Spatial interrogatives
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Thomas Stolz
Abstract
This paper explores the diachronic behavior of the paradigms of the spatial interrogatives where, whither, and whence in forty-five contemporary Romance varieties by way of comparing them to the facts reported for their common ancestor: Latin. It is shown that the vast majority of the paradigms have undergone leveling in the sense that the erstwhile (phonological) suppletion of the Latin paradigm was replaced by ternary sets of word-forms sharing the same stem. This shared stem is identical to that of Latin ubi ‘where’ (= locative) in many of the sample languages. At the same time, an almost equally strong group of Romance varieties has generalized Latin unde ‘whence’ (= ablative) over the paradigm. These facts are inquired into against the backdrop of the general linguistic discussion about the nature of syncretism of spatial relations in language.
Abstract
This paper explores the diachronic behavior of the paradigms of the spatial interrogatives where, whither, and whence in forty-five contemporary Romance varieties by way of comparing them to the facts reported for their common ancestor: Latin. It is shown that the vast majority of the paradigms have undergone leveling in the sense that the erstwhile (phonological) suppletion of the Latin paradigm was replaced by ternary sets of word-forms sharing the same stem. This shared stem is identical to that of Latin ubi ‘where’ (= locative) in many of the sample languages. At the same time, an almost equally strong group of Romance varieties has generalized Latin unde ‘whence’ (= ablative) over the paradigm. These facts are inquired into against the backdrop of the general linguistic discussion about the nature of syncretism of spatial relations in language.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Space in Diachrony xi
- The goal-over-source principle in European languages 1
- Overlaps in spatial encodings 41
- Ablative and allative marking of static locations 67
- How should a “classical” Satellite-Framed Language behave? 95
- Differential Goal marking vs. differential Source marking in Ancient Greek 119
- New evidence for the Source–Goal asymmetry 147
- A diachronic take on the Source–Goal asymmetry 179
- Spatial interrogatives 207
- Asymmetries between Goal and Source prefixes in Spanish 241
- Asymmetries in path encoding in Sicilian 281
- Source-oriented and Goal-oriented events in Old and Modern French 305
- Source-Location ambiguity and incipient decline in the recent evolution of the English directional particle away 329
- Prepositional phrase vs. bare instrumental 347
- Language index 369
- Subject index 371
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations vii
- Space in Diachrony xi
- The goal-over-source principle in European languages 1
- Overlaps in spatial encodings 41
- Ablative and allative marking of static locations 67
- How should a “classical” Satellite-Framed Language behave? 95
- Differential Goal marking vs. differential Source marking in Ancient Greek 119
- New evidence for the Source–Goal asymmetry 147
- A diachronic take on the Source–Goal asymmetry 179
- Spatial interrogatives 207
- Asymmetries between Goal and Source prefixes in Spanish 241
- Asymmetries in path encoding in Sicilian 281
- Source-oriented and Goal-oriented events in Old and Modern French 305
- Source-Location ambiguity and incipient decline in the recent evolution of the English directional particle away 329
- Prepositional phrase vs. bare instrumental 347
- Language index 369
- Subject index 371
