Evaluating prehistoric and early historic linguistic contacts
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Jadranka Gvozdanović
Abstract
This paper discusses methods for evaluating potential language contacts before the earliest written documents. It shows that both evaluation of (usually) sparse empirical evidence and typological evaluation are required for an explanation. Of paramount importance are considerations of specificity of change, its likelihood of occurrence in a certain type of system, and the relative chronology of occurrence in the supposedly contacting systems. The paper focuses on the emergence of the bisyllabic domain for phonological processes in Slavic, accompanied by a number of specific and typologically significant changes of the Great-Migration period, evaluating them in comparison with similar processes in neighboring Indo-European. The second point to be discussed is the emergence of the Celtic verb complex and its word order properties, due to an interplay of predicate aspect with syntactic and prosodic factors.
Abstract
This paper discusses methods for evaluating potential language contacts before the earliest written documents. It shows that both evaluation of (usually) sparse empirical evidence and typological evaluation are required for an explanation. Of paramount importance are considerations of specificity of change, its likelihood of occurrence in a certain type of system, and the relative chronology of occurrence in the supposedly contacting systems. The paper focuses on the emergence of the bisyllabic domain for phonological processes in Slavic, accompanied by a number of specific and typologically significant changes of the Great-Migration period, evaluating them in comparison with similar processes in neighboring Indo-European. The second point to be discussed is the emergence of the Celtic verb complex and its word order properties, due to an interplay of predicate aspect with syntactic and prosodic factors.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
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Phonology
- A Phonological motivation behind the diatonic stress shift in Modern English 3
- Vowel reduction in verbs in King Alfred’s Pastoral Care 19
- The development of early Middle English ō 41
- The diachronic development of stød and tonal accent in North Germanic 53
- The evolution of the (alveolo)palatal lateral consonant in Spanish and Portuguese 69
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Diachronic typology
- Evaluating prehistoric and early historic linguistic contacts 89
- Patterns in the diffusion of nomenclature systems 109
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Morphology
- Morphological evidence for the paradigmatic status of infinitives in French and Occitan 135
- Constructional change at the interface of cognition, culture, and language use 155
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Morphosyntax
- Stages in deflexion and the Norwegian dative 179
- Differential Object Marking in Old Japanese 195
- The grammaticalization of progressive constructions with a focus on the English progressive 213
- Hate and anger, love and desire 233
- The argument indexing of early Austronesian verbs 257
- The syntax of mood constructions in Old Japanese 281
- Medieval Sardinian 303
- Index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Phonology
- A Phonological motivation behind the diatonic stress shift in Modern English 3
- Vowel reduction in verbs in King Alfred’s Pastoral Care 19
- The development of early Middle English ō 41
- The diachronic development of stød and tonal accent in North Germanic 53
- The evolution of the (alveolo)palatal lateral consonant in Spanish and Portuguese 69
-
Diachronic typology
- Evaluating prehistoric and early historic linguistic contacts 89
- Patterns in the diffusion of nomenclature systems 109
-
Morphology
- Morphological evidence for the paradigmatic status of infinitives in French and Occitan 135
- Constructional change at the interface of cognition, culture, and language use 155
-
Morphosyntax
- Stages in deflexion and the Norwegian dative 179
- Differential Object Marking in Old Japanese 195
- The grammaticalization of progressive constructions with a focus on the English progressive 213
- Hate and anger, love and desire 233
- The argument indexing of early Austronesian verbs 257
- The syntax of mood constructions in Old Japanese 281
- Medieval Sardinian 303
- Index 325
