John Benjamins Publishing Company
Genesis and diachronic persistence of overabundance
Abstract
This article investigates the genesis and diachronic persistence of ‘overabundance’ (Thornton 2011) or variation at the level of individual cells in a lexeme’s paradigm (e.g. Italian pst.ptcp forms sepolto/seppellito ‘buried’). Two main genetic paths are identified: emergence (i) via form competition (e.g. Italian ella/essa ‘she’) and (ii) via rule competition (e.g. Ladin talaranes/talarane/talaràs ‘spiders’). Building on previous work (Cappellaro 2013, 2017), the present study proposes that persistence correlates positively with low frequency and later acquisition, but also addresses the question whether there is a link between genetic type (form/rule competition) and persistence. In the case of Italian sepolto/seppellito < Latin sepultus/sepelitus, persistence over millennia is metachronic – a function of analogical pressures inherent in the system, which can, in principle, operate at any given time.
Abstract
This article investigates the genesis and diachronic persistence of ‘overabundance’ (Thornton 2011) or variation at the level of individual cells in a lexeme’s paradigm (e.g. Italian pst.ptcp forms sepolto/seppellito ‘buried’). Two main genetic paths are identified: emergence (i) via form competition (e.g. Italian ella/essa ‘she’) and (ii) via rule competition (e.g. Ladin talaranes/talarane/talaràs ‘spiders’). Building on previous work (Cappellaro 2013, 2017), the present study proposes that persistence correlates positively with low frequency and later acquisition, but also addresses the question whether there is a link between genetic type (form/rule competition) and persistence. In the case of Italian sepolto/seppellito < Latin sepultus/sepelitus, persistence over millennia is metachronic – a function of analogical pressures inherent in the system, which can, in principle, operate at any given time.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Plural inflection in North Sea Germanic languages 17
- Frequency as a key to language change and reorganisation 57
- The history of the mixed inflection of German masculine and neuter nouns 93
- Ablaut reorganisation 149
- Reorganising voice in the history of Greek 175
- Making sense of grammatical variation in Norwegian 209
- Manner of motion and semantic transitivity 231
- Active and passive tough -infinitives 269
- Genesis and diachronic persistence of overabundance 119
- Index 297
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Plural inflection in North Sea Germanic languages 17
- Frequency as a key to language change and reorganisation 57
- The history of the mixed inflection of German masculine and neuter nouns 93
- Ablaut reorganisation 149
- Reorganising voice in the history of Greek 175
- Making sense of grammatical variation in Norwegian 209
- Manner of motion and semantic transitivity 231
- Active and passive tough -infinitives 269
- Genesis and diachronic persistence of overabundance 119
- Index 297
