Reconstruction in syntax: Reconstruction of patterns
-
Alice C. Harris
Abstract
In syntax, reconstruction is limited to patterns, that is, repeated surface forms paired with a consistent function or distribution. Comparative reconstruction is illustrated with the example of the pattern of yes/no questions in Kartvelian languages and the core case marking pattern in the languages of the Nakh-Daghestanian family. The method involves setting up correspondences among patterns in languages known to be related. Determination of the ancestral pattern may make use of syntactic relics, dialect data, phonological correspondences, the principle of economy, and identification of internal or external sources of innovation, among other resources. Co-occurrence of all parts of a pattern provides the required safeguards in reconstruction of syntax, just as co-occurrence of all parts of a word does in reconstruction of phonology. Reconstruction of syntax is more likely to be successful in language families with less time depth and in ones with complex morphology reflecting the syntax, than in families lacking these characteristics.
Abstract
In syntax, reconstruction is limited to patterns, that is, repeated surface forms paired with a consistent function or distribution. Comparative reconstruction is illustrated with the example of the pattern of yes/no questions in Kartvelian languages and the core case marking pattern in the languages of the Nakh-Daghestanian family. The method involves setting up correspondences among patterns in languages known to be related. Determination of the ancestral pattern may make use of syntactic relics, dialect data, phonological correspondences, the principle of economy, and identification of internal or external sources of innovation, among other resources. Co-occurrence of all parts of a pattern provides the required safeguards in reconstruction of syntax, just as co-occurrence of all parts of a word does in reconstruction of phonology. Reconstruction of syntax is more likely to be successful in language families with less time depth and in ones with complex morphology reflecting the syntax, than in families lacking these characteristics.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Foreword ix
- Syntactic reconstruction: Methods and new insights 1
- How much syntactic reconstruction is possible? 27
- Reconstruction in syntax: Reconstruction of patterns 73
- Reconstructing complex structures: A typological perspective 97
- Competitive Indo-European syntax 121
- Principles of syntactic reconstruction and "morphology as paleosyntax": The case of some Indo-European secondary verbal formations 161
- Syntactic change and syntactic borrowing in generative grammar 187
- Index 217
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Foreword ix
- Syntactic reconstruction: Methods and new insights 1
- How much syntactic reconstruction is possible? 27
- Reconstruction in syntax: Reconstruction of patterns 73
- Reconstructing complex structures: A typological perspective 97
- Competitive Indo-European syntax 121
- Principles of syntactic reconstruction and "morphology as paleosyntax": The case of some Indo-European secondary verbal formations 161
- Syntactic change and syntactic borrowing in generative grammar 187
- Index 217
