Dissimilatory constraints discriminate between variants in analogical change
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Louise Esher
Abstract
This study presents evidence that dissimilatory constraints act as a discriminating factor in the selection of models for analogical change within inflectional paradigms. The study compares the lexical extension of root-final /ɡ/ in preterite forms in two groups of Occitan varieties: one group with established preterite desinences in -/εɡ/-, where introducing /ɡ/-final roots creates a sequence -/ɡεɡ/-; and another group with established preterite desinences in -/εɾ/-, where introducing /ɡ/-final roots creates a sequence -/ɡεɾ/-. Incidence of root-final /ɡ/ is lower in the velar desinence group than in the rhotic desinence group, indicating that dissimilatory pressure contributes to speaker choice between available roots, alongside other factors such as existing paradigmatic relationships and lexical gang effects.
Abstract
This study presents evidence that dissimilatory constraints act as a discriminating factor in the selection of models for analogical change within inflectional paradigms. The study compares the lexical extension of root-final /ɡ/ in preterite forms in two groups of Occitan varieties: one group with established preterite desinences in -/εɡ/-, where introducing /ɡ/-final roots creates a sequence -/ɡεɡ/-; and another group with established preterite desinences in -/εɾ/-, where introducing /ɡ/-final roots creates a sequence -/ɡεɾ/-. Incidence of root-final /ɡ/ is lower in the velar desinence group than in the rhotic desinence group, indicating that dissimilatory pressure contributes to speaker choice between available roots, alongside other factors such as existing paradigmatic relationships and lexical gang effects.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Resurrecting rhymes, reasons and (no) rhotics 5
- Diachronic phonology with Contrastive Hierarchy Theory 20
- The life cycle of phonological patterns explains drift in sound change 35
- The diachronic typology of retroflex vowels 50
- Diachronic shifts among sound ideophones 62
- The classification of the Plains Algonquian languages 79
- Modelling combined linguistic and non-linguistic evidence in language reconstruction 94
- Dissimilatory constraints discriminate between variants in analogical change 110
- Patterns of suppletion in inflection revisited 128
- Differential object marking in early Italo-Romance and old Sardinian 150
- Semantic factors in case loss 166
- Morphosyntactic borrowing in closely related varieties 184
- Nominal privative suffixes as a diachronic source of verbal negative markers 198
- The emergence of oblique subjects 215
- Grammaticalization of sentence adverbs and modal particles revisited 232
- A discourse analysis of left-dislocation in Old English 249
- The semantics of word borrowing in late medieval English 263
- Approximative adverbs in modern and pre-modern languages 279
- The history of numerals as a history of East African languages 294
- Language index 307
- Subject index 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Resurrecting rhymes, reasons and (no) rhotics 5
- Diachronic phonology with Contrastive Hierarchy Theory 20
- The life cycle of phonological patterns explains drift in sound change 35
- The diachronic typology of retroflex vowels 50
- Diachronic shifts among sound ideophones 62
- The classification of the Plains Algonquian languages 79
- Modelling combined linguistic and non-linguistic evidence in language reconstruction 94
- Dissimilatory constraints discriminate between variants in analogical change 110
- Patterns of suppletion in inflection revisited 128
- Differential object marking in early Italo-Romance and old Sardinian 150
- Semantic factors in case loss 166
- Morphosyntactic borrowing in closely related varieties 184
- Nominal privative suffixes as a diachronic source of verbal negative markers 198
- The emergence of oblique subjects 215
- Grammaticalization of sentence adverbs and modal particles revisited 232
- A discourse analysis of left-dislocation in Old English 249
- The semantics of word borrowing in late medieval English 263
- Approximative adverbs in modern and pre-modern languages 279
- The history of numerals as a history of East African languages 294
- Language index 307
- Subject index 309
