condition for the existence of A. It is where A would not be observed were B not also observed. Clear examples are when B is a medium for A. For instance, without phonation, there can be no pitch contrast. Pitch contrast depends on phonation, because the existence of phonation is what makes pitch contrast pos- sible. Similarly, in turn, without pitch contrast, there can be no systems of lexical tone. Note that conditional dependency cannot be paraphrased in terms of cause. We can say that if Thai speakers did not have phonation they would not have lex- ical tone. We cannot say that Thai speakers have lexical tone because they have phonation. Dependence in this conditional sense defines the relations between nested framings of language as a form of human action, as in Austin’s ladder that links all types of linguistic act from the phonetic to the perlocutionary (Austin 1962; see also Clark 1996: 146; Enfield 2013: 91-92). Conditional dependency introduces collateral effects (Enfield & Sidnell 2012). If A is conditionally dependent on B, then A cannot be expressed without also ex- pressing, implying, or revealing B, regardless of whether this was wanted; thus the expression of B is a collateral effect of the intention to express A. An exam- ple comes from the expressive use of the hands in sign language (or co-speech hand gesture). If a person wants to use their hands to show the speed at which something moved, they are forced to show movement in a certain direction (e.g., North, South, North-Northeast, etc.), regardless of any intention to depict or re- veal directional information. In this case, the depiction of direction of motion is a collateral effect of the depiction of speed of motion. 2 Cause A second important kind of relation underlying dependency is that of cause. A problem with positing dependency relations among synchronic structures in language is that often no causal link between the two synchronic structures is posited at all (Clark & Malt 1984: 201). We are familiar with proposals of con- nections between language, culture, and thought, but explicit causal paths are seldom posited. What would it take to establish that there is a causal relation between a linguistic feature and a cultural value (in either direction)? First, con- sider how a grammatical feature comes to exist in a language in the first place. Grammatical properties of languages mostly come about by means of invisible 3 N. J. Enfield hand processes (Smith 1776: Bk 4 Ch 2).