Indexicals as sources of case markers in Australian languages

AbstractIn many languages, it is possible to describe the location of any entity with respect to a landmark object without specifying the exact place that the locatum occupies (e.g. English at in at home). Such vocabulary items usually contrast with items that belong to the same categories but have more restricted senses (e.g. on top of in on top of the shelf). Thus, the degree of “abstractness” that such spatial case markers can convey usually depends on the organization of the lexicon and grammar of spatial terms in each language. The goal of this paper is to explore these properties across a small sample of languages and offer an account of this variation that is connected to previous theories of spatial case markers (e.g. adpositions). Our key proposal is that the morpho-syntactic structure of spatial case markers and their phrases can license a clear division of labour between functional and lexical spatial senses. However, intermediate solutions blurring categories and semantic boundaries are shown to be possible. We formalize this proposal via a fragment of Lexical Syntax, and show that degrees of distinction between ‘functional’ and ‘lexical’ sense types and categories can be modelled via a unified account.

Download Full-text

Introduction: Shades of partitivity: Formal and areal properties

Linguistics ◽

10.1515/ling-2020-0078 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 58 (3) ◽

pp. 605-619

Author(s):

Tabea Ihsane ◽

Elisabeth Stark

Keyword(s):

Geographical Distribution ◽

Language Contact ◽

Formal Description ◽

Special Issue ◽

Case Markers

AbstractAt the heart of this special issue are partitive elements (i. e., partitive articles, partitive pronouns, and partitive case markers) which can express different “shades” of partitivity, namely true partitivity, pseudopartitivity, or indefiniteness, that is, the absence of a part-whole relation in the meaning, in contrast to (pseudo)partitivity. Since these partitive elements express (at least) two such notions, as they can be truly partitive but often are not, the questions around partitivity are complex, interrelated and challenging. This special issue, with a strong and wide crosslinguistic (typological) coverage, deals with two overarching topics: first, the geographical distribution of partitive elements and the identification of potential instances of language contact, and, second, sometimes in combination with the first topic, the formal description and explanation of different partitive constructions.

Download Full-text

Chapter 8. Australian Languages: Grammatical Overview

Pacific Languages ◽

10.1515/9780824842581-012 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 185-202

Keyword(s):

Australian Languages

Download Full-text

Role-reference associations and the explanation of argument coding splits

Linguistics ◽

10.1515/ling-2020-0252 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 123-174

Author(s):

Martin Haspelmath

Keyword(s):

Language Use ◽

General Pattern ◽

General Level ◽

Full Generality ◽

Coding Efficiency ◽

Object Marking ◽

Case Markers ◽

Ditransitive Constructions

Abstract Argument coding splits such as differential (= split) object marking and split ergative marking have long been known to be universal tendencies, but the generalizations have not been formulated in their full generality before. In particular, ditransitive constructions have rarely been taken into account, and scenario splits have often been treated separately. Here I argue that all these patterns can be understood in terms of the usual association of role rank (highly ranked A and R, low-ranked P and T) and referential prominence (locuphoric person, animacy, definiteness, etc.). At the most general level, the role-reference association universal says that deviations from usual associations of role rank and referential prominence tend to be coded by longer grammatical forms. In other words, A and R tend to be referentially prominent in language use, while P and T are less prominent, and when less usual associations need to be expressed, languages often require special coding by means of additional flags (case-markers and adpositions) or additional verbal voice coding (e.g., inverse or passive markers). I argue that role-reference associations are an instance of the even more general pattern of form-frequency correspondences, and that the resulting coding asymmetries can all be explained by frequency-based predictability and coding efficiency.

Download Full-text

The processing of case in near-native Spanish

Second language Research ◽

10.1177/0267658314563880 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 281-307 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jill Jegerski

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Sentence Comprehension ◽

Native Speakers ◽

First Language ◽

Differential Object Marking ◽

L2 Processing ◽

Case Marker ◽

Object Marking ◽

Case Markers ◽

Ditransitive Constructions

This article reports a study that sought to determine whether non-native sentence comprehension can show sensitivity to two different types of Spanish case marking. Sensitivity to case violations was generally more robust with indirect objects in ditransitive constructions than with differential object marking of animate direct objects, even among native speakers of Spanish, which probably reflects linguistic differences in the two types of case. In addition, the overall outcome of two experiments shows that second language (L2) processing can integrate case information, but that, unlike with native processing, attention to a case marker may depend on the presence of a preverbal clitic as an additional cue to the types of postverbal arguments that might occur in a stimulus. Specifically, L2 readers showed no sensitivity to differential object marking with a in the absence of clitics in the first experiment, with stimuli such as Verónica visita al/el presidente todos los meses ‘Veronica visits the[ACC/NOM]president every month’, but the L2 readers in the second experiment showed native-like sensitivity to the same marker when the object it marked was doubled by the clitic lo, as in Verónica lo visita al/el presidente todos los meses. With indirect objects, on the other hand, sensitivity to case markers was native-like in both experiments, although indirect objects were also always doubled by the preverbal clitic le. The apparent first language / second language contrast suggests differences in processing strategy, whereby non-native processing of morphosyntax may rely more on the predictability of forms than does native processing.

Download Full-text

An acoustic study of nasal consonants in three Central Australian languages

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America ◽

10.1121/1.4941659 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 139 (2) ◽

pp. 890-903 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Marija Tabain ◽

Andrew Butcher ◽

Gavan Breen ◽

Richard Beare

Keyword(s):

Acoustic Study ◽

Australian Languages

Download Full-text

Phrase Structure and Movement in Japanese

10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.286 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mamoru Saito

Keyword(s):

Complex Structure ◽

Phrase Structure ◽

Subject Position ◽

Ample Evidence ◽

Discourse Particles ◽

Nominal Structure ◽

Clausal Comparatives ◽

The Right ◽

Case Markers ◽

Operator Movement

Japanese exhibits some unique features with respect to phrase structure and movement. It is well-known that its phrase structure is strictly head-final. It also provides ample evidence that a sentence may have more complex structure than its surface form suggests. Causative sentences are the best-known example of this. They appear to be simple sentences with verbs accompanying the causative suffix, -sase. But the causative suffix is an independent verb and takes a small clause vP complement in the syntactic representation. Japanese sentences can have a rich structure in the right periphery. For example, embedded clauses may contain up to three overt complementizers, corresponding to Finite (no), Interrogative (ka), and Report/Force (to). Matrix clauses may end in a sequence of discourse particles, such as wa, yo, and ne. Each of the complementizers and discourse particles has a selectional requirement of its own. More research is required to settle on the functional heads in the nominal structure. Among the controversial issues are whether D is present and whether Case markers should be analyzed as independent heads. Various kinds of movement operations are observed in the language. NP-movement to the subject position takes place in passive and unaccusative sentences, and clausal comparatives and clefts are derived by operator-movement. Scrambling is a unique movement operation that should be distinguished from both NP-movement and operator-movement. It does not establish operator-variable relations but is not subject to the locality requirements imposed on NP-movement. It cannot be PF-movement as it creates new binding possibilities. It is still debated whether head movement, for example, the movement of verb to tense, takes place in the language.

Download Full-text

The body and the verb

Pragmatics & Cognition ◽

10.1075/pc.00015.kof ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 209-239

Author(s):

Frances Kofod ◽

Anna Crane

Keyword(s):

Western Australia ◽

The Body ◽

Body Parts ◽

Expression Of Emotion ◽

The World ◽

Physical Impact ◽

Local Representations ◽

Australian Languages

Abstract This paper explores the figurative expression of emotion in Gija, a non-Pama-Nyungan language from the East Kimberley in Western Australia. As in many Australian languages, Gija displays a large number of metaphors of emotion where miscellaneous body parts – frequently, the belly – contribute to the figurative representation of emotions. In addition, in Gija certain verbal constructions describe the experience of emotion via metaphors of physical impact or damage. This second profile of metaphors is far less widespread, in Australia and elsewhere in the world, and has also attracted far fewer descriptions. This article explores both types of metaphors in turn. Body-based metaphors will be discussed first, and we will highlight the specificity of Gija in this respect, so as to offer data that can be compared to other languages, in Australia and elsewhere. The second part of the article will present verbal metaphors. Given that this phenomenon is not yet very well undersood, this account aims to take a first step into documenting a previously unexplored domain in the language thereby contributing to the broader typology that this issue forms a part of. Throughout the text, we also endeavour to connect the discussion of metaphors with local representations and understanding of emotions.

Download Full-text