Core argument patterns and deep genetic relations
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Marianne Mithun
Abstract
It has been proposed that patterns of core argument marking have high genetic stability and strong resistance to areal influence, making them good indicators of deep genetic relationships (Nichols 1992). Patterns in four languages of Northern California indicate that this is not necessarily the case. Chimariko, Yana, Yurok, and Karuk all show hierarchical systems, cited as the rarest pattern crosslinguistically (3%). The languages are geographical neighbors but not genetically related. The systems share no substance and vary considerably in detail. Chimariko shows a basic agent/patient organization, Yana and Yurok nominative/accusative, and Karuk a mixture. The hierarchies differ. The extent to which the system has penetrated their grammars varies. The constructions exploited to maintain the hierarchies differ. The development of the systems was apparently stimulated by contact, as bilinguals carried discourse behaviors from language to language, stylistic propensities which ultimately crystallized into grammar.
Abstract
It has been proposed that patterns of core argument marking have high genetic stability and strong resistance to areal influence, making them good indicators of deep genetic relationships (Nichols 1992). Patterns in four languages of Northern California indicate that this is not necessarily the case. Chimariko, Yana, Yurok, and Karuk all show hierarchical systems, cited as the rarest pattern crosslinguistically (3%). The languages are geographical neighbors but not genetically related. The systems share no substance and vary considerably in detail. Chimariko shows a basic agent/patient organization, Yana and Yurok nominative/accusative, and Karuk a mixture. The hierarchies differ. The extent to which the system has penetrated their grammars varies. The constructions exploited to maintain the hierarchies differ. The development of the systems was apparently stimulated by contact, as bilinguals carried discourse behaviors from language to language, stylistic propensities which ultimately crystallized into grammar.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The editors vii
- The authors ix
- Preface xi
- Introduction xiii
- A deceptive case of split-intransitivity in Basque 1
- Some argument-structure properties of ‘give’ in the languages of Europe and Northern and Central Asia 17
- Grammatical relations in a typology of agreement systems 37
- Causatives in Agul 55
- Continuity of information structuring strategies in Eastern Khanty 115
- Patterns of asymmetry in argument structure across languages 133
- Topic marking and the construction of narrative in Xibe 151
- On the hierarchy of structural convergence in the Amdo Sprachbund 177
- Pyramids of spatial relators in Northeastern Turkic and its neighbors 191
- What’s in the head of head-marking languages? 211
- Transitives, causatives and passives in Korean and Japanese 241
- Core argument patterns and deep genetic relations 257
- Three takes on grammatical relations 295
- On aspect, aspectual domain and quantification in Finnish and Udmurt 325
- Indexes 355
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The editors vii
- The authors ix
- Preface xi
- Introduction xiii
- A deceptive case of split-intransitivity in Basque 1
- Some argument-structure properties of ‘give’ in the languages of Europe and Northern and Central Asia 17
- Grammatical relations in a typology of agreement systems 37
- Causatives in Agul 55
- Continuity of information structuring strategies in Eastern Khanty 115
- Patterns of asymmetry in argument structure across languages 133
- Topic marking and the construction of narrative in Xibe 151
- On the hierarchy of structural convergence in the Amdo Sprachbund 177
- Pyramids of spatial relators in Northeastern Turkic and its neighbors 191
- What’s in the head of head-marking languages? 211
- Transitives, causatives and passives in Korean and Japanese 241
- Core argument patterns and deep genetic relations 257
- Three takes on grammatical relations 295
- On aspect, aspectual domain and quantification in Finnish and Udmurt 325
- Indexes 355
