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Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement

A reconstruction of the argument-marking system of Reyesano (Takanan, Bolivia)
  • Antoine Guillaume
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Typological Hierarchies in Synchrony and Diachrony
This chapter is in the book Typological Hierarchies in Synchrony and Diachrony

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.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Part I. Setting the stage
  4. Synchronic vs. diachronic approaches to typological hierarchies 3
  5. Part II. Foundational issues
  6. Chapter 1. Evolutionary Phonology and the life cycle of voiceless sonorants 31
  7. Chapter 2. The Obligatory Coding Principle in diachronic perspective 59
  8. Chapter 3. Deconstructing teleology 111
  9. Part III. Hierarchical effects and their origins
  10. Chapter 4. The development of referential hierarchy effects in Sahaptian 131
  11. Chapter 5. Diachrony and the referential hierarchy in Old Irish 191
  12. Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement 217
  13. Chapter 7. The direction(s) of analogical change in direct/inverse systems 257
  14. Chapter 8. Are the Tupi-Guarani hierarchical indexing systems really motivated by the person hierarchy? 289
  15. Chapter 9. Incipient hierarchical alignment in four Central Salish languages from the Proto-Salish middle 309
  16. Part IV. Conflicting hierarchical patterns and how to deal with them
  17. Chapter 10. Deictic and sociopragmatic effects in Tibeto-Burman SAP indexation 345
  18. Chapter 11. Morphosyntactic coding of proper names and its implications for the Animacy Hierarchy 377
  19. Chapter 12. Generic person marking in Japhug and other Gyalrong languages 403
  20. Author index 425
  21. Language Index 429
  22. Subject Index 433
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.121.06gui

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Part I. Setting the stage
  4. Synchronic vs. diachronic approaches to typological hierarchies 3
  5. Part II. Foundational issues
  6. Chapter 1. Evolutionary Phonology and the life cycle of voiceless sonorants 31
  7. Chapter 2. The Obligatory Coding Principle in diachronic perspective 59
  8. Chapter 3. Deconstructing teleology 111
  9. Part III. Hierarchical effects and their origins
  10. Chapter 4. The development of referential hierarchy effects in Sahaptian 131
  11. Chapter 5. Diachrony and the referential hierarchy in Old Irish 191
  12. Chapter 6. From ergative case-marking to hierarchical agreement 217
  13. Chapter 7. The direction(s) of analogical change in direct/inverse systems 257
  14. Chapter 8. Are the Tupi-Guarani hierarchical indexing systems really motivated by the person hierarchy? 289
  15. Chapter 9. Incipient hierarchical alignment in four Central Salish languages from the Proto-Salish middle 309
  16. Part IV. Conflicting hierarchical patterns and how to deal with them
  17. Chapter 10. Deictic and sociopragmatic effects in Tibeto-Burman SAP indexation 345
  18. Chapter 11. Morphosyntactic coding of proper names and its implications for the Animacy Hierarchy 377
  19. Chapter 12. Generic person marking in Japhug and other Gyalrong languages 403
  20. Author index 425
  21. Language Index 429
  22. Subject Index 433
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