From interrogatives to placeholders in Udi and Agul spontaneous narratives
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Dmitry Ganenkov
Abstract
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
Abstract
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
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Parameters for typological variation of placeholders 11
- A cross-linguistic exploration of demonstratives in interaction 33
- Placeholder verbs in Modern Georgian 67
- From interrogatives to placeholders in Udi and Agul spontaneous narratives 95
- Fillers and placeholders in Nahavaq 119
- The interactional profile of a placeholder 139
- Fillers and their relevance in describing Sliammon Salish 173
- Pauses, fillers, placeholders and formulaicity in Alzheimer’s discourse 189
- Language index 217
- Name index 219
- Subject index 221
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Parameters for typological variation of placeholders 11
- A cross-linguistic exploration of demonstratives in interaction 33
- Placeholder verbs in Modern Georgian 67
- From interrogatives to placeholders in Udi and Agul spontaneous narratives 95
- Fillers and placeholders in Nahavaq 119
- The interactional profile of a placeholder 139
- Fillers and their relevance in describing Sliammon Salish 173
- Pauses, fillers, placeholders and formulaicity in Alzheimer’s discourse 189
- Language index 217
- Name index 219
- Subject index 221
