Volume 73, Issue 2

The present paper analyzes the category of interjections in Xhosa within a prototype approach. The evidence demonstrates the robustness and internal complexity of the interjectional category. Interjections ranges from canonical and asystematic to non-canonical and (relatively) systematic, with emotive primary interjections entertaining the highest extent of interjectionality and asystematicity.

In a comparison of a passage from the New Testament (Luke 2:1–2:20), we explore diachronic developments and areal distributions of agreement in Germanic quantitatively by taking into account 33 different Bible versions, spanning from Wulfila’s Gothic version to all modern standard languages and selected dialects. This allows us to establish a thorough typological profile of agreement and its differing developments in Germanic. Our method involves a quantification of all agreement relations, allowing for precise comparisons.

Hittite features three derivational suffixes, i.e., -ške/a- , - šša -, and - anna/i- , that attach to verbs and are commonly described as expressing a number of imperfective-like functions. So far, the distribution and use of these suffixes has defied a satisfactory explanation. Whereas some scholars argue that they operate within the domain of lexical aspect, others view them as associated with the encoding of grammatical imperfective aspect. In this paper, we focus on the interpretation of -ške/a- and argue that a better understanding of the nature of this suffix can be achieved if one frames its description within the typology of pluractional constructions. As we show, the range of polyfunctionality of -ške/a- fully complies with the cross-linguistic behavior of pluractional markers. We also provide a tentative diachronic scenario that accounts for the rise of such polyfunctionality out of the original semantic core of the suffix.