Harmonization and disharmonization of affix ordering and basic word order
-
Guillaume Jacques
Abstract
Cross-category harmony (correlations between basic word order and preference for suffixes or prefixes) has been proposed by several typologists and psycholinguists as a principle to explain some apparent crosslinguistic tendencies. This article attempts to test whether cross-category harmony has an observable influence on morphosyntactic change, and reviews cases of harmonization and disharmonization of affix order. The grammaticalization of associated motion prefixes in Japhug Rgyalrong, a verb-final language of southwest China, constitutes a solid case of development of a disharmonic construction out of a harmonic one, and runs counter to the idea that head ordering principles have a direct effect on language change.
© 2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Harmonization and disharmonization of affix ordering and basic word order
- Expressing the GIVE event in Papuan languages: A preliminary survey
- What exactly is ...? A new feature: Call for contributions
- Conative
- On linguistics, linguists, and our times: A linguist's personal narrative reviewed
- A grammar of Goemai, by Birgit Hellwig
- A grammar of Mian, by Sebastian Fedden
- Dusner, by Mary Dalrymple and Suriel Mofu
- A grammar of Kharia, a South Munda language, by John Peterson
- From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring invented languages, edited by Michael Adams
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Harmonization and disharmonization of affix ordering and basic word order
- Expressing the GIVE event in Papuan languages: A preliminary survey
- What exactly is ...? A new feature: Call for contributions
- Conative
- On linguistics, linguists, and our times: A linguist's personal narrative reviewed
- A grammar of Goemai, by Birgit Hellwig
- A grammar of Mian, by Sebastian Fedden
- Dusner, by Mary Dalrymple and Suriel Mofu
- A grammar of Kharia, a South Munda language, by John Peterson
- From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring invented languages, edited by Michael Adams
