Nominal borrowings in Tsova-Tush (Nakh-Daghestanian, Georgia) and their gender assignment
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Jesse Wichers Schreur
Abstract
In this article, the adaptation of borrowed nouns into Tsova-Tush, an endangered Nakh language spoken in Georgia, is described in terms of phonology, morphology and in particular gender assignment. It is shown that Tsova-Tush features a large number of borrowed nouns (44% of a representative wordlist, similar to percentages for other Caucasian languages in Haspelmath & Tadmor (2009)), the vast majority being from Georgian origin. Furthermore, it is shown that borrowed nouns follow the same complex set of semantic and phonological tendencies when it comes to assigning their gender as native nouns do, which in line with Corbett (1991). Finally, it is observed that one of the genders had stopped being productive.
Abstract
In this article, the adaptation of borrowed nouns into Tsova-Tush, an endangered Nakh language spoken in Georgia, is described in terms of phonology, morphology and in particular gender assignment. It is shown that Tsova-Tush features a large number of borrowed nouns (44% of a representative wordlist, similar to percentages for other Caucasian languages in Haspelmath & Tadmor (2009)), the vast majority being from Georgian origin. Furthermore, it is shown that borrowed nouns follow the same complex set of semantic and phonological tendencies when it comes to assigning their gender as native nouns do, which in line with Corbett (1991). Finally, it is observed that one of the genders had stopped being productive.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Nominal borrowings in Tsova-Tush (Nakh-Daghestanian, Georgia) and their gender assignment 15
- Lexical convergence reflects complex historical processes 35
- The ideological background of language change in Permic-speaking communities 59
- Enets-Russian language contact 85
- Izhma Komi in Western Siberia 119
- From head-final towards head-initial grammar 143
- Russian influence on Surgut Khanty and Estonian aspect is limited but similar 183
- Quotative indexes in Permic 217
- Some structural similarities in the outcomes of language contact with Russian 259
- Why do two Uralic languages (Surgut Khanty and Erzya) use different code-switching strategies? 289
- Analyzing Modern Chinese Pidgin Russian 315
- The choice of forms in contact varieties 345
- Language data and maps 369
- Languages & language families 381
- Subject index 383
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Nominal borrowings in Tsova-Tush (Nakh-Daghestanian, Georgia) and their gender assignment 15
- Lexical convergence reflects complex historical processes 35
- The ideological background of language change in Permic-speaking communities 59
- Enets-Russian language contact 85
- Izhma Komi in Western Siberia 119
- From head-final towards head-initial grammar 143
- Russian influence on Surgut Khanty and Estonian aspect is limited but similar 183
- Quotative indexes in Permic 217
- Some structural similarities in the outcomes of language contact with Russian 259
- Why do two Uralic languages (Surgut Khanty and Erzya) use different code-switching strategies? 289
- Analyzing Modern Chinese Pidgin Russian 315
- The choice of forms in contact varieties 345
- Language data and maps 369
- Languages & language families 381
- Subject index 383
