The Semantic Map of Aktionart and Troponymy of Old English Strong Verbs

The aim of this article is to analyse the semantic relations that hold between Old English primitive and derived verbs in terms of troponymy and Aktionsart. The results of this analysis are presented in a semantic map, while emphasis is made on the points of contact between these phenomena. The main conclusion is that semantic maps represent a more flexible and applicable methodology than previous work suggests since they have been used to deal with one language, to explain historical languages and to refer to specific lexical items. Likewise, this analysis shows evidence of an inherent relationship between both phenomena: troponymy and Aktionsart.

Leveling or reanalysis? An explanation of Middle High German paradigm merger

Strong verbs in Middle High German (MHG) have two past indicative stems in the verb inflectional paradigm, which merged into one in Modern High German (NHG). This change is mostly assumed as paradigmatic leveling in previous studies. However, the NHG past indicative stems are inherited from different cells in the MHG paradigm across different inflectional classes, or even innovatively created by combining different parts of the MHG past indicative stems. This paper attempts to identify the base of leveling using a computational model called Minimal Generalization Learner, proposed in Albright (2002b). The results can account for the extraordinary patterns of merger found in German to some extent, but they are not perfect and even pose new problems. As a counter-proposal, I argue that the merger that appears to be paradigmatic leveling might be triggered by reanalysis of phonological features as morphological exponents.

Study of Prefixes in Old English, Old High German and Gothic

In this paper, we explore the meaning(s) of the on- prefix in Old English its corresponding prefixes in Gothic and Old High German. To do so, we compare and analyze the uncompounded (without prefix) and compounded (with prefix) meanings of strong Verbs listed in the book ’Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben’ (a dictionary of Germanic Verbs and their forms in its daughter languages) and put forward possible meanings of the prefix and their possible sources. We observed three major meaning clusters:1) The prefix denoted a reversal or weakening of the original uncompounded meaning2) The prefix denoted a the action being done in a face-to-face capacity, to either positive or negative effect3) The prefix indicated a relationship between the action done and the doer of the action.These results enable an in-depth study of the prefixes that are derived from the original Proto-Germanic language.

The inflection of Tigre weak-final and strong verbs

This paper provides a complete, exclusively phonological account of the alternations in the paradigms of the two largest verbal types in the Ethio-Semitic language Tigre. It is proposed that “weakfinal” verbs are constructed using the same templates and vocalizations as “strong” verbs. All of the differences between the two inflectional paradigms follow from weak-final verbs involving a vowel /e/ where strong verbs position a consonant. The analysis, conducted with the tools of Strict CV Phonology and Element Theory, is the first of its kind for Tigre.

Virtual Length and the Two I's of Qaraqosh Neo-Aramaic

This paper examines the differences in form between weak-final (III-j) verbs and strong verbs in the Neo-Aramaic dialect of Qaraqosh (Khan 2002). The analysis, conducted in the autosegmental theory of Strict CV (Lowenstamm 1996, Scheer 2004), derives these differences from the interaction of the common template with the weak radical of weak verbs. In addition, it accounts for two surprising facts about this lan-guage: (i) the distribution of the vowel [I], which only contrasts with other relevant vowels in the final unstressed position; and (ii) the marking, unique among Semitic languages, of a gender distinction in the imperative only on weak verbs. The analysis suggests that both these facts follow from the assumption that [I] is a phonologically short /i/, while a phonologically long /i/ is realized with the quality [i]. It thus argues for non-surface-true ‘virtual’ length.

Formalizing inflection

This chapter addresses the differences between derivational and inflectional morphology and how they are to be reflected in the Relational Morphology formalism. The formalization of inflectional features is illustrated in turn by English regular verbs, English irregular verbs, German weak verbs, and German strong verbs and past participles. Each case makes essential use of relational links among sister (or second-order) schemas. The analysis also offers a flexible description of inflectional classes. The chapter then discusses what verbal forms in a paradigm have to be stored in memory and how these are used to construct non-stored forms. The formalism for inflectional classes is applied to the “Same Verb Problem”: homophones with the same inflectional paradigm, for instance go/went away, go/went crazy, go/went for broke. This treatment is then extended to the polysemy of morphosyntactic tense.

The apophonic chain and the form of weak and strong verbs in Palestinian Arabic

This paper explores the logic behind the various morpho-phonological subdivisions in the verbal system of Palestinian Arabic. It argues for the importance in the understanding of Palestinian Arabic of the apophonic chain proposed for Classical Arabic in Guerssel and Lowenstamm (1993). In Palestinian, it is first argued, the Measure 1 perfective template includes a hard-wired association of its two vocalic positions; the main differences in vocalization between the Palestinian and Classic varieties follow from this fact. The account is then extended to include three large subclasses of weak verbs. Following the analysis of Classical Arabic in Chekayri and Scheer (1996), it is argued that such verbs involve a null element ø, whose realization is determined by the apophonic chain. The second part of the paper provides an account of the entire inflectional paradigms of each of the verbs discussed, a task that was not fully undertaken in previous work. The mechanism of apophony is shown to be at work in this domain, too. An interesting case is discussed of an apparent shift in inflectional paradigm in some forms of the biradical verb. This shift is again shown to follow from the general mechanisms used in the analysis.

The inflectional system

This chapter provides a survey of the inflection of nouns, adjectives, and verbs in Dutch. Productive nominal inflection is restricted to making plural forms of nouns. In addition, there are remnants of case marking that function as markers of specific constructions. Adjectives are only inflected in pre-nominal position, in which gender also plays a role. Verbs are inflected according to two systems: weak verbs by means of suffixation, strong verbs by means of stem change (mainly vowel alternations or Ablaut). Some tense forms are periphrastic in nature. This chapter introduces the distinction between inherent and contextual inflection, and shows that inherent inflection may feed word formation. Thus use of inflectional forms is subject to syntactic restrictions, and its use is also pragmatically determined.

Conservation in ongoing analogical change: The measurement and effect(s) of tokenfrequency

In a number of studies of analogical levelling, it has been found that the conservation of irregular formation patterns is typically correlated with the token frequency of the members of a changing class. Interestingly, although it was suggested decades ago that this “conserving effect” of high token frequency may also affect ongoing analogical change, only one case of a change-in-progress in morphology has been investigated so far. Moreover, instead of scrutinizing the concept of frequency, previous research has largely taken the importance of lemma token frequency for granted. The present contribution analyses a case of ongoing analogical levelling in the formation of the imperative singular of German strong verbs with e/i-gradation. A corpus-based study is used to test whether the phenomenon is rightly classified as ongoing change and whether and which frequency variables can explain the trajectory of this change. Evidence is presented that justifies the assumption of a conserving effect of token frequency in ongoing morphological change; however, the study stresses the importance of reconsidering the concept of frequency for different languages and different phenomena of change because even measures likelemma token frequencyare not as indisputable as they seem.