A complicated relationship
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Thomas Olander
Abstract
The Baltic and Slavic subgroups of the Indo-European language family are more closely related to each other than to any of the other surviving subgroups; yet it is debated whether they form a subgroup of Indo-European descending from a uniform Balto-Slavic proto-language. While most historical linguists do operate with a Balto-Slavic subgroup and a matching proto-language, others remain sceptical.
In this contribution I focus on one of the most salient similarities between Baltic and Slavic: the paradigmatic accentual mobility found in both subgroups. Following a discussion of non-trivial shared innovations as a diagnostic tool in linguistic subgrouping, I examine the Balto-Slavic problem in the light of three different hypotheses on the origin of accentual mobility.
Abstract
The Baltic and Slavic subgroups of the Indo-European language family are more closely related to each other than to any of the other surviving subgroups; yet it is debated whether they form a subgroup of Indo-European descending from a uniform Balto-Slavic proto-language. While most historical linguists do operate with a Balto-Slavic subgroup and a matching proto-language, others remain sceptical.
In this contribution I focus on one of the most salient similarities between Baltic and Slavic: the paradigmatic accentual mobility found in both subgroups. Following a discussion of non-trivial shared innovations as a diagnostic tool in linguistic subgrouping, I examine the Balto-Slavic problem in the light of three different hypotheses on the origin of accentual mobility.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
- Perspectives on language structure and language change 1
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Part I. On the theory of language change
- Andersen (1973) and dichotomies of change 13
- Induction and tradition 35
- Approaching the typology and diachrony of morphological reversals 81
- Deconstructing markedness in sound change typology 107
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Part II. Indexicality
- Diachronic morphology, indexical function and a critique of the morphome analysis 125
- Word order as grammaticalised semiotic systems 151
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Part III. Problems of reanalysis
- Anticausative and passive in Vedic 181
- Grammaticalization and degrammati(calizati)on in the development of the Iranian verb system 193
- Aspects of grammaticalization and reanalysis in the voice domain in the transition from Latin to early Italo-Romance 205
- From preverbal to postverbal in the early history of Japanese 233
- Reanalysis in the Russian past tense 253
- From a single lexical unit to multiple grammatical paradigms 271
- Morphosyntactic reanalysis in Australian languages 295
- Definiteness in Germanic and Balto-Slavic 311
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Part IV. Actualization
- Diatopy and frequency as indicators of spread 327
- Suppletion or illusion? 345
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Part V. Language change and diachronic typology in Balto-Slavic
- A complicated relationship 359
- Name-calling 381
- Changes of tense and modality in Late Mediaeval Slovene 395
- Index 411
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
- Perspectives on language structure and language change 1
-
Part I. On the theory of language change
- Andersen (1973) and dichotomies of change 13
- Induction and tradition 35
- Approaching the typology and diachrony of morphological reversals 81
- Deconstructing markedness in sound change typology 107
-
Part II. Indexicality
- Diachronic morphology, indexical function and a critique of the morphome analysis 125
- Word order as grammaticalised semiotic systems 151
-
Part III. Problems of reanalysis
- Anticausative and passive in Vedic 181
- Grammaticalization and degrammati(calizati)on in the development of the Iranian verb system 193
- Aspects of grammaticalization and reanalysis in the voice domain in the transition from Latin to early Italo-Romance 205
- From preverbal to postverbal in the early history of Japanese 233
- Reanalysis in the Russian past tense 253
- From a single lexical unit to multiple grammatical paradigms 271
- Morphosyntactic reanalysis in Australian languages 295
- Definiteness in Germanic and Balto-Slavic 311
-
Part IV. Actualization
- Diatopy and frequency as indicators of spread 327
- Suppletion or illusion? 345
-
Part V. Language change and diachronic typology in Balto-Slavic
- A complicated relationship 359
- Name-calling 381
- Changes of tense and modality in Late Mediaeval Slovene 395
- Index 411
