Chapter 8. Topic agreement, experiencer constructions, and the weight of clitics
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Thomas Jügel
Abstract
It has been claimed that in some Iranian languages like Sorani Kurdish enclitic pronouns shifted to verbal agreement markers via topic agreement, i.e. hanging topics resumed by enclitic pronouns are reanalysed as subjects cross-indexed by agreement markers. In this study, we suggest a bridging context for the reanalysis of topic agreement as verbal agreement by assuming that verbal endings (the inherited agreement markers) and enclitic pronouns represent the same degree or weight of encoding. We further compare the historical findings with the cross-reference patterns found in New Persian experiencer constructions. These constructions show a similar development, and we provide evidence that the relation of experiencer and cross-indexing enclitic pronoun qualifies as agreement.
Abstract
It has been claimed that in some Iranian languages like Sorani Kurdish enclitic pronouns shifted to verbal agreement markers via topic agreement, i.e. hanging topics resumed by enclitic pronouns are reanalysed as subjects cross-indexed by agreement markers. In this study, we suggest a bridging context for the reanalysis of topic agreement as verbal agreement by assuming that verbal endings (the inherited agreement markers) and enclitic pronouns represent the same degree or weight of encoding. We further compare the historical findings with the cross-reference patterns found in New Persian experiencer constructions. These constructions show a similar development, and we provide evidence that the relation of experiencer and cross-indexing enclitic pronoun qualifies as agreement.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Advances in Iranian linguistics 1
- Chapter 2. Syntactic and semantic constraints on pronoun and anaphor resolution in Persian 15
- Chapter 3. A multi-dimensional approach to classification of Iran’s languages 29
- Chapter 4. The additive particle in Persian 57
- Chapter 5. The pronoun-to-agreement cycle in Iranian 85
- Chapter 6. The suffix that makes Persian nouns unique 107
- Chapter 7. The meaning of the Persian object marker rā 119
- Chapter 8. Topic agreement, experiencer constructions, and the weight of clitics 137
- Chapter 9. Another look at Persian rā 155
- Chapter 10. The Ezafe construction revisited 173
- Chapter 11. Quantitative meter in Persian folk songs and pop lyrics 237
- Chapter 12. Stripping structures with negation in Persian 257
- Chapter 13. Oblique marking and adpositional constructions in Tat 275
- Author index 301
- Languages index 305
- Subject index 307
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Advances in Iranian linguistics 1
- Chapter 2. Syntactic and semantic constraints on pronoun and anaphor resolution in Persian 15
- Chapter 3. A multi-dimensional approach to classification of Iran’s languages 29
- Chapter 4. The additive particle in Persian 57
- Chapter 5. The pronoun-to-agreement cycle in Iranian 85
- Chapter 6. The suffix that makes Persian nouns unique 107
- Chapter 7. The meaning of the Persian object marker rā 119
- Chapter 8. Topic agreement, experiencer constructions, and the weight of clitics 137
- Chapter 9. Another look at Persian rā 155
- Chapter 10. The Ezafe construction revisited 173
- Chapter 11. Quantitative meter in Persian folk songs and pop lyrics 237
- Chapter 12. Stripping structures with negation in Persian 257
- Chapter 13. Oblique marking and adpositional constructions in Tat 275
- Author index 301
- Languages index 305
- Subject index 307
