Asymmetries in path encoding in Sicilian
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Luisa Brucale
Abstract
This paper proposes a description of the encoding of path within the system of the spatial relations in present-day Sicilian, with a retrospective glance to the diachronic developments of that system. Two features characterize the spatial relations in present-day Sicilian: (a) consistent with a cross-linguistic tendency, the relation between source and direction is asymmetric, as the latter receives a richer and more fine-grained expression; moreover, direction may conflate into locative expression; (b) in contrast with a cross-linguistic tendency, which predicts a lower degree of autonomy for path, this role has a dedicated preposition and makes use of a non-prepositional strategy, namely a reduplicative construction expressing the spatial extension through which the event is brought about. The diachronic development of present-day system has been reconstructed by means of the scrutiny of corpus data from 14th to 19th centuries. This analysis has shown a substantial consistency in the encoding of spatial relations over time, although a certain degree of variation of the linguistic means expressing them.
Abstract
This paper proposes a description of the encoding of path within the system of the spatial relations in present-day Sicilian, with a retrospective glance to the diachronic developments of that system. Two features characterize the spatial relations in present-day Sicilian: (a) consistent with a cross-linguistic tendency, the relation between source and direction is asymmetric, as the latter receives a richer and more fine-grained expression; moreover, direction may conflate into locative expression; (b) in contrast with a cross-linguistic tendency, which predicts a lower degree of autonomy for path, this role has a dedicated preposition and makes use of a non-prepositional strategy, namely a reduplicative construction expressing the spatial extension through which the event is brought about. The diachronic development of present-day system has been reconstructed by means of the scrutiny of corpus data from 14th to 19th centuries. This analysis has shown a substantial consistency in the encoding of spatial relations over time, although a certain degree of variation of the linguistic means expressing them.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Space in Diachrony xi
- The goal-over-source principle in European languages 1
- Overlaps in spatial encodings 41
- Ablative and allative marking of static locations 67
- How should a “classical” Satellite-Framed Language behave? 95
- Differential Goal marking vs. differential Source marking in Ancient Greek 119
- New evidence for the Source–Goal asymmetry 147
- A diachronic take on the Source–Goal asymmetry 179
- Spatial interrogatives 207
- Asymmetries between Goal and Source prefixes in Spanish 241
- Asymmetries in path encoding in Sicilian 281
- Source-oriented and Goal-oriented events in Old and Modern French 305
- Source-Location ambiguity and incipient decline in the recent evolution of the English directional particle away 329
- Prepositional phrase vs. bare instrumental 347
- Language index 369
- Subject index 371
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Space in Diachrony xi
- The goal-over-source principle in European languages 1
- Overlaps in spatial encodings 41
- Ablative and allative marking of static locations 67
- How should a “classical” Satellite-Framed Language behave? 95
- Differential Goal marking vs. differential Source marking in Ancient Greek 119
- New evidence for the Source–Goal asymmetry 147
- A diachronic take on the Source–Goal asymmetry 179
- Spatial interrogatives 207
- Asymmetries between Goal and Source prefixes in Spanish 241
- Asymmetries in path encoding in Sicilian 281
- Source-oriented and Goal-oriented events in Old and Modern French 305
- Source-Location ambiguity and incipient decline in the recent evolution of the English directional particle away 329
- Prepositional phrase vs. bare instrumental 347
- Language index 369
- Subject index 371
