10. Transparency vs. Economy: How does Adioukrou resolve the conflict?
-
Kaoru Horie
Abstract
The tripartite distinction of subordinate clauses, i.e. relative, complement, and adverbial clause, is arguably motivated by the differing type of conceptual asymmetry between matrix clause and subordinate clause events encoded by each clause type. The three types of subordinate clauses are also known to manifest cross-constructional continuity in constructional space (Croft 2001). From cognitive-typological viewpoint, this paper will explore the polyfunctionality of a ‘versatile’ subordinator èké (‘which/that/if ’) in Adioukrou, a Kwa language within the Niger-Congo language family spoken in Côte d’Ivoire. Èké encodes three major subtypes of subordinate clauses, i.e. relative clause, complement clause, and conditional adverbial clause, and thus apparently neutralizes the tripartite distinction. This paper will also address the issue of how Adioukrou responds to a possible tension between two cognitivefunctional principles governing form-meaning correspondence in a language, i.e. transparency (isomorphism) and economy.
Abstract
The tripartite distinction of subordinate clauses, i.e. relative, complement, and adverbial clause, is arguably motivated by the differing type of conceptual asymmetry between matrix clause and subordinate clause events encoded by each clause type. The three types of subordinate clauses are also known to manifest cross-constructional continuity in constructional space (Croft 2001). From cognitive-typological viewpoint, this paper will explore the polyfunctionality of a ‘versatile’ subordinator èké (‘which/that/if ’) in Adioukrou, a Kwa language within the Niger-Congo language family spoken in Côte d’Ivoire. Èké encodes three major subtypes of subordinate clauses, i.e. relative clause, complement clause, and conditional adverbial clause, and thus apparently neutralizes the tripartite distinction. This paper will also address the issue of how Adioukrou responds to a possible tension between two cognitivefunctional principles governing form-meaning correspondence in a language, i.e. transparency (isomorphism) and economy.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Part I: Event chains and complex events
- 1. Asymmetry in English multi-verb sequences: A corpus-based approach 3
- 2. Asymmetries for locating events with Cora spatial language 25
- 3. Spanish (de)queisimo: Part/whole alternation and viewing arrangement 53
- 4. What does coordination look like in a head-final language? 87
- 5. Verb serialization as a means to express complex events in Thai 103
- 6. Notional asymmetry in syntactic symmetry: Connective and accessibility marker interactions 121
-
Part II: Subordination, nominalization, modification
- 7. Subordination in Cognitive grammar 137
- 8. Asymmetric events, subordination, and grammatical categories 151
- 9. Asymmetry reversal 173
- 10. Transparency vs. Economy: How does Adioukrou resolve the conflict? 195
- 11. Relating participants across asymmetric events: Conceptual constraints on obligatory control 209
- 12. The Portugese inflected infinitive and its conceptual basis 227
- 13. The periphrastic realization of participants in nominalizations: Semantic and discourse constraints 245
- 14. Asymmetries in participial modification 261
- Author index 283
- Subject index 285
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Part I: Event chains and complex events
- 1. Asymmetry in English multi-verb sequences: A corpus-based approach 3
- 2. Asymmetries for locating events with Cora spatial language 25
- 3. Spanish (de)queisimo: Part/whole alternation and viewing arrangement 53
- 4. What does coordination look like in a head-final language? 87
- 5. Verb serialization as a means to express complex events in Thai 103
- 6. Notional asymmetry in syntactic symmetry: Connective and accessibility marker interactions 121
-
Part II: Subordination, nominalization, modification
- 7. Subordination in Cognitive grammar 137
- 8. Asymmetric events, subordination, and grammatical categories 151
- 9. Asymmetry reversal 173
- 10. Transparency vs. Economy: How does Adioukrou resolve the conflict? 195
- 11. Relating participants across asymmetric events: Conceptual constraints on obligatory control 209
- 12. The Portugese inflected infinitive and its conceptual basis 227
- 13. The periphrastic realization of participants in nominalizations: Semantic and discourse constraints 245
- 14. Asymmetries in participial modification 261
- Author index 283
- Subject index 285
