scholarly journals Possible traces of Finnic influence in Latvian subdialect phonetics and morphology

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-93
Author(s):  
Anna Stafecka
Keyword(s):  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person

This article discusses areas observed on geolinguistic maps showing Finnic or Finnic-like features in Latvian subdialects possibly resulting from Finnic influence. The Latvian dialect material analysed for this study shows that several such areas can be identified based on their phonetics and morphology: the Livonic dialect, the Selonic subdialects, certain Selonic subdialects on both banks of the Daugava River, certain subdialects in the former Leivu territory in northeastern Latvia near Alūksne and Gulbene, and a few subdialects in Zemgale near Bauska and Vecsaule where the Krevin Votians were settled. The shortening of word endings and generalisation of third-person verb forms is also quite regularly encountered in the subdialects spoken around Preiļi in Latgale. The least amount of language material is available about the Ludza Estonians or Lutsis who lived in eastern Latgale where their influence is seen in the tone system of the local subdialects. Kokkuvõte. Anna Stafecka: Läänemeresoome mõju võimalikud jäljed läti murrakute foneetikas ja morfoloogias. Artikkel käsitleb läänemeresoome ja läänemeresoomepäraste joonte maa-alalist levikut läti murretes. Läti murdeainestik, mida on selle uurimuse jaoks analüüsitud, näitab, et foneetilise ja morfoloogilise eripära põhjal on võimalik määratleda mitu sellist mõjuala: liivipärased murded, teatud seeli murrakud Daugava jõe mõlemal kaldal, teatud Kirde-Läti Alūksne ja Gulbene ümbruse murrakud ajaloolisel leivu alal ning mõned semgali murrakud Bauska ja Vecsaule lähistel, kus kunagi elasid kreevini vadjalased. Sõnalõppude lühenemist ja kolmanda isiku verbivormide üldistumist on üsna regulaarselt märgitud ka Latgales Preiļi ümbruse murrakutes. Vähem on selliseid andmeid Ida-Latgalest Ludza eestlaste ehk lutside kunagistelt asualadelt. Siiski on seal lutsi mõju nähtav kohalike murrakute toonisüsteemis.

scholarly journals Hypercorrection and grammar change

1976 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol W. Pfaff
Keyword(s):  
First Grade ◽  
Black Children ◽  
Black English ◽  
Linguistic Variables ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Main Verb ◽  
Answering Questions ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Pfaff (1973, 1975) reports on 81 low- and middle-income first-grade Black children who produced multiple instances of linguistic variables by answering questions about a set of pictures and telling the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. No models were given of the linguistic variables under investigation, which included a number of third person singular present-tense verb forms: -s inflection of regular verbs, auxiliary and main verb be, auxiliary and main verb have, auxiliary do and possessive marking on nouns. Standard marking of all of these linguistic variables has been shown by previous studies of free conversation to be variably lacking in Black English (Labov, Cohen, Robins & Lewis 1968; Fasold 1972).

The Pronominal Origin of an Evidential

Diachronica ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Botne
Keyword(s):  
Personal Pronoun ◽  
Person Pronoun ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Diachronic Analysis

SUMMARY Evidentials most commonly arise from reduced or reanalyzed verbs or tensed verb forms, particularly from performative verbs of saying or hearing. However, in a few seemingly rare examples, this is not the case. In this paper the author presents the case of two evidential particles —ambo and ampo — found in the Pangi variety of Lega, a Bantu language spoken in eastern Zaire. A diachronic analysis is proposed in which it is argued that ambo has derived from a third person personal pronoun. While the case of ampo is not as clear, it is proposed that it, too, ultimately derived from the same third person pronoun, but came into the Pangi variety of Lega via borrowing. RÉSUMÉ Les formes 'évidentiares' proviennent généralement des formes verbales réduites ou re-analysées, surtout des verbes performatifs de dire et de ouïr. Cependant, dans des exemples assez rares, ceci n'est pas le cas. Dans l'article actuel l'auteur présent le cas de deux particules 'évidentiares' — ambo et ampo — qui se trouvent dans le dialecte Pangi du Lega, langue bantoue de l'est du Zaire. Il propose une analyse diachronique dans laquelle ambo provient d'un pronom personnel de la troisième personne du pluriel. Bien que le cas de ampo n'est pas aussi clair, on propose que cette forme provient également du même pronom, mais à travers un emprunt. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Sog. 'Evidentiale' rühren von reduzierten oder reanalysierten Verbalfor-men oder Zeitverben her, insbesondere performativen, die sagen oder hören zum Inhalt haben. Bei einigen, scheinbar seltenen Beispielen ist dies jedoch nicht der Fall. Im vorliegenden Aufsatz werden zwei Evidentialpartikel vor-geführt —ambo und ampo — die in Pangi, einem Dialekt des Lega, einer Bantu-Sprache des östlichen Zaire zu finder ist. Der Autor schlägt eine diachronische Analyse vor, derzufolge ambo von einem Personalpronomen der 3. Person stammt. Obgleich der Fall von ampó nicht vollends klar ist, wird doch vorgeschlagen, daß auch diese Form denselben Ursprung hat, auch wenn sie durch Entlehung ins Pangi gelangt war.

THE TENSE-ASPECT SYSTEM IN PIDGINS AND NATURALISTICALLY LEARNED L2

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Clancy Clements
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Verbal System ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
System A ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
The Difference ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
The Third Person

The advantages and disadvantages of wider or narrower definitions of pidginization and pidgin are reviewed to determine the differences between pidgins and naturalistically learned second languages (L2s). It is argued that a wider definition is preferred because it avoids problematic counterexamples and captures generalizations that allow us to view the difference between naturalistic L2 varieties and pidgins as one of degree, not of type. In first language (L1) acquisition, Bates and Goodman (1999) showed the link between the development of vocabulary and grammar and argued that this may be explained by, among other things, logical and perceptual bootstrapping. It is suggested that these types of bootstrapping are also relevant for explaining the pace of grammar development in pidgins and naturalistic L2 varieties. The tense-aspect system of a Spanish variety spoken by a Chinese immigrant in Spain is examined in detail. The data, taken from a 90-minute interview that yielded 602 tokens, reveal several clear traits of the informant's verbal system: (a) All nonfinite, imperfective verb forms (gerunds) correspond exclusively to Vendlerian activities; (b) all but three of the perfective nonfinite forms (past participles) correspond to telic verbs or predicates; and (c) 81% of the stative verbs appear in the third-person-singular present form. The sensitivity to aspectual distinctions in the informant's variety of Spanish is not addressed by logical and perceptual bootstrapping. Furthermore, although this sensitivity can be partially explained by language-specific considerations (i.e., transfer from Mandarin), such an explanation does not speak to precise form–function mappings found, which are best accounted for by appealing to the Primacy of Aspect and Distributional Bias hypotheses (Andersen, 1993; Andersen & Shirai, 1996).

Intonation of the Altai language (simple one-component imperative utterances)

2021 ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Albina A. Dobrinina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Word Form ◽  
Fundamental Tone ◽  
Altai Republic ◽  
Tone Frequency ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Single Compound ◽  
Final Syllable ◽  
Phonetic Study

The paper presents the results of studying the Altai language intonation on the experimental material recorded from six speakers fluent in the Altai language from different regions of the Altai Republic. The recording program consisted of situational single-component imperative utterances. Twenty sentences were pronounced three times each in positive and negative versions, in singular and plural, having different degrees of imperativeness, but without any expressive emotional load. The single-compound motivational statements considered are expressed by imperative or desirable verb forms in the first-, second-, and third-person singular and plural in the affirmative and negative variants. The experimental phonetic study has revealed rising tone to be characteristic for positive and negative imperative one-component sentences, with fundamental tone frequency peaks at the last syllable and there being a possibility for intensity, presumably marking the stressed syllable, to shift within a word-form. The analysis showed the intonation marking of motivational statements to depend on their type: action stimulation, order or demand, are characterized by inclination, a request - by a combined ascending-descending tone, a ban - by a descending tone, advice - both by ascending-descending intonation and declination. In the negative version, in singular and plural, in three or more syllabic sentences on the negative particles -ba / -be, -pa / -pe, etc., there is an even tone or a decrease in the frequency of the fundamental tone. The peak of intensity in such sentences is realized on the last syllable of the verb. In addition, the vowel of the final syllable is usually prolonged.

The Role of the Input in the Acquisition of Third Person Singular Verbs in English

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 863-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna L. Theakston ◽  
Elena V. M. Lieven ◽  
Michael Tomasello
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Grammatical Subject ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Pass Through

During the early stages of language acquisition, children pass through a stage of development when they produce both finite and nonfinite verb forms in finite contexts (e.g., "it go there," "it goes there"). Theorists who assume that children operate with an abstract understanding of tense and agreement marking from the beginnings of language use tend to explain this phenomenon in terms of either performance limitations in production (e.g., V. Valian, 1991) or the optional use of finite forms in finite contexts due to a lack of knowledge that tense and agreement marking is obligatory (the optional infinitive hypothesis; K. Wexler, 1994, 1996). An alternative explanation, however, is that children's use of nonfinite forms is based on the presence of questions in the input ("Where does it go¿") where the grammatical subject is immediately followed by a nonfinite verb form. To compare these explanations, 2 groups of 24 children aged between 2 years 6 months and 3 years were exposed to 6 known and 3 novel verbs produced in either declaratives or questions or in both declaratives and questions. The children were then questioned to elicit use of the verbs in either finite or nonfinite contexts. The results show that for novel verbs, the children's patterns of verb use were closely related to the patterns of verb use modeled in the language to which they were exposed. For known verbs, there were no differences in the children's use of individual verbs, regardless of the specific patterns of verb use modeled in the language they heard. The implications of these findings for theories of early verb use are discussed.

scholarly journals Hipoteza Witolda Mańczaka o ugrofińskim substracie w językach bałtyckich

LingVaria ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (28) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak
Keyword(s):  
Present Author ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Grammatical Number ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Estonian Language ◽  
Substrate Influence ◽  
Finite Verb

Witold Mańczak’s Hypothesis about the Finno-Ugric Substrate in the Baltic Languages The paper discusses Witold Mańczak’s hypothesis concerning a Finnic (particularly Balto-Finnic) substrate in the Baltic languages (Mańczak 1990: 29–38; 1993: 151; 2008: 149–152), as well as J. H. Holst’s critical evaluation of the problem (Holst 2015: 151–173). Mańczak lists as many as ten arguments in support of the substrate theory: According to Meillet (1925: 100–101), the disappearance of the neuter gender in Lithuanian and Latvian occurred under the influence of Balto-Finnic languages, since the category of gender is absent from Finno-Ugric; Old Lithuanian displays secondary local cases (i.e. illative, allative, adessive, ines-sive), formed using postpositions according to the Finno-Ugric pattern (Meillet 1925: 101); The Lithuanian constructions expressing evidentiality (e.g. Lith. nešęs velnias ak-menį) – as well as their Latvian counterparts – appeared due to substrate influence, according to Pisani (1959: 217); The Lithuanian numerals 11–19 ending in -lika (e.g, Lith. vienúolika ‘eleven’, dvýlika ‘twelve’, etc.) are of substrate origin (Pisani 1959: 217); The particle of the Lithuanian imperative -ki or -k (e.g. OLith. dúoki ‘give’) – repro-duces a similar particle known from Finnish, according to some scholars (Топоров, Трубачев 1962: 249–250); The alternation of voiced and voiceless consonants like blekai / plekai ‘tripe’ (Kiparsky 1968: 76–90 lists 200 such doublets in Latvian and 50 in Lithuanian) may be caused by the influence of a Finno-Ugric substratum, since the Finno-Ugric lan-guages used to lack voiced consonants; There are Common Baltic terms of Finno-Ugric origin, e.g. the name for ‘amber’: OPrus. gentars, Lith. giñtaras, Latv. dzĩtars m. ‘amber’ (Bednarczuk 1976: 47–48). The use of the genitive instead of an adjective in East Baltic (e.g. Lith. lietuvių kalba ‘Lithuanian language’, Latv. latviešu valoda ‘Latvian language’), unknown in other Indo-European languages, arose through Balto-Finnic influence – cf. Finnish suomen kieli ‘Finnish language’, Est. eesti keel ‘Estonian language’ (Bednarczuk 1968). The territory of Latvia abounds in hydronyms of Finnic provenance, while in Lithuania we may identify the name Nemunas (chief river in the area) as well as ca. 30 other river names of potential Finno-Ugric origin (Zinkevičius 1984: 155). The non-distinction of grammatical number in third-person finite verb forms in Lithua-nian, Latvian and Old Prussian was, according to some researchers (e.g. Thomason, Kaufman 1988: 243), caused by Balto-Finnic influence. Besides, the present author reviews Holst’s critical paper on the theory of a Uralic substratum in Common Baltic.

Imperatives in Ashaninka Satipo (Kampa Arawak) of Peru

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Mihas
Keyword(s):  
Group Membership ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Discourse Particle ◽  
The Third Person ◽  
Negative Counterpart

This chapter’s goal is to survey Ashaninka Satipo (Arawak) commanding communicative moves. It argues that imperatives form a paradigm consisting of the first person cohortative construction with the discourse particle tsame ‘come on’, second person canonical imperative construction characterized by a special intonation, and the third person jussive construction formed either with the intentional =ta on the lexical verb or on the copula kant ‘be this way’. In positive commands, the verbs are inflected for irrealis. The canonical imperative has a negative counterpart, whereas the cohortative and jussive verb forms lack them. While commanding, conversationalists tend to select specific linguistic resources which reflect their group membership status. Social equals have recourse to the same linguistic means as conversationalists in superior roles, but they also use the ‘want’ and ‘wish’ constructions and counter-assertive pronouns. The basic second person imperative forms are employed irrespective of the social status.

Deficits in Finite Verb Morphology

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 701-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Miller ◽  
Laurence B. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Verb Morphology ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Grammatical Morphology ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Finite Verb

The grammatical morphology deficits common in children with specific language impairment (SLI) are characterized in some models as linguistic deficits. Such models must assume some mechanism for correct productions of finite verb forms. Three such assumptions were tested by analyzing speech samples from 18 children with SLI (aged 3 years 6 months to 6 years 9 months). Assumption 1, that nonfinite forms are used consistently until replaced by memorized finite forms, was tested by examining the distribution of verb types in present thirdperson singular and noun types in present third-person singular contractible copula contexts. Significantly more word types than expected were inflected inconsistently. Both Assumption 2, that finite and nonfinite verb forms are memorized but used indiscriminately, and Assumption 3, that affixation rules are applied indiscriminately, predict random use of finite forms. This prediction was not supported.

Some differences between English plural noun inflections and third singular verb inflections in the input: the contributions of frequency, sentence position, and duration

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
LI HSIEH ◽  
LAURENCE B. LEONARD ◽  
LORI SWANSON
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Plural Noun ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Sentence Position ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Verb Inflections

Grammatical inflections such as the English plural noun -s and third person singular verb -s are acquired at different points in time by young children. This finding is typically attributed to factors such as relative semantic salience or the distinction between lexical and functional categories. In this study input frequency, sentence position, and duration were examined as possible contributing factors. In both conversations with and stories aimed at young children, noun plural inflections were found to be more frequent than third singular verb inflections, especially in sentence-final position. Analysis of the speech of four mothers reading stories to their two-year-old children confirmed that duration differences also exist in the input. Because fricatives were lengthened in sentence-final position and plural nouns were much more likely to appear in these positions than were third singular verb forms, plural nouns were significantly longer than third singular inflections on average. The possible implications of these findings for language learnability theories and accounts of grammatical deficits in specific language impairment are discussed.

scholarly journals Chapter 8. Morphology: Verbs

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Nesset
Keyword(s):  
Past Tense ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Present Tense ◽  
Modern Russian

<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Numerous exceptions and idiosyncrasies make the verb a major challenge in Modern Russian. Why are present tense forms inflected for first, second and third person, while past tense forms are inflected for masculine, feminine and neuter gender? Where do all the consonant alternations in verbs come from? Why is the particle бы used to form subjunctive constructions? You will find answers to these and many other questions in this chapter, which explores all the verb forms in Old Rusian, and explains how the modern verb system has developed.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Cambria',serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS Mincho'; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US">Click on the links below to learn more!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Cambria',serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS Mincho'; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US"><a href="/index.php/SapEdu/article/downloadSuppFile/3498/147">8.3 Aorist and imperfect</a><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Cambria',serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS Mincho'; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;" lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p>

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