Review of Shields (1992): A History of Indo-European Verb Morphology

Thulung Rai, an endangered Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Eastern Nepal, presents two derivational suffixes associated with reflexivization: -si and -s. The first, -si, is quite productive, found in complete paradigms, and derives reflexives, reciprocals, antipassives and anticausatives from transitive verbs (and occasionally from intransitive verbs). The second marker, -s, is more difficult to analyze: it has a limited distribution in verb paradigms, only appearing with 1pi and 3sg forms, and appears in a number of different contexts: it is found with the same types of derivations as -si but also — in some cases obligatorily, in others optionally — with verbs that do not have reflexive (or related) functions. It is even found with some transitive verbs. In this presentation, I will propose an analysis of the phenomena above based on elicited and narrative data I have collected in the field. The -s in fact has multiple, albeit related, origins: it is a phonological reduction of -si in certain circumstances, while in others it appears to be an older reflexivizing suffix which has been integrated, to different degrees, into verb morphology. With transitives, it appears to be a trace reflecting the complex derivational history of verbs which are derived from intransitives.

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A Reanalysis of Paradigmatic Variation in the Old Spanish Imperfect

Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics ◽

10.1515/shll-2008-1021 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas C. Henriksen

Keyword(s):

Detailed Analysis ◽

Linguistic Variables ◽

Current Investigation ◽

Verb Morphology ◽

Old Spanish ◽

History Of ◽

The Impact

AbstractResearch on the history of the Old Spanish imperfect paradigm in -ie has yet to provide a consistent account of the morphological and phonological factors that contributed to the eradication of this paradigm from Spanish verb morphology. A detailed analysis that takes into account the interaction of factors that played an integral part in the evolution of other facets of Old Spanish morphology and phonology may shed more light on the disappearance of the -ie paradigm and the eventual restoration of its etymological competitor in -ia. The current investigation compares data from four Old Spanish texts with the purpose of examining the impact that five linguistic variables had on the Old Spanish imperfect between the late 13

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The Oxford History of Romanian Morphology

10.1093/oso/9780198829485.001.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Martin Maiden ◽

Adina Dragomirescu ◽

Gabriela Pană Dindelegan ◽

Oana Uţă ◽

Rodica Zafiu

Keyword(s):

Morphological Traits ◽

Romance Languages ◽

Verb Morphology ◽

Historical Romance ◽

Finite Form ◽

Case System ◽

Distinctive Morphology ◽

Morphological Theory ◽

History Of ◽

Morphological System

Romanian is one of the most morphologically complex Romance languages. This book is the first ever comprehensive and accessible account of how that morphological system evolved. Here are some of the most salient morphological traits distinctive of this language: it possesses an inflexional case system; unlike other Romance languages, it has an inflexional vocative; the morphological marking of number reached such a level of unpredictability that, for most nouns (and for many adjectives), the form of the plural must be independently specified alongside that of the singular; in addition to masculine and feminine, it seems to possess a third gender, often referred to as a ‘neuter’; its verb system contains a non-finite form, which apparently continues the Latin supine; the infinitive has undergone a morphological split such that one form functions now purely as a noun, while the other remains purely a verb; the distinctive morphology of the subjunctive has largely disappeared; lastly, noun and verb morphology are deeply permeated by the effects of successive sound changes, which have created remarkably complex patterns of allomorphy. The origins of many of these developments are problematic, indeed controversial. Moreover, they are problematic in ways that are of interest not only to broader historical Romance linguistics but, even more broadly, to morphological theory tout court. The Oxford History of Romanian Morphology shows how the features listed here are relevant to students and scholars interested in historical morphology generally no less than they are to Romance linguists.

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Morphomic patterns, suppletion, and the Romance morphological landscape

10.1093/oso/9780199660216.003.0011 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Martin Maiden

Keyword(s):

Romance Languages ◽

Verb Morphology ◽

Lexical Meaning ◽

History Of

This chapter uses especially cases of suppletion in the history of Romance languages to illustrate the role of morphomic patterns in diachrony. It also places Romance verb morphology in the wider context of Romance inflexional morphology, including those of the noun and of the adjective. It observes that suppletion practically never assumes anything but a morphomic distribution and is practically limited to the verb. Comparison is made with some Italo-Romance and Daco-Romance varieties where suppletion is indeed (occasionally) found in the noun and adjective (and is usually not morphomic). The evidence suggests that speakers, faced with different ways of expressing identical lexical meaning, exploit whatever patterns of root allomorphy happen to be already available in the language. In the Romance verb these are only morphomic; in the noun and adjective such patterns are scarcely found at all, but where they are they tend to be aligned with number.

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