bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The influence of Arandic languages on Central Australian Aboriginal English
Authors: Koch Harold
Published: March 2014

This paper examines the influence of the grammar of Australian Aboriginal languages on Central Australian Aboriginal English (CAAE). CAAE is considered to be a partially anglicised version of a former Central Australian Aboriginal Pidgin (CAAP). This CAAP was one of the local varieties of the general Australian Pidgin (AP) that developed out of New South Wales Pidgin (NSWP), the earliest of the PC varieties that developed in Australia. The paper discusses data from three areas of the grammar of CAAE and compares it with Kaytetye, one of the substrate languages. It shows how two relatively exotic grammatical categories found in Kaytetye (and other Arandic languages – dyadic” in kinship nouns and “Associated Motion” in verbs – were replicated in CAAE using formal material derived from English. The usage of CAAE prepositions, whose forms are from English, is also compared to Kaytetye case functions. We find that the organisation of the semantic “functions” of the cases is replicated in considerable detail in the use of the CAAE prepositions.
Roper River Aboriginal language features in Australian Kriol
Authors: Munro Jennifer
Published: March 2014

Kriol, an English-lexified creole language of northern Australia, is the primary language of the Roper River region in the Northern Territory. This paper describes findings from research that examined Roper Kriol for evidence of influence from the Indigenous substrate languages of that region, namely Alawa, Marra, Ngalakgan, Nunggubuyu, Ngandi and Warndarrang. Of particular note is that, even though syntactic transfer of features, such as nominal case marking suffixes, postverbal TMA markers and verbal pronominal prefixes, did not occur, it appears that semantic categories regarding these features did transfer. The Transfer Constraints approach used in this research calls for a comparison of the substrate languages to find shared, core features. Predictions could then be made based on the Reinforcement Principle of frequency as to the features that could be expected to have been retained during levelling of the stabilising pidgin. A description of any corresponding Kriol features plus examination of the Availability Constraints of perceptual salience and congruence in English is used to determine whether transfer to the preceding pidgin was constrained or not. There was evidence to suggest that the shared range of semantic categories in the pronominal, TMA and case marking systems was transferred to the preceding pidgin, and retained during levelling, to ultimately be found in Kriol.
Substrate influences on New South Wales Pidgin
Authors: Koch Harold
Published: March 2014

This paper examines the influence of the grammar of Australian Aboriginal languages on New South Wales Pidgin (NSWP), which developed from the interaction of British colonists with the Indigenous people of the Sydney region beginning in 1788. This variety eventually spread over most of Australia and exerted an influence on Melanesian Pidgin English, which is the basis for modern Solomons Pijin, Bislama of Vanuatu, and Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea. The paper shows how in NSWP English utterances were reinterpreted, on the basis of Verb-Object and Noun Phrase patterns of Australian languages (ALs), as including null constituents; the consequence was that English forms ended up as parts of verbs and adjectives as markers of transitivity (-im/-it) and adjectival function (-fela), respectively. In other words, zero elements from the substrate language were replicated where the superstrate had overt elements.
Substrate reinforcement and the retention of Pan-Pacific Pidgin features in modern contact varieties
Authors: Siegel Jeff
Published: March 2014

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many grammatical features of Pacific Pidgin English, New South Wales Pidgin English and Chinese Pidgin English were attested in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), Solomon Islands, New Guinea Islands, Hawai‘i and the Northern Territory of Australia. In the expanded pidgin or creole that later emerged in each of these locations, a different subset of these “Pan-Pacific” features was retained. This chapter examines nine of these features to see whether their presence or absence in each of the five modern contact varieties can be accounted for by the presence or absence of substrate reinforcement. This occurs when a similar feature exists in the substrate language or languages that were significant when the pidgin was expanding and stabilising. The most significant substrate languages were those of speakers who were bilingual in the pidgin and who expanded it to meet greater communicative needs.
The copula in Hawai‘i Creole English and substrate reinforcement
Authors: Roberts Sarah J.
Published: March 2014

This article presents comparative and diachronic evidence indicating that substratum patterns played a significant role in the development of the copula in Hawai‘i Creole English. The predominantly Cantonese, Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Japanese substrate did not contribute much to the innovation of lexical forms since HCE drew on a pre-existing pidgin, but the transference and reinforcement of semantic and syntactic properties from these languages – with the exception of Japanese – is detectible in the copula system that arose in HCE. After a survey of the copula in modern HCE and in attestations in early texts, a detailed comparison of substratal patterns for the creole copula follows in Section 5. The paper concludes with a discussion of bilingualism in the early phase of creole formation and how it led to the transference and selection of features.
“On traduit la langue en français”
Authors: Sandeman Barbara
Published: March 2014

Tayo is a French-lexified contact language spoken by the people of St-Louis, a village on the outskirts of Nouméa, New Caledonia. The formation period of Tayo occurred between 1860 and 1880. Its first generation of monolingual speakers was born in the early years of the twentieth century. Some of this generation was still living in St-Louis towards the end of the twentieth century. Their speech, recorded chiefly during the late 1980s, provides evidence of early forms of the language that is relatively free of any decreolising influence. Research carried out to date on Tayo indicates that many of its structures depart radically from what has been considered a “typical” creole pattern; instead, they appear to more closely resemble structures in the substrate languages. This chapter presents a brief description of the sociohistorical background surrounding the formation of Tayo, and identifies and examines the structures that make up Tayo’s tense-modality-aspect (TMA) system. The main features of the TMA systems of Tayo’s major substrate languages, Cèmuhî, Drubéa and Xârâcùù, are then described in order to compare them with corresponding Tayo features and to identify congruent structures among the four languages. An explanation is offered for the presence of some substrate TMA features in Tayo and the absence of others.
Creoles and language typology
Authors: Comrie Bernard
Published: March 2014

The distinct social origin of creoles, along with pidgins and mixed languages, makes them a source of interest to typologists, given their interest in the cross-linguistic distribution of structural feature values. Typologists, like creolists before them, are interested in issues such as whether creoles have a distinct typological profile and how creoles have been shaped by the processes that led to their formation. However, typologists can also provide important tools to help creolists in answering these questions, in particular enabling them to see properties of creole languages against the general background of cross-linguistic variation in the world. This article examines a number of phenomena in creole languages from a typological perspective, in particular issues of simplification, substrate influence, and superstrate influence.
Introduction
Authors: Yap Foong Ha , Grunow-Hårsta Karen , Wrona Janick
Published: March 2014

This paper examines a wide range of nominalization strategies found in Asian languages, and identifies robust grammaticalization pathways that trace the life of versatile nominalizers, particularly those that develop from light nouns and noun phrase markers such as classifiers, plural markers, demonstratives, and case markers. It also focuses on the extended uses of nominalization constructions – from referential to non-referential functions, among them adnominal (e.g. relative clause and genitive) marking, tense-aspect-mood (TAM) marking, speaker stance marking, and subordinate adverbial marking. Examples come from Sino-Tibetan, Iranian, Korean, Japanese, Austronesian, and Papuan languages.
From light noun to nominalizer and more
Authors: Yap Foong Ha , Wang Jiao
Published: March 2014

In this paper, we examine how Chinese light nouns zhe and suo evolved into agent and patient nominalizers respectively. The link between nominalization, relativization and genitivization is explored from a grammaticalization perspective; likewise the frequent relationship between nominalization and clausal subordination. Other uses derived from nominalization constructions are discussed as well, among them speaker stance marking and passive voice marking.
The Cantonese ge3
Authors: Sio Joanna Ut-Seong
Published: March 2014

This paper presents a descriptive overview of the interpretative and distributive properties of the grammatical marker ge3 in Cantonese. It provides a Cantonese perspective on the nature of a marker with both adnominal and sentence-final mood marking functions which prevails in numerous East and Southeast Asian languages
On gerundive nominalization in Mandarin and Cantonese
Authors: Tang Sze-Wing
Published: March 2014

This paper examines a number of variations between Mandarin and Cantonese nominalizations, including genitive agent nominals, possessive objects, relativization of idiomatic expressions, verbless de expressions, and internal de expressions. Differences between these two languages boil down to the availability of some gerundive nominalization in these two dialects.
Nominalization in Tibeto-Burman languages of the Himalayan area
Authors: Genetti Carol
Published: March 2014

Tibeto-Burman languages exhibit an interesting composite of behavior in nominalized structures. In particular, these languages make extensive use of clausal nominalization (found in attributive phrases, complementation, relative clauses, and independent utterances), as well as derivational nominalization. This paper describes the syntactic and functional dimensions of nominalization in five distantly-related Tibeto-Burman languages of the Himalayan area. It demonstrates that the same affixes are used to derive lexical nouns and lexical adjectives and that this bifunctionality is a natural consequence of clausal nominalization. While clausal and derivational nominalizations are distinct structures synchronically, each can give rise to the other. The center of these historical developments is relativization, which instantiates clausal syntax but is ultimately a referential device.
Aspects of the historical development of nominalizers in the Tamangic languages
Authors: Noonan Michael
Published: March 2014

This paper focuses on the form and function of nominalizations within Tamangic, a sub-group of Bodic (Tibeto-Burman). Nominalizations have played an important role in the grammar of Tamangic languages from the Proto-Tamangic stage until the present. The paper posits historical developments for nominalizers and addresses issues related to this development. It concludes that the basic features of the use of nominalizations have remained constant; however there have been significant innovations, largely induced by contact with the lingua franca, Nepali. Among these innovations are: the rise of new nominalizers, the loss of the genitive with nominalizations used adnominally, as well as the development in some Tamangic languages, Chantyal in particular, of nominalizations exhibiting tense distinctions, and the development of periphrastic constructions involving nominalized verbals in the verb complex.
Innovation in nominalization in Magar
Authors: Grunow-Hårsta Karen
Published: March 2014

The focus of this paper is innovation in the nominalization system of Magar, a Central Himalayish language, belonging to the Bodic sub-phylum of Tibeto-Burman, and spoken largely in central Nepal. Nominalization is a prominent feature of Bodic, and many of these languages including Magar have innovated beyond the primary and expected function of nominalization, i.e. to derive nominals from non-nominals. This paper examines innovation, specifically in terms of patterns identified by Noonan (2008): (1) elaboration, (2) extension and (3) elimination. These patterns are defined and described; furthermore innovation and its effects in Magar are viewed in the context of other Tibeto-Burman languages.
Nominalization and nominalization-based constructions in Galo
Authors: Post Mark W.
Published: March 2014

This paper describes nominalization and nominalization-based construction in Galo, a Tibeto-Burman language of the Tani branch spoken in North East India. Nominalizers in Galo are divided into primary and secondary sets, while nominalization-based constructions are divided into two types: nominalized clauses and clausal nominalizations. Both primary and secondary nominalizers help form nominalized clauses, which are uninflected, exhibit a genitive subject, and enter into nominal complement and relative clause constructions. Clausal nominalizations are formed by primary nominalizers only, may be inflected, exhibit a nominative subject, and in general take on a more main clause-like structure and set of functions. Following this basic description, the diachronic origins of Galo nominalizers are discussed, and the Galo forms and patterns are situated in terms of a broader typology of nominalization in Tibeto-Burman.
Nominalization in Numhpuk Singpho
Authors: Morey Stephen
Published: March 2014

Numphuk Singpho has two nominalization processes, derivational nominalization where a lexical noun is derived from another part of speech by addition of hpa, and clausal nominalization where a noun phrase is derived from a clause. Such clausal nominalizations most often co-occur with the definite marker wa. Moreover, Numhpuk Singpho does not exhibit the syncretism between nominalization, relativization and genitivization found in many Tibeto-Burman languages.
Nominalization in Nuosu Yi
Authors: Hongyong Liu , Yang Gu
Published: March 2014

Nuosu Yi (a Tibeto-Burman language spoken mainly in the southwestern provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou in China) has two sentential nominalizers. One is the morpheme ko33
(a third person singular pronoun in origin), which is used to mark verb complement clauses, topic clauses, temporal adverbial clauses, and conditional clauses. The other is the morpheme su33
, which is found in gerundives, relative clauses, and sentential focus clauses. In this paper, we start with a descriptive distinction between derivational nominalization and syntactic nominalization in Nuosu Yi, and then move on to an examination of the nominalization strategies involved in the use of su33
, whose grammatical functions range over marking definiteness, relativization, and focus complementation. We explore the mechanisms giving rise to structural reanalysis that has taken place in su33
nominalization. We also extend our analysis to the morpheme ko33 and discuss its similarities with and differences from su33
and how it develops from a pronoun to a sentential nominalizer.
Finite structures from clausal nominalization in Tibeto-Burman
Authors: DeLancey Scott
Published: March 2014

Nominalization has long been recognized as one of the driving processes of Tibeto-Burman syntax and syntactic change. A pervasive and recurrent process in the family is the replacement of old finite clause structures with new constructions based on nominalizations. TB languages repeatedly innovate new, marked clausal constructions with a nominalized verb and finite copula. The process is exemplified through case studies from Tibetan, Sunwar (from the Kiranti branch of TB), and the Kuki-Chin branch. Frequently such constructions lose their marked status and become the ordinary finite construction, resulting in the creation of new verbal categories and systems. Many TB verbal systems transparently reflect this origin, for example Modern Tibetan tense/aspect forms like -pa yin, -pa red, both consisting of the nominalizer -pa in construction with an equational copula. As such a construction becomes more opaque, a language may be left with a semantically empty final particle, reflecting an erstwhile nominalizer or copula. The prevalence of such final particles in the family is evidence of the pervasiveness of the phenomenon which is described in this paper.
Linker, relativizer, nominalizer, tense-particle
Authors: Haig Geoffrey L.J.
Published: March 2014

The Ezafe particle is well known from recent work on Persian syntax, but its historical origins and developmental pathways have received less attention. This chapter redresses the balance by considering the Ezafe in a related West Iranian language, Northern Kurdish. In Northern Kurdish, the Ezafe has largely retained its demonstrative/relativizer origins, and also occurs as a nominalizer in the sense employed in this volume. In Modern Persian, however, these characteristics have entirely disappeared, and the Ezafe is merely a NP-internal Linker. I suggest that there is no reason to afford Persian any special priority when evaluating the developmental pathways of the Ezafe particle as a whole within the West Iranian languages. I also discuss an additional development within Northern Kurdish, where the Ezafe particle has become part of the predicate complex, echoing similar developments in a number of unrelated languages.
Nominalization and stance marking in Korean
Authors: Rhee Seongha
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates the stance-marking function of nominalizers in Korean. This function is a product of grammaticalization processes whereby the nominalizers acquired special meanings from subjectification and intersubjectification of the interlocutors. Diverse stances are marked by these nominalizer-derived endings. Of the diverse types of stances, epistemic stances, which indicate the proposition’s status with respect to the speaker’s knowledge state, are the most prominent type, including addressee confirmation, approval/suggestion giving, conviction, self-assurance, prediction, conjecture, exclamation, etc. Also widely used are attitudinal stances, which signal the speaker’s attitude toward the addressee, including friendliness, promissive, intention, etc. On the other hand, the category of emotional stances seems to be a minor one as there is only one such stance, i.e. regret.
A case of non-derived stand-alone nominalization
Authors: Wrona Janick
Published: March 2014

It has been argued that stand-alone nominalizations derive from a copula-type nominalization (Yap, Matthews & Horie 2004; Yap & Matthews 2008). This paper takes a detailed look at the history of a stand-alone type main-clause nominalization in Japanese and argues that there is no evidence for this type of development.Instead it is proposed that the stand-alone type is one of several uses of nominalizations. In light of evidence that stand-alone nominalizations need not be derived, several languages for which the copula-type>stand-alone development has been proposed are re-examined and the conclusion is that the non-derived view for stand-alone nominalizations should be seriously considered in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
Nominalization in Okinawan
Authors: Shinzato Rumiko
Published: March 2014

This paper demonstrates that the four functions originally tied to rentaikei in Old Japanese (OJ), and its sister-language, Old Okinawan (OOk) have been carried on into Modern Okinawan (MOk). In particular, the new rentaikei maintains adnominal, exclamative and cleft functions (kakari musubi), while the new nominalizer si, takes on a headless relative clause/complementizer function. It is argued here that the rentai and shushi distinction was indeed vital for the preservation of kakari musubi. It is further argued that a complementary distribution between Japanese and Okinawan such that OJ loses its kakari musubi system, prompting Modern Japanese (ModJ) to develop no desu, while MOk renews its kakari musubi system, and consequently does not develop no desu. This paper supports an implicitly assumed claim that the no desu construction is the ModJ counterpart of the OJ kakari musubi. From the point of view of grammaticalization, the development of stance marking functions from kakari musubi (cleft) in Okinawan substantiated Yap et al.’s claim that a cleft construction serves as a crucial link between a nominalizer and a stance marker. In a cross-linguistic perspective, this paper claims that the OJ and Okinawan rentaikei shows versatility seen in various Tibeto-Burman languages such as Chantyal and Lahu.
Clausal nominalization in Budai Rukai
Authors: Sung Li-May
Published: March 2014

This paper aims to explore the morphosyntactic characteristics of the two nominalizers -anә and -Ø occurring pervasively in both clausal and lexical nominalizations in Budai Rukai, one of the Formosan languages spoken in the southern part of Taiwan. It shows that relativization plays a role in the emergence of nominalization constructions under investigation. Budai nominalization constructions also exhibit both nominal and verbal properties. Their distinctive nominality is signaled by the presence of case markers and genitive subjects. Yet their internal structure resembles in nearly all respects that of a sentence. Retention of adverbial phrases, oblique-marked object argument, and various verbal categories including tense, aspect, voice and valency morphemes is clear evidence of the verbal nature of such a nominalization process. The result of this work matches various cross-linguistic observations attested in Koptjevskaja-Tamm (2003), Malchukov (2006), Comrie and Thompson (2007), and Noonan.(2007).
Nominalization in Saisiyat
Authors: Yeh Marie Meili
Published: March 2014

Studies on Formosan languages (Huang 2002; Li 2002; Rau 2002; Zeitoun 2002) have pointed out that lexical and syntactic nominalization are indistinct morphologically. In Saisiyat, not only are lexical nominalization deriving argument nouns and syntactic nominalization forming relative or subordinate clauses morphologically identical, the nominalizers are also found to function as tense or aspect markers. In terms of categoriality, (Hopper & Thompson 1984, 1985), such phenomena indicate a cline from verbs in a special temporal/aspectual frame to verbs in subordinate clauses serving background function and then to derived nouns. In light of this, the relationship between marking tense/aspect and these two types of nominalization can be captured by a decategorialization process from verb to noun triggered by discourse function.
Rise and fall of referentiality
Authors: Nagaya Naonori
Published: March 2014

In this paper, we look into expansion and spread of non-referential uses in articles in Philippine languages with special attention to two competing articles, ang and yung, in Tagalog. There are four claims we make in this paper. First, the functions of ang-marked nominals have been expanding from referential to non-referential uses. Second, yung is emerging as an article for referential nominals, taking over and expanding the referential uses of ang. Third, there is an emerging semantic distinction between ang and yung in spoken discourse: ang is for non-referential uses and yung for referential ones. Lastly, in other Philippine languages, as well, there is evidence of an existing article obtaining non-referential uses and a newer article emerging for referential nominals.
Referential and non-referential uses of nominalization constructions in Malay
Authors: Yap Foong Ha
Published: March 2014

This paper examines three versatile morphemes – yang, -nya and punya – that contribute to the formation of nominalization constructions in Malay. In particular, we examine how these morphemes give rise to both referential and non-referential uses of nominalization constructions. We also highlight that nominalizing elements in Malay can be derived from noun phrase markers such as third person genitive pronoun -nya (e.g. makan-nya [eat-3sg.gen] ‘his eating’) as well as general or semantically bleached nouns such as (em)punya (‘master, owner, possessor’) that can easily develop into light nouns equivalent to English indefinite pronoun one (e.g. tak rosak punya [neg spoil nmz] ‘the ones that are not spoiled’. We further show that various factors such as lexical source, morphosyntactic constraints, and in some cases language contact, help to shape the grammaticalization pathway(s) of each morpheme, particularly in terms of their range of grammatical and pragmatic functions.
Expressing exclamatives in Malagasy
Authors: Potsdam Eric
Published: March 2014

This paper explores the syntax and semantics of the exclamative clause type in the Austronesian language Malagasy. Cross-linguistic considerations, distributional facts, and language-internal morphosyntax provide evidence that Malagasy exclamatives are syntactically nominal. All exclamatives are noun phrases, as in the English The things that he says! Unlike English, Malagasy has no clausal exclamatives. Based on the Malagasy data, the paper proposes that the exclamative force of nominals, in Malagasy and other languages, is located in the determiner layer of the structure.
Nominalizations in Toqabaqita and closely related languages
Authors: Lichtenberk Frank
Published: March 2014

The paper has two major focuses. One is the nominalizing suffixes found in Toqabaqita, an Oceanic language, and its near relatives, in particular those nominalizers that are of some antiquity and one recent replacement. The other one is certain aspects of nominalizations in Toqabaqita. One feature of Toqabaqita is double nominalizations, where the nominalizing suffix occurs twice. Double nominalizations are also found in a few other Oceanic languages. Toqabaqita nominalizations can be used with a stance function. And one also finds “cognate nominalization” in Toqabaqita, where a noun phrase is headed by the nominalization of the verb that heads the predicate. There is also “cognate relativization”, where the noun modified by a relative clause is the nominalization of the verb in the relative clause.
Exclamatives and temporal nominalizations in Austronesian
Authors: Kaufman Daniel
Published: March 2014

Two functions commonly fulfilled by nominalization are exclamative formation and temporal subordination. This article examines the morphology and syntax of these types of nominalizations across a wide range of Austronesian languages. I argue that the commonality between these two functions is found in the presuppositionality (both real and accommodated) involved in their interpretation. Special attention is paid to the mixed nominal-verbal properties of these constructions while offering evidence that nominalization can be a process which applies at several levels within the syntax.
Subordinate adverbial constructions in Mekens
Authors: Vilacy Galucio Ana
Published: March 2014

This article discusses the morphosyntactic strategies employed for forming subordinate adverbial constructions in Mekens, including the specific uses of valence-changing and other derivational morphemes, such as nominalizers and verbalizers. Generally speaking, adverbial constructions in this language take the form of postpositional phrases and derived verb phrases based on nominalized verb forms, although other strategies are also found. Data from both natural discourse and elicitation illustrate the major types of adverbial modification which include those expressing information about time, condition, cause, and purpose of related events in the proposition. Our goal is to contribute to the knowledge of the typological characteristics of the Mekens language, and at the same time permitting its comparison with genetically related languages and those of the region.
Relative clauses in Mẽbengokre
Authors: Salanova Andrés Pablo
Published: March 2014

This paper describes and proposes an analysis of relative clauses in Mẽbengokre, a Je language from the eastern Amazon region of Brazil. Relative clauses in this language are normally internally-headed, and the verbal predicate within them assumes a nominal form, triggering ergative alignment. The description of relative clauses addresses first (Section.2) their internal characteristics, i.e. ergative case marking, absence of morphological marking of the head of the relative clause, absence of some of the TAM categories present in main clauses, and the fact that internal heads can be omitted, yielding “free relative” constructions; Section.3 describes their external characteristics, i.e. their peculiar distribution within the clause, which often requires displacement to a left-peripheral focus position, the determiners and classifiers that may occur outside of the relative clause, and the possibility of some heads being external to the relative clause, among other topics. The main thrust of our analysis of relative clauses is to show (Section.4) that they are not adjuncts of any sort, but rather self-contained noun phrases. In light of this idea, we analyze all “adjectival” modification within a noun phrase as having a predicative structure identical to that of relative clauses. The paper concludes by arguing that the proposed analysis of relative clauses illustrates a striking property of M.bengokre, namely the systematic ambiguity between modifiers and heads found in all nominal expressions in the language.
Clause embedding strategies in Baure (Arawakan)
Authors: Danielsen Swintha
Published: March 2014

This article is a survey of clause linking strategies in the South Arawakan language Baure. Since both coordinate and subordinate adjoined clauses are similar to main clauses, the major focus of the paper is on embedded clauses. Embedded clauses, which are formed by means of nominalization of the predicate, include relative clauses and complement clauses. The specific embedding strategies are contrasted structurally and semantically, which reveals how similar relative and complement clauses are in Baure.
Subordinate clauses, switch-reference, and tail-head linkage in Cavineña narratives
Authors: Guillaume Antoine
Published: March 2014

Tail-head linkage is a discourse pattern which consists in repeating, at the beginning of a new sentence, the main verb of the preceding sentence for discourse cohesion. This pattern, which is rarely discussed in general typological work, is widespread in certain areas of the globe, in particular Papua New Guinea. In this paper, I report a case of tail-head linkage in Cavineña, an Amazonian language spoken in the northern lowlands of Bolivia, in which it is manifested by way of three subordinate clause types: two temporal adverbial clauses and a relative clause used adverbially. I also show how the switch-reference system that is associated with certain of these clauses participates in the tail-head linkage system for participant coherence between sentences.
Semantic and grammatical integration in Yurakaré subordination
Authors: van Gijn Rik
Published: March 2014

Yurakaré (unclassified, central Bolivia) has five subordination strategies (on the basis of a morphosyntactic definition). In this paper I argue that the use of these different strategies is conditioned by the degree of conceptual synthesis of the two events, relating to temporal integration and participant integration. The most integrated events are characterized by shared time reference; morphosyntactically they are serial verb constructions, with syntactically fused predicates. The other constructions are characterized by less grammatical integration, which correlates either with a low degree of temporal integration of the dependent predicate and the main predicate, or with participant discontinuity.
Relative clauses in Ecuadorian Quechua
Authors: Muysken Pieter
Published: March 2014

In this paper an attempt is made to analyze some of the strategies used in Ecuadorian Quechua to form relative clauses. The focus in the paper lies on the interaction between tense specification and specification of grammatical relations within the nominalized relative clause in several varieties of Ecuadorian Quechua. This interaction is modeled within the framework of Optimality Theory.
Participial clauses in Tarma Quechua
Authors: Adelaar Willem F. H.
Published: March 2014

This article discusses a clause-subordinating strategy attested in a Quechua variety spoken in central Peru. A particular type of adverbial clause is headed by a verb containing an affix that normally marks a participle, whereas no case marker is involved. The function and use of such a clause is reminiscent of the absolute construction found in classic Indo-European languages.
Complex sentences in Uchumataqu in a comparative perspective with Chipaya
Authors: Hannss Katja
Published: March 2014

The following article aims at providing an overview of complex sentences in Uchumataqu (Uru), including a brief comparison with subordination devices in the genetically related Chipaya language. The comparison seeks to provide an impression of the similarities and differences between subordination strategies in the two languages, and it will become apparent that there are some considerable differences which show that Uchumataqu and Chipaya represent different morphological types.
1. Introduction
Authors: Evans Nicholas , Levinson Stephen C. , Gaby Alice , Majid Asifa
Published: March 2014

Reciprocity lies at the heart of social cognition, and with it so does the encoding of reciprocity in language via reciprocal constructions. Despite the prominence of strong universal claims about the semantics of reciprocal constructions, there is considerable descriptive literature on the semantics of reciprocals that seems to indicate variable coding and subtle cross-linguistic differences in meaning of reciprocals, both of which would make it impossible to formulate a single, essentialising definition of reciprocal semantics. These problems make it vital for studies in the semantic typology of reciprocals to employ methodologies that allow the relevant categories to emerge objectively from cross-linguistic comparison of standardised stimulus materials. We situate the rationale for the 20-language study that forms the basis for this book within this empirical approach to semantic typology, and summarise some of the findings.
2. The semantics of reciprocal constructions across languages
Authors: Majid Asifa , Evans Nicholas , Gaby Alice , Levinson Stephen C.
Published: March 2014

How similar are reciprocal constructions in the semantic parameters they encode? We investigate this question by using an extensional approach, which examines similarity of meaning by examining how constructions are applied over a set of 64 videoclips depicting reciprocal events (Evans et al. 2004). We apply statistical modelling to descriptions from speakers of 20 languages elicited using the videoclips. We show that there are substantial differences in meaning between constructions of different languages.
3. Semantics of Khoekhoe reciprocal constructions
Authors: Rapold Christian J.
Published: March 2014

This paper identifies four reciprocal construction types in Khoekhoe (Central Khoisan). After a brief description of the morphosyntax of each construction, semantic factors governing their choice are explored. Besides lexical semantics, the number of participants, timing of symmetric subevents, and symmetric conceptualisation are shown to account for the distribution of the four partially competing reciprocal constructions.
4. Reciprocal constructions in English
Authors: Hurst Peter , Nordlinger Rachel
Published: March 2014

In this paper we investigate the constructions that are used to encode reciprocal situations in English, based on responses to the 64 reciprocals videoclips developed for the Reciprocals Across Languages project (Evans et al. 2004). This work complements the extensive body of previous research on English reciprocals by focusing on spoken data. While our data supports the traditional view of each other as the primary and most common reciprocal construction in English, we find a greater degree of variation in construction types than this traditional view might suggest. Furthermore, we show that each other does not have the same degree of acceptability with all reciprocal situation types.
5. Reciprocal constructions in Indo-Pakistani Sign Language
Authors: Zeshan Ulrike , Panda Sibaji
Published: March 2014

Indo-Pakistani Sign Language (IPSL) is the sign language used by deaf communities in a large region across India and Pakistan. This visual-gestural language has a dedicated construction for specifically expressing reciprocal relationships, which can be applied to agreement verbs and to auxiliaries. The reciprocal construction relies on a change in the movement pattern of the signs it applies to. In addition, IPSL has a number of other strategies which can have a reciprocal interpretation, and the IPSL lexicon includes a good number of inherently reciprocal signs. All reciprocal expressions can be modified in complex ways that rely on the grammatical use of the sign space. Considering grammaticalisation and lexicalisation processes linking some of these constructions is also important for a better understanding of reciprocity in IPSL.
6. Mundari reciprocals
Authors: Evans Nicholas , Osada Toshiki
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates the semantics of reciprocal constructions in Mundari, an Austro-Asiatic language of northern India. Two grammatical constructions express reciprocity: a basic construction, which infixes  to verb roots, and a serialised construction adding -idi ‘take’ to the basic reciprocal. The reciprocal construction is limited to subject-object coreference and cannot be fed by affixal derivational processes like applicatives or causatives, though it can be fed by zero conversion from other word classes; it may itself feed the causative. From a semantic perspective, the most unusual feature of Mundari reciprocals is the existence of a specialised construction for expressing sequential chaining situations, namely the serialised construction with -idi ‘take’; the basic reciprocal construction is not acceptable for sequential chaining situations.
8. Reciprocal constructions in Mah Meri
Authors: Kruspe Nicole
Published: March 2014

This paper provides an account of reciprocal constructions in Mah Meri, an Aslian (Austroasiatic) language spoken in peninsular Malaysia. A brief outline of the relevant grammatical points is provided before turning to examine the two constructions identified. The ‘bare conjunct’ construction centres on a small class of ‘naturally reciprocal’ verbs where the participants are encoded as a single NP. The typologically unique ‘double distributive’ construction is used with all other semantically appropriate verbs and encodes the two participants separately, but with the same form. It emerges that in Mah Meri reciprocal constructions are only used for situations of strict reciprocity where the event is symmetrical, constant, and saturated
9. The coding of reciprocal events in Jahai
Authors: Burenhult Niclas
Published: March 2014

This work explores the linguistic encoding of reciprocal events in Jahai (Aslian, Mon-Khmer, Malay Peninsula) on the basis of linguistic descriptions of the video stimuli of the ‘Reciprocal constructions and situation type’ task (Evans et al. 2004). Reciprocal situation types find expression in three different constructions: distributive verb forms, reciprocal verb forms, and adjunct phrases containing a body part noun. Distributives represent the dominant strategy, reciprocal forms and body part adjuncts being highly restricted across event types and consultants. The distributive and reciprocal morphemes manifest intricate morphological processes typical of Aslian languages. The paper also addresses some analytical problems raised by the data, such as structural ambiguity and restrictions on derivation, as well as individual variation.
10. Reciprocals in Yélî Dnye, the Papuan language of Rossel Island
Authors: Levinson Stephen C.
Published: March 2014

Yélî Dnye has two discernable dedicated constructions for reciprocal marking. The first and main construction uses a dedicated reciprocal pronoun numo, somewhat like English each other. We can recognise two subconstructions. First, the ‘numo-construction’, where the reciprocal pronoun is a patient of the verb, and where the invariant pronoun numo is obligatorily incorporated, triggering intransitivisation (e.g. A-NPs become absolutive). This subconstruction has complexities, for example in the punctual aspect only, the verb is inflected like a transitive, but with enclitics mismatching actual person/number. In the second variant or subconstruction, the ‘noko-construction’, the same reciprocal pronoun (sometimes case-marked as noko) occurs but now in oblique positions with either transitive or intransitive verbs. The reciprocal element here has some peculiar binding properties. Finally, the second independent construction is a dedicated periphrastic (or woni…woni) construction, glossing ‘the one did X to the other, and the other did X to the one’. It is one of the rare cross-serial dependencies that show that natural languages cannot be modelled by context-free phrase-structure grammars. Finally, the usage of these two distinct constructions is discussed.
11. Reciprocals in Rotokas
Authors: Robinson Stuart
Published: March 2014

This paper describes the syntax and semantics of reciprocity in the Central dialect of Rotokas, a non-Austronesian (Papuan) language spoken in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. In Central Rotokas, there are three main reciprocal construction types, which differ formally according to where the reﬂexive/reciprocal marker (ora-) occurs in the clause: on the verb, on a pronominal argument or adjunct, or on a body part noun. The choice of construction type is determined by two considerations: the valency of the verb (i.e., whether it has one or two core arguments) and whether the reciprocal action is performed on a body part. The construction types are compatible with a wide range of the logical subtypes of reciprocity (strong, melee, chaining, etc.).
15. Reciprocal-marked and marked reciprocal events in Kuuk Thaayorre
Authors: Gaby Alice
Published: March 2014

Kuuk Thaayorre has a single dedicated reciprocal marker, the verbal suffix -rr. There are, however, a number of alternative strategies for encoding semantically reciprocal events. This chapter outlines the five constructions that may overtly signal reciprocity in an event and explores which features of reciprocal events motivate the choice between these alternative encoding strategies. It also emphasises the role of non-reciprocal clauses as a valid means of encoding reciprocal event types. I propose that event typicality is a critical factor in determining whether speakers employ a reciprocal or non-reciprocal construction in describing these events. Where the event described approaches the prototype for the verb in question, overt reciprocal coding is usually omitted. Where the event described is atypical of the events usually described by that verb, overt reciprocal coding is strongly preferred.
17. Reciprocal constructions in Tsafiki
Authors: Dickinson Connie
Published: March 2014

Tsafiki reciprocal constructions have fairly unique characteristics due to the nature of the constructions from which they arise and the overall grammatical structure of Tsafiki. Reciprocals are coded by elements that are already grammaticalised for other functions. Symmetrical positional reciprocal constructions consist of a subset of positionals that inherently code reciprocity. There are two basic types of active reciprocal constructions. The semantic distinction between the two concerns mirative notions such as the degree to which the event concurs with the speaker’s expectations and general knowledge. The function of each reciprocal element is explored by examining its role in other constructions.
18. Reciprocal constructions in Hup
Authors: Epps Patience
Published: March 2014

This paper provides a comprehensive description of the encoding of reciprocal relations in Hup, a language of the Nadahup or ‘Makú’ family of northwest Amazonia. Hup has three morphological strategies for expressing reciprocal relations, but only one of these – the verbal preform ũh – is fully productive. The semantic range of this primary strategy extends well beyond canonical reciprocal interaction to include chains, melêes, and even ‘converse’ events, in which one participant acts non-reciprocally on another; the ‘interactional’ gram ũh is accordingly argued to have a unitary, underspecified semantics relating to interaction between two or more mutually involved co-participants. Hup’s secondary strategies include a marginal reciprocal extension of the reflexive preform hup, and the non-productive use of the preform bab’, restricted to a few lexical items. Typologically intriguing aspects of Hup’s strategies for marking reciprocal relations include the variable use of ũh and hup as prefixes or preverbal particles, the wide semantic range of ũh, and the apparent historical source of both ũh and bab’ in kin terms meaning ‘sibling’.
19. Reciprocals and semantic typology
Authors: König Ekkehard
Published: March 2014

In the concluding remarks that follow the results of the preceding articles are examined and discussed in the light of concepts of reciprocity distinguished in linguistics and other disciplines. It is shown that these contributions enlarge the empirical basis for the study of reciprocity and contribute to strengthening earlier cross-linguistic generalizations. They also call some of these generalisations into question, however, thus raising interesting new questions and problems for any attempt to map out the space of variation in the relevant domain.
Remarks on the coding of Goal, Recipient and Vicinal Goal in European Uralic
Authors: Kittilä Seppo , Ylikoski Jussi
Published: March 2014

This paper discusses the coding of three roles, Goal, Recipient and Vicinal Goal (‘to the vicinity of’) in European Uralic languages. The paper shows that Uralic languages typically use cases for Recipients and Goals, while Vicinal Goals bear adpositional coding except for a few languages with extraordinarily rich case inventories. The explanation given for this is that Goals and Recipients are expected roles, borne by inanimate and animate endpoints of transfer, respectively, while Vicinal Goal is a marked role, not retrievable directly from the features of the landmark. Consequently, a more elaborate coding is needed. Many studies only concern Goals and Recipients, but the findings of this paper show that a broader perspective is needed for arriving at a better understanding of Goal.
A case in search of an independent life
Authors: Västi Katja
Published: March 2014

The present study discusses senses of the Finnish verbless allative-initial construction with particular attention to the allative element. I argue that the construction under investigation cannot be defined as an elliptic structure, but rather is an independent and genuinely verbless construction and that there are at least eight distinct senses for the allative element. These senses are called actor, purchaser, target group, exploiter, receiver, affected, implicated actor, and encounterer. I argue that the first two have agentive features, which is cross-linguistically extraordinary for a goal-marking morpheme, whereas the other six relate to senses which the Finnish allative case is known to have in other constructions as well. For a semantic analysis, both an intuitive categorization and an experimental method, a paraphrase test, have been applied to the data of 500 headlines.