AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE
This paper argues that linguistic hierarchies are not real in any linguistic sense but are summaries of linguistic observation or typology. Position in any hierarchy is based on intrinsic properties, specjically complexity of linguistic substance. To illustrate, an example involving a change in degr...
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ftmemunijournals:oai:ojs.journals.library.mun.ca:article/753 2023-05-15T16:55:35+02:00 AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE Johns, Alana 2013-07-30 application/pdf https://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/LA/article/view/753 eng eng Atlantic Provinces Linguistic Association https://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/LA/article/view/753/648 https://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/LA/article/view/753 Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). CC-BY Linguistica Atlantica; Vol 23 (2001); 127-144 1188-9932 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2013 ftmemunijournals 2021-05-09T13:32:59Z This paper argues that linguistic hierarchies are not real in any linguistic sense but are summaries of linguistic observation or typology. Position in any hierarchy is based on intrinsic properties, specjically complexity of linguistic substance. To illustrate, an example involving a change in degree of ergativity across dialects of Inuktitut is discussed. A hierarchy account would only record changes in the use of case, but would not be able to probe the subtle changes in case structure which are suggested by the facts. Under this view, case is not a position on a hierarchy but a syntactic construct, where different cases may have differing complexities (Bejar and Hall 1999). [n particular, accusative case has only a little k (or functional case), and cannot license an NP on its own, i.e., is structural. In contrast, a structure with a little k and a minimum lexical complement can license an NP, i.e., is oblique. The subtle interplay between accusative, partitive and instrumental case in different dialects is examined. It is argued that the Inuktitut case marker MIK originates as an oblique case in western dialects, but has undergone grammaticalization in eastern dialects. Grammaticalization is seen here to be structure reduction. Article in Journal/Newspaper inuktitut Memorial University of Newfoundland: Electronic Journals |
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Memorial University of Newfoundland: Electronic Journals |
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English |
description |
This paper argues that linguistic hierarchies are not real in any linguistic sense but are summaries of linguistic observation or typology. Position in any hierarchy is based on intrinsic properties, specjically complexity of linguistic substance. To illustrate, an example involving a change in degree of ergativity across dialects of Inuktitut is discussed. A hierarchy account would only record changes in the use of case, but would not be able to probe the subtle changes in case structure which are suggested by the facts. Under this view, case is not a position on a hierarchy but a syntactic construct, where different cases may have differing complexities (Bejar and Hall 1999). [n particular, accusative case has only a little k (or functional case), and cannot license an NP on its own, i.e., is structural. In contrast, a structure with a little k and a minimum lexical complement can license an NP, i.e., is oblique. The subtle interplay between accusative, partitive and instrumental case in different dialects is examined. It is argued that the Inuktitut case marker MIK originates as an oblique case in western dialects, but has undergone grammaticalization in eastern dialects. Grammaticalization is seen here to be structure reduction. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Johns, Alana |
spellingShingle |
Johns, Alana AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE |
author_facet |
Johns, Alana |
author_sort |
Johns, Alana |
title |
AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE |
title_short |
AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE |
title_full |
AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE |
title_fullStr |
AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE |
title_full_unstemmed |
AN INCLINATION TOWARDS ACCUSATIVE |
title_sort |
inclination towards accusative |
publisher |
Atlantic Provinces Linguistic Association |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/LA/article/view/753 |
genre |
inuktitut |
genre_facet |
inuktitut |
op_source |
Linguistica Atlantica; Vol 23 (2001); 127-144 1188-9932 |
op_relation |
https://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/LA/article/view/753/648 https://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/LA/article/view/753 |
op_rights |
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766046581004435456 |