Startseite Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement
Kapitel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement

A reconstruction of the argument-marking system of Reyesano (Takanan, Bolivia)
  • Antoine Guillaume
Weitere Titel anzeigen von John Benjamins Publishing Company

Abstract

This paper reconstructs the history of a set of innovated 1st and 2nd person verbal prefixes in Reyesano which manifest the phenomenon of ‘hierarchical agreement’ in transitive clauses, according to a 2>1>3 hierarchy. I argue that these prefixes come from independent ergative-absolutive pronouns which first became case-neutral enclitics in 2nd position in main clauses and then verb prefixes. And I show that the hierarchical effects that the prefixes manifest in synchrony have nothing to do with the working of a hierarchy during the grammaticalization process. In doing so, the paper contributes to the growing body of diachronic evidence against the idea that the person hierarchy is a universal of human language reflecting a more general principal of human cognition.

Abstract

This paper reconstructs the history of a set of innovated 1st and 2nd person verbal prefixes in Reyesano which manifest the phenomenon of ‘hierarchical agreement’ in transitive clauses, according to a 2>1>3 hierarchy. I argue that these prefixes come from independent ergative-absolutive pronouns which first became case-neutral enclitics in 2nd position in main clauses and then verb prefixes. And I show that the hierarchical effects that the prefixes manifest in synchrony have nothing to do with the working of a hierarchy during the grammaticalization process. In doing so, the paper contributes to the growing body of diachronic evidence against the idea that the person hierarchy is a universal of human language reflecting a more general principal of human cognition.

Heruntergeladen am 11.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/tsl.121.06gui/html
Button zum nach oben scrollen