Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift
This paper examines the question of linguistic complexity in two shift ecologies in northeastern Russia. It is frequently claimed that language shift results in linguistic simplification across a range of domains in the grammars of shifting speakers ( Campbell and Muntzel 1989 Dorian 1989 O’Shanness...
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fcomm.2021.638118 2024-10-06T13:47:59+00:00 Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift Kantarovich, Jessica Grenoble, Lenore A. Vinokurova, Antonina Nesterova, Elena 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.638118 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.638118/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Communication volume 6 ISSN 2297-900X journal-article 2021 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.638118 2024-09-10T04:03:54Z This paper examines the question of linguistic complexity in two shift ecologies in northeastern Russia. It is frequently claimed that language shift results in linguistic simplification across a range of domains in the grammars of shifting speakers ( Campbell and Muntzel 1989 Dorian 1989 O’Shannessy 2011 ). We challenge the breadth of this claim, showing that while there are undoubtedly patterns that can be described as a simplification of some grammatical domain, the overall grammars of these speakers cannot be said to be “simple,” as simplification in one part of the grammar often corresponds to complexification in other parts (“complexity trade-offs”). Furthermore, patterns that are deemed loss or simplification are often presented in such a way because they are being compared to earlier varieties of the shifting languages; however, such patterns are entirely typologically expected, are consistent with other languages of the world, and can be seen as more or less complex depending on one’s locus of measurement. In this paper, we present incipient changes taking place in Chukchi (Chukotko-Kamchatkan, ISO ckt) and Even (Tungusic, ISO eve) stemming from the modern language shift context. We evaluate these changes against different notions of complexity to demonstrate that a more nuanced approach to morphosyntactic change in language obsolescence is warranted. While morphological simplification is expected in these scenarios, other changes in these speakers’ systems (occurring as potential adaptations in light of simplification) provide a more enlightening avenue for research on shifting varieties. Article in Journal/Newspaper Chukchi Frontiers (Publisher) Dorian ENVELOPE(-63.497,-63.497,-64.815,-64.815) Frontiers in Communication 6 |
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This paper examines the question of linguistic complexity in two shift ecologies in northeastern Russia. It is frequently claimed that language shift results in linguistic simplification across a range of domains in the grammars of shifting speakers ( Campbell and Muntzel 1989 Dorian 1989 O’Shannessy 2011 ). We challenge the breadth of this claim, showing that while there are undoubtedly patterns that can be described as a simplification of some grammatical domain, the overall grammars of these speakers cannot be said to be “simple,” as simplification in one part of the grammar often corresponds to complexification in other parts (“complexity trade-offs”). Furthermore, patterns that are deemed loss or simplification are often presented in such a way because they are being compared to earlier varieties of the shifting languages; however, such patterns are entirely typologically expected, are consistent with other languages of the world, and can be seen as more or less complex depending on one’s locus of measurement. In this paper, we present incipient changes taking place in Chukchi (Chukotko-Kamchatkan, ISO ckt) and Even (Tungusic, ISO eve) stemming from the modern language shift context. We evaluate these changes against different notions of complexity to demonstrate that a more nuanced approach to morphosyntactic change in language obsolescence is warranted. While morphological simplification is expected in these scenarios, other changes in these speakers’ systems (occurring as potential adaptations in light of simplification) provide a more enlightening avenue for research on shifting varieties. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kantarovich, Jessica Grenoble, Lenore A. Vinokurova, Antonina Nesterova, Elena |
spellingShingle |
Kantarovich, Jessica Grenoble, Lenore A. Vinokurova, Antonina Nesterova, Elena Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift |
author_facet |
Kantarovich, Jessica Grenoble, Lenore A. Vinokurova, Antonina Nesterova, Elena |
author_sort |
Kantarovich, Jessica |
title |
Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift |
title_short |
Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift |
title_full |
Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift |
title_fullStr |
Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift |
title_full_unstemmed |
Complexity and Simplification in Language Shift |
title_sort |
complexity and simplification in language shift |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.638118 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.638118/full |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.497,-63.497,-64.815,-64.815) |
geographic |
Dorian |
geographic_facet |
Dorian |
genre |
Chukchi |
genre_facet |
Chukchi |
op_source |
Frontiers in Communication volume 6 ISSN 2297-900X |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.638118 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Communication |
container_volume |
6 |
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1812176132066246656 |