bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Focus marking in Aghem
Authors: Hyman Larry M.
Published: March 2014

Following up on previous work by Anderson (1979), Watters (1979) and myself (Hyman 1979a, b, 1985), this paper presents an overview and analysis of focus marking in Aghem, a Grassfields Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. It is shown that focus marking pervades virtually every aspect of the grammar. While Aghem has a basic s aux v o x word order, an xp may be focused by positioning it immediately after the verb, or defocused by placing it between the auxiliary and the verb. As part of a system of “auxiliary focus” (Hyman & ­Watters 1984), certain tenses condition different allomorphs depending on whether the truth value of a proposition is included within the focus or not. The most unusual property of Aghem, however, concerns the contrast between so-called A- vs. B-forms within the noun phrase, which also bears an important relation to the focus system. I show that A forms are those which allow a null determiner, while B forms are those which do not. Although (semantic) focus is implicated in determining which form of the noun phrase is found in what context, it is really a syntactic generalization having to do with heads and their governees that accounts for the full range of facts.
Focalisation and defocalisation in Isu
Authors: Kießling Roland
Published: March 2014

Information structure in Isu is encoded by a variety of morphosyntactic strategies, involving markers of focalisation and defocalisation, both interacting with a syntactic pattern where the relative position vis-à-vis the finite verb plays a crucial role. In most of its properties, the Isu system closely parallels the one found in Aghem. However, there are some differences relating to form and distribution of defocalising enclitic markers on nouns. This opens a low-level diachronic perspective on the phenomenon and illustrates intermediary stages of a pragmatico-syntactically motivated transition from an earlier prefix marking system of noun classes towards a system in which prefixes fade out and noun classes come to be predominantly marked by enclitics which have not (yet) made it to suffixes.
Discourse function of inverted passives in Makua-Marevone narratives
Authors: Kröger Oliver
Published: March 2014

Inverted passives are thetic sentence constructions with post-verbal subjects and passivized verbs. In order to give a functional explanation for this marked structure in Makua-Marevone, two main sources are consulted, mental representation of propositions and texts (Lambrecht 1994), and thematic dimensions as described in text linguistics (Dooley & Levinsohn 2000). The measurement for prominence used for the data from oral folktales is based on text frequency, reactivation times and maximum active span. A “narrative script” is being developed, predicting default encoding of referents and their expected activation status. The employment of inverted passives in Makua-Marevone narratives is found to signal to the audience that the speaker intends to use referents contained in the proposition in a way different from what the narrative script would predict: They attribute increased prominence to inanimate referents, and link thematic dimensions that are normally separate.
Topic-focus articulation in Taqbaylit and Tashelhit Berber
Authors: Mettouchi Amina , Fleisch Axel
Published: March 2014

This paper deals with the form/function mapping of information structure on word-order in two Berber lects, Taqbaylit (Kabyle) and Tashelhit (Shilha). We claim that the general assumption according to which Berber should be strictly vso is wrong, and we argue for a more cautious approach, that takes into account language variation inside Berber. We show that pragmatics trigger the emergence of (relatively stable) discourse-configurationality, without giving rise to a vso>svo shift. We compare Taqbaylit and Tashelhit in terms of information structure and word order variation, and come to the conclusion that, while there is good reason to classify Taqbaylit as discourse-configurational, Tashelhit is somewhat more restrictive in terms of word order flexibility. We link those characteristics with case-marking: the distinction between free state and annexation state is more clearly a dependency-oriented phenomenon in Taqbaylit, while it corresponds more closely to a subject (or marked nominative) versus absolute case system in Tashelhit.
Focus in Atlantic languages
Authors: Robert Stéphane
Published: March 2014

This paper presents an overview of the formal markings characteristic of focus in Atlantic languages and reflection on some problematic uses of focused forms. A common (but not universal) feature of these languages is the use of verb morphology (in various ways) to express focus. What is most remarkable in several Atlantic languages (and apparently specific to this group) is that (1) verb forms indicate the syntactic status of the focused constituent; (2) these verb forms often merge focus, aspect, and voice features. This organization of the verb system has consequences for the range of uses of focused forms, in particular, for verb focus which is often used to express a mere statement in the case of verbs expressing a quality. These uses are accounted for through a renewed definition of the focused sentence as a “split assertion” involving a temporal presupposition and a qualitative designation.
Topic and focus construction asymmetry
Authors: Schaefer Ronald P. , Egbokhare Francis Oisaghaede
Published: March 2014

This paper compares and contrasts key constituents of topic and focus constructions in the Benue-Congo language Emai. It examines the grammatical character of topic and focus positions, their associated main clauses and the resumptive function relating them. Relative to these three constituents, various grammatical forms show asymmetric distribution. Although the resulting patterns reflect the differential influence of pragmatic presupposition or shared knowledge between speaker and hearer, they also reveal a determining role for main clause grammatical relations on resumptive function shape and on acceptability levels of postdeterminer modifiers. As a consequence, we reassess relations between emphatic constituents and their main clauses, emphasizing adjacency only for focus constructions, and recognize for emphatic constituents an information value heritage derived from corresponding canonical main clause grammatical relations.
Why contrast matters
Authors: Tosco Mauro
Published: March 2014

The article discusses the information structure of Gawwada, an East Cushitic language of Southwest Ethiopia, along the lines of the Prague School and ­Lambrecht’s (1994) theory. Gawwada does not have any dedicated focus-marking device – contrary to previous preliminary statements and in stark contrast with many Cushitic languages of the Horn of Africa. Moreover, it is argued that the category of focus itself is only scarcely grammaticalized in this language. It is rather “Contrast”, marked through a clitic element =kka, which is central to the information structure of the language. It is also argued that possibly other purported Focus Markers of other Cushitic languages (most notably Somali) may be interpreted, at least partially, as markers of contrast. Other pragmatic-marking strategies discussed in the article include the presence vs. absence of Subject-Verb agreement, the presence vs. absence of Subject Clitics, and, to a lesser degree, word order change and object-incorporation.
Focus and the Ejagham verb system
Authors: Watters John R.
Published: March 2014

This study concerns the interaction of ‘focus’ with the verbal system of Ejagham, an Ekoid Bantu language. In particular it concerns the multiple forms of the perfective and imperfective aspects. The Ejagham system differs from the tendency in Bantu systems. The verb forms in Ejagham have a ‘constituent’ focus form that sub-categorizes predicates (“verbs”) with terms (“nps”), and an ‘operator’ focus form used whenever the verbal operator is within the scope of focus. Bantu languages commonly have a form used when the verbal complement falls within the scope of focus but another form for other cases. So Bantu languages tend to group predicates with verbal operators. In addition, Ejagham conflates assertive and contrastive focus, a distinction that is important in other Bantoid languages in the general vicinity of Ejagham but not in Ejagham.
Benefactive applicative periphrases
Authors: Creissels Denis
Published: March 2014

After defining applicative periphrases as constructions in which a verb (the verb-operator) acts as a valency operator licensing the expression of an additional participant fulfilling a given semantic role in the event encoded by another verb (the lexical verb), this paper analyses applicative periphrases licensing beneficiaries. I recognize three formal types with respect to the grammatical nature of the two verb forms involved in the periphrasis and examine their distribution in the languages of the world. I then discuss grammaticalization paths leading to benefactive applicative periphrases, as well as further evolutions of benefactive applicative periphrases. The last two sections are devoted to autobenefactive applicative periphrases and to the use of verbs other than ‘give’ as verb-operator in benefactive applicative periphrases.
Cross-linguistic categorization of benefactives by event structure
Authors: Smith Tomoko Yamashita
Published: March 2014

The first of its kind, this study classifies the semantics of benefactive constructions from over sixty languages according to event structure types, identifying two basic types. The “agentive benefactive” construction, always includes an agent and expresses that the agent intentionally carries out the act for the sake of the affectee. The “event benefactive” construction, on the other hand, expresses that the affecting event may or may not have an agent, and includes windfall situations. The subtypes of the agentive benefactive are: “unrestricted agentive benefactive” (agent can be anybody), “non-self-benefactive” (agent is not an affectee), “selfbenefactive” (agent and affectee are identical), and “shared-benefit construction” (which expresses that ‘X does something for the benefit of X himself and Y’).
An areal and cross-linguistic study of benefactive and malefactive constructions
Authors: Radetzky Paula , Smith Tomoko Yamashita
Published: March 2014

In this study, we compare languages of Europe with those in Asia, establishing a two-part typology of strategies that these languages use to express notions of benefactivity and malefactivity. Languages in Europe have a generalized and semantically underspecified affectedness construction as the most unmarked construction in their repertoire; this can be used in both benefactive and malefactive situations. On the other hand, in the vast majority of the languages of South Asia, mainland Southeast Asia, and East Asia, benefactive constructions are separate from malefactive constructions, and each one is semantically robust and restricted in its applicability to either fortunate or unfortunate situations. An important question to raise is the interrelatedness between this areal distribution and each area’s societal values and cultural practice.
The role of benefactives and related notions in the typology of purpose clauses
Authors: Schmidtke-Bode Karsten
Published: March 2014

Across the world’s languages, adverbial clauses of purpose provide an important constructional environment for the occurrence of benefactive and semantically related markers. Based on a recent cross-linguistic study of purpose clauses (Schmidtke-Bode 2009), the present paper provides a systematic survey of the variegated functions of benefactives in the encoding of purposive relations. It will be argued that the particular distribution of benefactive markers across different types of purpose clauses is well-motivated from an ‘integrative functional’ point of view, which combines cognitive, functional and diachronic explanations for linguistic structure.
Benefactive and malefactive uses of Salish applicatives
Authors: Kiyosawa Kaoru , Gerdts Donna B.
Published: March 2014

We survey benefactives and malefactives in Salish, a family of twenty-three languages in northwestern North America. For the most part, benefactives and malefactives are expressed via applicative constructions, which are classified into two types: redirective and relational. Redirective applicatives are formed on transitive bases, and their precise interpretation—as benefactive, delegative, or malefactive—depends upon the context of the situation and the semantics of the verb. Most transitive verbs form redirectives with benefactive meanings, but redirectives formed on transfer verbs often express malefactive meanings, especially when a source or possessor is the applied object. Relational applicatives are formed on intransitive bases. They frequently have malefactive or adversative meanings, especially with natural or psychological events, and only rarely express benefactive meanings.
The benefactive semantic potential of ‘caused reception’ constructions
Authors: Colleman Timothy
Published: March 2014

English, German, French and Dutch all exhibit a ditransitive construction in which the verb is combined with a subject and two NP objects (either unmarked or with overt dative and/or accusative case), which typically encode the agent, theme and recipient of a ‘caused reception‘ event. In construction grammar terms, Goldberg (1995) posits ‘Agent successfully causes Recipient to receive Patient’ as the basic sense of the (English) ditransitive. Each of these ditransitive constructions, however, can also be used to encode a variety of other scenes in addition to basic transfer of possession events. This paper investigates the extent to which they can be used to encode benefactive events, i.e. events where an agent carries out an action (involving a patient) for the benefit of another person. The constructions in question will be shown to be subject to distinct constraints in this respect. Kittilä’s (2005, this volume) distinction between recipientbeneficiaries and other beneficiaries, for instance, turns out to be an important factor in English and (certain varieties of) Dutch, but not (or to a much lesser extent) in German and French. In addition, it will also be shown that in several of the languages under discussion, the semantic range of the benefactive ditransitive is subject to language-internal variation.
Benefactives in Laz
Authors: Lacroix René
Published: March 2014

The paper deals with the expression of benefactives in Laz, an endangered South Caucasian language spoken in North-East Turkey. Laz has two ways of encoding benefactives: an applicative derivation and a postposition (eni). In the preliminary sections, I present the system of cross-referencing affix es, the major alignment types and the system of valency operators. Then I describe the morphosyntax and semantics of the applicative derivation and the postposition used to encode beneficiaries, before some tentative remarks about the factors that may condition the choice between the applicative and the postposition. Both the applicative and the postposition have a range of other functions: the applicative may express the recipient, the locative and the possessor; the postposition may express the cause, the purpose and also has the meaning ‘about, concerning’.
Benefactive and malefactive verb extensions in the Koalib very system
Authors: Quint Nicolas
Published: March 2014

In Koalib (Niger-Congo, Kordofanian branch, Heiban family), a basic verb can give rise to several verb extensions (VE), among which a benefactive and a malefactive. Section one deals with the main derivational characteristics (affixation, tonology, productivity, valency) of both VE. Section two proposes a more in-depth scrutiny of the morphology of those extensions in Koalib, examining various particular cases (lack of basic verb, double derivation, irregularities). Section three focuses on the semantics of Koalib bene-/malefactive VE, putting special emphasis on the semantic roles encoded by each extension, and on the diverse nuances of meaning they can convey. The conclusion lays the stress on the interest of Koalib (and more generally Kordofanian languages) data for typological studies of the notions of benefaction and malefaction in human language.
Benefactives and malefactives in Gumer (Gurage)
Authors: Völlmin Sascha
Published: March 2014

Gumer (West-Gurage, South Ethiosemitic) has three suffixes to mark objects on the verb: ‘primary object’, ‘benefactive’, ‘malefactive/locative/instrumental’. BEN and MAL can occur with every verb to express in a rather broad sense that the event is ‘to one’s benefit’ or ‘to one’s detriment’. BEN covers the benefactive senses ‘recipient’, ‘deputative’, and ‘plain’. Generally, BEN and MAL express non-core participants. The three suffixes are mutually exclusive: if there are two concurring objects, the most salient candidate is chosen (which usually is BEN or MAL). Overt nominals BEN are marked with ye-, the same prefix that marks recipients. MAL are marked with ye- or be-. A construction with a subordinate form of barem ‘say’ (“saying for NP”) also expresses benefactives.
A “reflexive benefactive” in Chamba-Daka (Adamawa branch, Niger-Congo family)
Authors: Boyd Raymond
Published: March 2014

The “Nnakenyaare” lingua franca dialect of Chamba-Daka, a geographically and linguistically peripheral language of the Adamawa branch of Niger-Congo spoken in northeastern Nigeria, has not only beneficiary/recipient verb arguments but also a “reflexive benefactive” or autobenefactive marked by a copy pronoun from the possessive paradigm. To enhance typological understanding, Chamba-Daka argument structure is briefly described with focus on the importance of the animacy feature and the ambiguities arising from the existence of three different directly construed objects. The range of nonpossessive uses of the possessive paradigm, including the reflexive benefactive, is then set out. Conclusions include a discussion of the relations among autobenefaction, middle voice, and applicative derivation.
Beneficiary and other roles of the dative in Tashelhiyt
Authors: Rapold Christian J.
Published: March 2014

This paper explores the semantics of the dative in Tashelhiyt, a Berber language from Morocco. After a brief morphosyntactic overview of the dative in this language, I identify a wide range of its semantic roles, including possessor, experiencer, distributive and unintending causer. I arrange these roles in a semantic map and propose semantic links between the roles such as metaphorisation and generalisation. In the light of the Tashelhiyt data, the paper also proposes additions to previous semantic maps of the dative (Haspelmath 1999, 2003) and to Kittilä’s 2005 typology of beneficiary coding.
Benefactive strategies in Thai
Authors: Jenny Mathias
Published: March 2014

In Thai grammatical and semantic relations are expressed by syntactic or lexical means, such as constituent order and grammaticalized nouns and verbs. The topic of the present study are benefactive strategies in Thai, i.e. linguistic means to describe situations which involve an entity peripheral to, but in some way affected by, the event described by the predicate. Different benefactive strategies are compared in terms of form and function with special emphasis on the semantic differences. The Thai data show an important distinction between ‘direct benefactive’ (the beneficiary is directly involved in the event as recipient or experiencer), and ‘indirect benefactive’ (the activity is performed for his sake without him necessarily being aware of it) expressions.
Korean benefactive particles and their meanings
Authors: Song Jae Jung
Published: March 2014

This article investigates the grammar of Korean benefactive constructions with particular reference to the benefactive particles, eykey, (l)ulwihay(se) and taysin. The meaning contribution of these particles is shown to be so specific that their use can be explained by direct reference to their individual meanings. In particular, the particle eykey, unlike the other two particles, is subject to certain restrictions. The existence of these restrictions can be better understood once the meaning of the particle is properly recognized (i.e. the goal engaging with the theme to its benefit, rather than the goal exercising possessive control over the theme). This recognition is argued to render avoidable or unnecessary a certain special constraint previously proposed for the constructions. Also discussed briefly in the guise of a conclusion are the implications of the findings of the article for Construction Grammar, in which constructional meaning reigns over the meanings of individual items.
Parameters for typological variation of placeholders
Authors: Podlesskaya Vera I.
Published: March 2014

The paper focuses on a type of discourse marker that signals production difficulties in spontaneous spoken discourse. Hesitation markers of this type, conventionally termed placeholders, mainly have a pronominal origin and serve as a preparatory substitute for a delayed constituent. Based on first-hand data of spoken Russian and Armenian, as well as on earlier reported data (on Samoyedic, Tungusic, Austronesian, East Caucasian languages, inter alia), a set of parameters for typological variation of placeholders across languages is suggested, including possible types of syntactic constituents for which placeholders may substitute and constraints on morphological marking placeholders can replicate. Placeholders are placed among other lexical and grammatical resources that allow the speaker to refer to objects and events for which the speaker fails to retrieve the exact name, or simply finds the exact name to be unnecessary or inappropriate. Keywords: speech disfluency; placeholder; typology; Russian; Armenian
A cross-linguistic exploration of demonstratives in interaction
Authors: Hayashi Makoto , Yoon Kyung-Eun
Published: March 2014

This study examines uses of demonstratives as filler words in the context where speakers encounter trouble in formulating a word during spontaneous speech production. Focusing on three East Asian languages (Japanese, Korean and Mandarin), we first document the range of forms and functions of demonstratives as fillers observed in naturally-occurring conversations. We then explore theoretical issues that arise from this empirical observation, including the question of why demonstratives, among all linguistic items, are utilized as a tool to deal with word-formulation trouble. By investigating the hitherto neglected usages of demonstratives in social interaction, our study contributes both to typological studies of demonstratives and to interactional studies of grammatical phenomena. Keywords: demonstratives; interaction; word-formulation trouble; placeholder; interjective hesitator
From interrogatives to placeholders in Udi and Agul spontaneous narratives
Authors: Ganenkov Dmitry , Lander Yury , Maisak Timur A.
Published: March 2014

The paper describes the form and behavior of placeholders in Udi and Agul, two languages belonging to the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian family. The placeholders found in these languages show clear similarity despite the fact that they developed independently. In both languages, nominal placeholders originate from interrogative pronouns, which in combination with the verb ‘do’ serve as a source for verbal placeholders. In Udi, placeholders further gave rise to a similative construction describing a set of individuals or events on the basis of their similarity to a specific referent or situation. Finally, we suggest hypotheses concerning the development of placeholders and the correlations between their form and the overall typological profile of a language. Keywords: placeholder; interrogative pronouns; spontaneous discourse; Udi; Agul
Fillers and their relevance in describing Sliammon Salish
Authors: Watanabe Honoré
Published: March 2014

Since fillers do not play a central role in the grammar of a language, they are often neglected in language description. This is especially true of research on under-documented, endangered languages, and even more so at early stages of research on them, because there are so many “important” aspects of grammar to which researchers need to pay their full attention. This paper gives a preliminary account of the filler in Sliammon Salish. The Sliammon filler has relevance to the description of a seemingly unrelated part of the Sliammon grammar, i.e. the identification of certain morphemes as clitics, as opposed to affixes. The filler does not occur within the (morphological) word domain; therefore, if this filler occurs between a morpheme and a word, then that morpheme must be a clitic or another word, not an affix. This heuristic use of the filler in Sliammon underscores the importance of collecting natural textual material since fillers do not occur in elicited sentences. Keywords: hesitation filler; placeholder; clitic; proclitic; enclitic; mobile clitic
Pauses, fillers, placeholders and formulaicity in Alzheimer’s discourse
Authors: Davis Boyd , Maclagan Margaret
Published: March 2014

Extracts from the speech of three women with Alzheimer’s Disease are analyzed in order to highlight functions of pauses, fillers, placeholders, and formulaic phrases. Although other features of their speech decline, placeholders, fillers and formulaic sequences are still used appropriately and help cement interaction by providing appropriate cues to the conversational partner. The analysis is placed within the context of analyses of pauses in disordered conversations. Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, pauses, fillers, placeholders, formulaicity
Grammaticalization within and outside of a domain
Authors: Frajzyngier Zygmunt
Published: March 2014

The emergence of many grammatical categories cannot be explained in terms of the semantic properties of the source and the target or in terms of other cognitively based processes or language use such as metaphor, metonymy, usage and frequency of use. The term ‘grammaticalization’ refers here to the emergence of grammatical systems. The specific aim of the present study is to demonstrate that a primary factor involved in grammaticalization is the human ability, most often unconscious, to analyse language, an activity that falls within Hagège’s concept of ‘language builder’. The study describes the grammaticalization of tone in several Chadic languages. The proposed addition to grammaticalization theory contributes to the understanding of the origin of binary distinctions in language.
Delexicalizing di
Authors: Yap Foong Ha , Choi Fanny Pik-ling , Cheung Kam-siu
Published: March 2014

This paper traces the semantic extension of the Chinese locative/spatial noun di (‘bottom’) into a nominalizer, which further develops into a relativizer and genitive marker, and also into an adverbial subordinator and an attitudinal or stance marker. As subordinator and stance marker, di is generally phonetically reduced to de. Indeed, de has now largely replaced di in contemporary Chinese. Similar developments involving the reanalysis of head-final (i.e. clause-final) nominalizers as sentence-final mood particles are also observed in the case of Chinese nominalizer zhe, and are attested in other Chinese dialects as well (e.g. Cantonese ge3 and Chaozhou kai). Many other verb-final languages also show similar syncretism involving head-final nominalizers being recruited for sentence-final mood marking functions.
Frequency as a cause of semantic change
Authors: Reijirou Shibasaki
Published: March 2014

This study argues for a reinterpretation of the linguistic evolution of personal pronouns in the history of Japanese, with special focus on the second person form omae. While prior research has found certain syntactic and semantic differences between Japanese pronouns and Western counterparts, no research projects have analyzed Japanese pronouns from the perspective of grammatical distribution. This study takes a frequency-based approach to reveal the distributional patterns of omae at several historical stages, and shows that frequency serves as a cause of semantic change, providing evidence for the correlations between referential shifting and grammatical roles on the one hand and between frequency and semantic depreciation on the other.
The role of frequency and prosody in the grammaticalization of Korean -canh-
Authors: Sohn Sung-Ock S.
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates the role of frequency and prosody in the emergence of the new interactive marker -canh- from the committal suffix ci- plus negation verb anh- in Korean. Using a spoken recorded corpus drawn from natural discourse, this study provides empirical evidence of the role of boundary tones in grammaticalization. It shows that the source form is marked with a high boundary tone, whereas the emergent form is primarily marked with a low boundary tone. Moreover, the source and target forms exhibit a distinct pattern of collocation frequency. This study has some theoretical implications for grammaticalization studies by showing that the prosodic features and frequency may interact in the process of grammaticalization.
Emergence of the indefinite article
Authors: Liu Mei-chun
Published: March 2014

This study explores the grammaticalization of a frequently used numeral classifier yige into a marker of indefiniteness in spoken Taiwan Mandarin. Naturally-occurring data show that yige is frequently used to introduce a newly-mentioned but unfamiliar referent into the discourse and its distribution goes beyond the typical boundary of a numeral classifier. Yige may occur with NPs that do not require number or class marking, such as proper names, abstract, non-referring, and even plural nouns. It is suggested that yige is functionally overgeneralized and realigned with a new grammatical status in marking indefinite referentiality. Just like Huang (1999) argues that the distal demonstrative nage ‘that’ is becoming a definite article, this paper argues that the indefinite article yige is also emerging in Mandarin.Emergence of the indefinite article: Discourse evidence for the grammaticalization of yige in spoken Mandarin.
The problem of the typological classification of creoles
Authors: Lefebvre Claire
Published: March 2014

This book contains 25 chapters bearing on detailed comparisons of some 30 creoles and their substrate languages. As the substrate languages of these creoles are typologically different, the detailed investigation of substrate features in the creoles leads to a particular answer to the question of how creoles should be classified typologically. The present chapter therefore introduces the material analysed in the chapters of this book from the point of view of language typology. I begin with a discussion of the problem of the typological classification of creole languages, and of the aims and limitations of this chapter. The bulk of the chapter provides an overview of the results of the research contained in the various chapters. First, I outline the ways in which the typological features of the substrate languages are manifested in the creoles. Second, I lay out a global picture of the variation found among creoles for various subsystems of the grammar. To a great extent, this variation reflects that displayed by the substrate languages of the creoles. Third, based on each author’s proposals, I review the processes that led to such a situation and the constraints that are acting upon them. The chapter ends with my overall evaluation of the problem of the typological classification of creoles.
Èdó influence on Santome
Authors: Hagemeijer Tjerk , Ogie Ota
Published: March 2014

Ferraz (1979) convincingly shows the impact of two typologically distinct African strata in the making of Santome: Èdó and Kikongo. In this paper, it will be shown that the extensive verb serialisation found in Santome shows a significant amount of typological overlap with Èdó multi-event and compound verb constructions. Since the impact of Èdó on Santome goes clearly beyond verb serialisation and is also found in the other Gulf of Guinea creoles, the findings strongly suggest an early Èdó founder impact in detriment of Kikongo or Bantu in general.
One substrate, two creoles
Authors: Brousseau Anne-Marie
Published: March 2014

In this paper, I compare the segmental inventories of Haitian and St. Lucian with those of their contributing languages, in order to evaluate the impact of the substrate languages on the development of these systems. I show that the segmental inventories of the creoles display many features that were inherited from the Gbe languages through transfer, which suggests a massive impact of the substrate in the development of the segmental inventories of the creoles. In a nutshell, the phonological systems of Haitian and St. Lucian appear as a compromise between those of their contributing languages, Fongbe and other Gbe languages (the substrate), and French (the superstrate). While both creoles have essentially the same vowel inventory as the substrate, their consonantal inventory is closer to the superstrate. This hybrid character of the creoles is similar to what is found in an interlanguage, in the more canonical cases of second language acquisition. I propose scenarios where the differences between the two creoles and their superstrate result from phonological and phonetic processes that are typical of interlanguages – e.g., segmental substitution under phonological equivalence, transfer of L1 allophonic rules. The scenarios assume that the emergence of a creole is a particular case of second language acquisition (Andersen 1983). They also assume the Full Transfer/Full Access model of Second Language Acquisition (Schwartz & Sprouse 1996; White 2000), according to which second language learners assume the grammar of L1 as a starting point – Full Transfer – and progressively restructure this initial grammar using principles and parameters of Universal Grammar – Full Access. It is shown that the features of the substrates have guided the acquisition (or non acquisition) of the segmental inventories of French, even in cases where Universal Grammar may have been at play.
Substrate features in the properties of verbs in three Atlantic creoles
Authors: Lefebvre Claire
Published: March 2014

The aim of this paper is to investigate a subset of the properties of verbs in three Atlantic creoles, Haitian Creole, Saramaccan and Papiamentu – all three created around the same time and sharing the same core substrate languages, but having different lexifier/superstrate languages – and to compare these properties with those of verbs in their contributing languages, that is, their substrate languages, on one hand, and their superstrate languages, on the other. The three-way comparison undertaken in this paper shows in a clear way that first, the properties of verbs in the three creoles often contrast with those of the corresponding verbs in their respective superstrate languages; second, these properties parallel those of the corresponding verbs in their substrate languages; and third, in spite of the fact that the three creoles under investigation have different lexifier languages, the properties of the substrate verbs manifest themselves in the three creoles.
Assessing the nature and role of substrate influence in the formation and development of the creoles of Suriname
Authors: Migge Bettina
Published: March 2014

Over the last 30 years or so, a significant amount of research has been carried out on the genesis and development of creoles. This research has shown that the creators of creoles’ first languages made an important contribution to creole grammars, but that their overall role in any specific case was largely dependent on the social circumstances in which the creole emerged. This suggests that substrate influence always interacted with other sources. However, to date, relatively little research has been done on the various ways in which the creators’ first languages influenced specific creole features and how this interaction was determined or constrained by other processes and sources. The aim of this paper is to investigate these issues in more detail in the light of ongoing research on the formation and development of the Tense, Mood and Aspect system of the creoles of Suriname.
African substratal influence on the counterfactual in Belizean Creole
Authors: Escure Geneviève
Published: March 2014

Belizean Creole (BC) has a counterfactual structure expressed by a preverbal combination of the past and future morphemes (me wan V). There is no equivalent structure in the English superstrate of Belizean Creole, so the possibility of the continuity and transmission of African substratal features (especially from Bantu) is explored here. Furthermore, although many creoles mark counterfactuality in one way or another, the only English-based creoles exhibiting a past+future sequence – albeit with different morphemes – are Krio, Sranan and Guyanese Creole, and they are all geographically distant from Belize. I will attempt to explain the unique presence of BC me wan in terms of the particular sociolinguistic history of Belize. Belize differs from other West Indian colonies in the sense that it was never a plantation society, but rather a settlement (British Honduras) that was exclusively dedicated to the exploitation of logwood. Due to the woodcutting economy, African slave-labourers remained relatively isolated from European influences in forest camps and may therefore have retained more African linguistic characteristics than the plantation slaves in other colonies. In addition, the territory of British Honduras was particularly exposed to interethnic contacts within Central America and the possibility that such contacts impacted the linguistic development of the creole cannot be discounted.
Substrate features in Nicaraguan, Providence and San Andrés Creole Englishes
Authors: Bartens Angela
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates the influence of the substrate as represented by the Kwa language Twi on the English-based creoles spoken on San Andrés and Old Providence (Colombia) and on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. Thirty phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical features were selected for scrutiny. In a number of cases, it was impossible to make a case for exclusive substrate influence and it seems preferable to speak of convergence. However, there are also many language structures for which substrate influence offers the most likely explanation.
Palenque(ro)
Authors: Schwegler Armin
Published: March 2014

This article examines substratal influences in Palenquero (Colombia). It begins with an explanation of why research on the origins of Palenque and its language has been particularly challenging, and what these challenges mean in terms of how convincing the reigning hypothesis of a sole Kikongo substrate can (or cannot) be. The study then concentrates on relevant external and internal language data, as these are in many ways complementary. Language-internal features tied to Kikongo will be shown to come from all domains of grammar (phonology, morphology and syntax). Three fundamental conclusions will be reached: (1) Kikongo speakers must indeed have been a dominant force in the early Palenque; (2) lacunae in our historical and linguistic knowledge are, however, so great that we should keep a guarded attitude toward the current substrate hypothesis; and (3) there are multiple reasons to be optimistic about future attempts to refine substratist investigations into the creole. Part of that optimism rests on ongoing DNA research (based on comparison of the DNA of Palenqueros and Central West Africans), as well as on an astonishing turnaround of sociolinguistic attitudes in twenty-first-century Palenque. This turnaround has prompted a rapid re-evaluation and never-before seen appreciation of local Africanisms. Local enthusiasm for Palenquero is currently bringing to the fore a corpus of hitherto undocumented ancestral words that may help us advance explorations into the origins of the language.
Convergence-to-substratum and the passives in Singapore English
Authors: Bao Zhiming
Published: March 2014

Singapore English is a non-native variety of English that has emerged from intense contact with the local languages, mainly Chinese and Malay. It has two passive forms appropriated from the local languages, in addition to the English passives (be V-en and get V-en). In this paper, I study the usage patterns of the four passives in the Singaporean component of the International Corpus of English, and show that the locally derived passives are adversative and the English-derived passives exhibit clear adversity bias. The quantitative analysis supports two distinct mechanisms of substratum influence: the abrupt substratum transfer (the locally derived passives) and the gradual convergence-to-substratum (the English-derived passives).
Tone in Singlish
Authors: Lim Lisa
Published: March 2014

This paper focuses on aspects of tone in Singlish, the (mesolectal/basilectal) variety of English spoken in Singapore, which take up the claim of tone being a marked feature in contact varieties. While the source of tonal properties may well be the dominant Sinitic substrates, the actual patterning, at both word and phrase level, would appear to actually be a consequence of prosodic patterns found in another, non-tone language substrate, Bazaar/Baba Malay. Such observations support the notion of the founder population in the ecology paradigm: This paper suggests that, as the early English speakers in Singapore, the Peranakans, with Baba Malay as their vernacular, may well have been the community of speakers whose influence on Singlish has been most significant and persistent.
The Cantonese substrate in China Coast Pidgin
Authors: Ansaldo Umberto , Matthews Stephen , Smith Geoff P.
Published: March 2014

The “Chinese” character of Chinese Pidgin English, or China Coast Pidgin (CCP) has been debated in previous work. While some Chinese-based features such as the use of piece(e) as a classifier are widely acknowledged, the extent of substrate influence has remained unclear. This paper surveys the role of the Cantonese substrate based on a recently transcribed Chinese text, the Chinese English Instructor. Substrate influence is demonstrated in a wide range of grammatical domains including serial verbs, topiccomment structure, and placement of prepositional phrases. In certain domains such as placement of adverbs and in-situ wh-phrases, the Chinese sources show substrate influence which is rare or absent from the English language sources, a pattern which suggests systematic variation between Sinophone and Anglophone lects within CCP.
Substrate influences in Mindanao Chabacano
Authors: Grant Anthony P.
Published: March 2014

Mindanao Chabacano (henceforth MC), a cluster of varieties of Philippine Creole Spanish with almost 600,000 speakers recorded in the 2000 Philippines census, is rather unusual among creole languages because it has been in constant contact both with its chief lexifier Spanish, and with the languages which most strongly shaped it typologically, the Central Philippine languages, for most of the 300 or so years it is generally assumed to have existed. In this paper, I look at some substrate influences on MC, especially on the more widely spoken variety Zamboangueño (hereafter Zam). I also ask what is meant by “substrate” and “superstrate”, what the potential substrate languages of MC have been, and what it means for a creole language to be in contact with some of its component languages since its inception. As the history of MC raises questions about what can be regarded as a substrate, I explore the known and surmised history of the creole too.
Negation in Ternate Chabacano
Authors: Sippola Eeva
Published: March 2014

This paper examines negation patterns in Ternate Chabacano and compares them to negation in Tagalog. Ternate Chabacano is a Spanish-lexified creole spoken in Manila Bay in the Philippines. Tagalog is its main adstrate language. The main pattern in negation is one of the features that has been attributed to the Philippine languages, but it has not been systematically compared with the adstrate language. The comparison reveals that the properties of the Tagalog negator wala in particular have influenced the use of nwáy in Ternate Chabacano in existential negation and in negative indefinite constructions. Also, certain features related to negation follow Tagalog patterns.
Aspect and directionality in Kupang Malay serial verb constructions
Authors: Jacob June , Grimes Charles E.
Published: March 2014

Kupang Malay is a stigmatised Malay-based creole spoken in eastern Indonesia. While it shares some linguistic features with other contact varieties of Malay in the region, it is also distinguished by its own contact history and unique features in its phonology, lexicon and grammar, all showing evidence of significant influence from substrate languages. One notable feature is the pervasiveness and variety of its serial verb constructions (SVC). This paper explores the forms and functions of a limited set of Kupang SVCs, showing close parallels with similar forms and functions of SVCs in nearby substrate languages (illustrated by data from Helong, Amarasi, Dhao, and Lole). While Kupang is in a post-creole continuum with Indonesian functioning as the “high”, the Kupang SVCs described in this paper have no close parallels in Indonesian. We conclude that this presents strong evidence that Kupang is indeed a creole that has calqued at a deep level on the grammars of local languages. Since the phenomena here are previously undescribed for any of the languages – and all of them are poorly documented – this paper is deliberately rich in data. The examples given are not rare, were taken from computer searches of a text corpus, and have been doubled-checked for naturalness with groups of native speakers, given the inherent pitfalls of working in a post-creole continuum.
Sri Lanka Malay and its Lankan adstrates
Authors: Ansaldo Umberto
Published: March 2014

Sri Lanka Malay is the vernacular language of the descendants of the Malay-Javanese diaspora of Sri Lanka. It is a restructured variety of Malay, which emerged from the prolonged contact between speakers of Malay varieties and speakers of Sinhala and Tamil varieties. The grammar shows a typological shift from the Austronesian to the Lankan type, a shift that can be explained by the typological pressure that the adstrates Sinhala and Tamil – which are highly congruent – exercise in the trilingual environment. This paper discusses the prevalent grammatical patterns of Sri Lanka Malay in terms of frequency, typological congruence and trilingual admixture. I show that, for a complete understanding of Sri Lanka Malay grammar, we must approach it by taking into full consideration the typological matrix in which it has developed, which includes a Malay-based lexifier and two adstrates, namely Sinhala and Tamil. This argues against a view of Sri Lanka Malay as the product of a bilingual admixture.
Papuan Malay of New Guinea
Authors: Donohue Mark
Published: March 2014

Of the Malay varieties of Southeast Asia, Papuan Malay is the most removed both geographically and linguistically from the “homeland” of Malay. While showing no more lexical differences than other Malay varieties, it represents an extreme divergence from the morphosyntax of the better-described varieties to the west. Verbs, and their place in clause structure, represent the area where this is most apparent, almost certainly representing influence from the Melanesian languages that were the native languages of the first speakers of an early variety of Papuan Malay.