The diachrony of Ute case-marking
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T. Givón
Abstract
This paper deals with Ute case-marking and its reconstructed diachrony, demonstrating once again that synchronic data from a single language can serve, via Internal Reconstruction (IR) and a theoretically informed approach to grammaticalization, to reconstruct older diachronic states. The synchronic data of object and genitive marking in Ute yields sufficient clues to reconstruct two or even three layers of older object and/or genitive markin. The persistent connection between object and genitive points to several cycles of clausal (or VP) nominalization, a well-documented phenomenon in Northern Uto-Aztecan (Numic, Takic, Yaqui, Tarrahumara, Huichol). The post-positional markings of indirect objects in Ute are also surveyed, showing that the vast majority of them are verb-derived, through patterns that are consonant with serial-verb constructions elsewhere.
Abstract
This paper deals with Ute case-marking and its reconstructed diachrony, demonstrating once again that synchronic data from a single language can serve, via Internal Reconstruction (IR) and a theoretically informed approach to grammaticalization, to reconstruct older diachronic states. The synchronic data of object and genitive marking in Ute yields sufficient clues to reconstruct two or even three layers of older object and/or genitive markin. The persistent connection between object and genitive points to several cycles of clausal (or VP) nominalization, a well-documented phenomenon in Northern Uto-Aztecan (Numic, Takic, Yaqui, Tarrahumara, Huichol). The post-positional markings of indirect objects in Ute are also surveyed, showing that the vast majority of them are verb-derived, through patterns that are consonant with serial-verb constructions elsewhere.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Preface xi
- Introduction xxi
-
Section 1. Approaches to the study of the indigenous languages of the Americas
- The diachrony of Ute case-marking 3
- Language contact as an inhibitor of sound change 29
- Stress in Yucatec Maya 53
- The phonetic correlates of Southern Ute stress 85
- Revisiting Tohono O’odham high vowels 107
- Head-marking inflection and the architecture of grammatical theory 133
- A case-study in grass roots development of web resources for language workers 175
-
Section 2. Approaches to the study of voices and ideologies
-
Language contact, shift, and endangerment – implications for policy
- Spanish in contact with indigenous tongues 203
- How can a language with 7 million speakers be endangered? 229
- A documentary ethnography of a Blackfoot language course 257
- Syncretic speech, linguistic ideology, and intertextuality 291
-
Racism in discourse – analyses of practice
- Narrative discriminations in Central California’s indigenous narrative traditions 321
- The voice of (White) reason 339
- Double-voicing in the everyday language of Brazilian black activism 365
- Uptake (un)limited 389
- The silken cord 415
- Afterword 425
- Language index 431
- Subject index 433
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Preface xi
- Introduction xxi
-
Section 1. Approaches to the study of the indigenous languages of the Americas
- The diachrony of Ute case-marking 3
- Language contact as an inhibitor of sound change 29
- Stress in Yucatec Maya 53
- The phonetic correlates of Southern Ute stress 85
- Revisiting Tohono O’odham high vowels 107
- Head-marking inflection and the architecture of grammatical theory 133
- A case-study in grass roots development of web resources for language workers 175
-
Section 2. Approaches to the study of voices and ideologies
-
Language contact, shift, and endangerment – implications for policy
- Spanish in contact with indigenous tongues 203
- How can a language with 7 million speakers be endangered? 229
- A documentary ethnography of a Blackfoot language course 257
- Syncretic speech, linguistic ideology, and intertextuality 291
-
Racism in discourse – analyses of practice
- Narrative discriminations in Central California’s indigenous narrative traditions 321
- The voice of (White) reason 339
- Double-voicing in the everyday language of Brazilian black activism 365
- Uptake (un)limited 389
- The silken cord 415
- Afterword 425
- Language index 431
- Subject index 433
