On the loss of the masculine genitive plural in Cypriot Greek
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Ioanna Sitaridou
Abstract
The case system of Greek has undergone extensive changes, most notably loss of the dative and reorganisation of the genitive. The clear winner of this situation is the accusative. In this paper we investigate one more instance whereby the accusative wins out over the genitive: the loss of the genitive plural from the masculine nominal paradigm of Cypriot Greek. Noted in descriptions of the dialect since the 19th century —and persisting, albeit somewhat attenuated, to this day— this phenomenon has been attributed both to internal evolution (analogy) and to external factors (contact with French). We assess these two explanations from a structural and from a sociolinguistic perspective, and highlight some problematic areas that ought to be investigated before we can arrive at a more comprehensive view of how this change came about.
Abstract
The case system of Greek has undergone extensive changes, most notably loss of the dative and reorganisation of the genitive. The clear winner of this situation is the accusative. In this paper we investigate one more instance whereby the accusative wins out over the genitive: the loss of the genitive plural from the masculine nominal paradigm of Cypriot Greek. Noted in descriptions of the dialect since the 19th century —and persisting, albeit somewhat attenuated, to this day— this phenomenon has been attributed both to internal evolution (analogy) and to external factors (contact with French). We assess these two explanations from a structural and from a sociolinguistic perspective, and highlight some problematic areas that ought to be investigated before we can arrive at a more comprehensive view of how this change came about.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Phonology
- Middle English vowel length in French loanwords 9
- Dental fricatives and stops in Germanic 19
- Dialect variation and the Dutch diminutive 37
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Part II. Morphology, syntax and semantics
- On the disappearance of genitive types in Middle English 49
- An asymmetric view on stage II in Jespersen’s cycle in the West Germanic languages 61
- Temporal reference and grammaticalization in the Spanish perfect(ive) 73
- (Un)-interpretable features and grammaticalization 83
- Imperative morphology in diachrony evidence from the Romance languages 99
- VO vs V(…)O en Français 109
- On the development of Recipient passives in DO languages 123
- The emergence of DP in the history of English 135
- A diachronic view of Psychological verbs with Dative Experiencers in Spanish and Romanian 149
- On the loss of the masculine genitive plural in Cypriot Greek 161
- The rise of peripheral modifiers in the noun phrase 175
- Wild variation, random patterns, and uncertain data* 185
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Part III. Sociolinguistics and dialectology
- Le changement linguistique dans la langue orale selon deux recherches sur le terrain séparées d’un siècle 197
- Patrons sociolinguistiques chez trois générations de locuteurs acadiens 211
- Change of functions of the first person pronouns in Chinese 223
- Vinderup in real time 233
- Variation in real time 245
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Part IV. Tools and methodology
- UNIDIA 259
- Visualization, validation and seriation 269
- Quantifying linguistic changes 285
- Historical core vocabulary: Spring and/or anchor 295
- Index of languages and terms 307
- Index of subjects and terms 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonology
- Middle English vowel length in French loanwords 9
- Dental fricatives and stops in Germanic 19
- Dialect variation and the Dutch diminutive 37
-
Part II. Morphology, syntax and semantics
- On the disappearance of genitive types in Middle English 49
- An asymmetric view on stage II in Jespersen’s cycle in the West Germanic languages 61
- Temporal reference and grammaticalization in the Spanish perfect(ive) 73
- (Un)-interpretable features and grammaticalization 83
- Imperative morphology in diachrony evidence from the Romance languages 99
- VO vs V(…)O en Français 109
- On the development of Recipient passives in DO languages 123
- The emergence of DP in the history of English 135
- A diachronic view of Psychological verbs with Dative Experiencers in Spanish and Romanian 149
- On the loss of the masculine genitive plural in Cypriot Greek 161
- The rise of peripheral modifiers in the noun phrase 175
- Wild variation, random patterns, and uncertain data* 185
-
Part III. Sociolinguistics and dialectology
- Le changement linguistique dans la langue orale selon deux recherches sur le terrain séparées d’un siècle 197
- Patrons sociolinguistiques chez trois générations de locuteurs acadiens 211
- Change of functions of the first person pronouns in Chinese 223
- Vinderup in real time 233
- Variation in real time 245
-
Part IV. Tools and methodology
- UNIDIA 259
- Visualization, validation and seriation 269
- Quantifying linguistic changes 285
- Historical core vocabulary: Spring and/or anchor 295
- Index of languages and terms 307
- Index of subjects and terms 309
