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A sampling technique for worldwide comparisons of language contact scenarios. Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2023-02-10 Francesca Di Garbo,Ricardo Napoleão de Souza
Existing sampling methods in language typology strive to control for areal biases in typological datasets as a means to avoid contact effects in the distribution of linguistic structure. However, none of these methods provide ways to directly compare contact scenarios from a typological perspective. This paper addresses this gap by introducing a sampling procedure for worldwide comparisons of language
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Measuring and assessing indeterminacy and variation in the morphology-syntax distinction Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2022-03-24 Adam J. R. Tallman,Sandra Auderset
Abstract We provide a discussion of some of the challenges in using statistical methods to investigate the morphology-syntax distinction cross-linguistically. The paper is structured around three problems related to the morphology-syntax distinction: (i) the boundary strength problem; (ii) the composition problem; (iii) the architectural problem. The boundary strength problem refers to the possibility
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Jędrzejowski, Łukasz and Przemysław Staniewski: The linguistics of olfaction: Typological and diachronic approaches to synchronic diversity Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2022-03-21 Thomas Poulton
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A desmemic architecture for autotyp: a review article Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2022-03-11 Adam J. R. Tallman
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Challenges of sampling and how phylogenetic comparative methods help: With a case study of the Pama-Nyungan laminal contrast Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2022-02-28 Jayden L. Macklin-Cordes,Erich R. Round
Abstract Phylogenetic comparative methods are new in our field and are shrouded, for most linguists, in at least a little mystery. Yet the path that led to their discovery in comparative biology is so similar to the methodological history of balanced sampling, that it is only an accident of history that they were not discovered by a linguistic typologist. Here we clarify the essential logic behind
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Zariquiey, Roberto, Masayoshi Shibatani and David W. Fleck: Nominalization in languages of the Americas Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2022-01-10 Katharina Haude
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Object and handling handshapes in 11 sign languages: towards a typology of the iconic use of the hands Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-12-10 Victoria Nyst,Marta Morgado,Timothy Mac Hadjah,Marco Nyarko,Mariana Martins,Lisa van der Mark,Evans Burichani,Tano Angoua,Moustapha Magassouba,Dieydi Sylla,Kidane Admasu,Anique Schüller
Abstract This article looks at cross-linguistic variation in lexical iconicity, addressing the question of to what extent and how this variation is patterned. More than in spoken languages, iconicity is highly frequent in the lexicons of sign languages. It is also highly complex, in that often multiple motivated components jointly shape an iconic lexeme. Recent typological research on spoken languages
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Towards a typology of middle voice systems Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-11-29 Guglielmo Inglese
Abstract The middle voice is a notoriously controversial typological notion. Building on previous work (e.g. Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The middle voice. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins), in this paper I propose a new working definition of middle markers as inherently polyfunctional constructions which are partly associated with valency change in opposition to bivalent (or more) verbs and partly
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Statistical bias control in typology Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-11-17 Matías Guzmán Naranjo,Laura Becker
Abstract In this paper, we propose two new statistical controls for genealogical and areal bias in typological samples. Our test case being the effect of VO-order effect on affix position (prefixation vs. suffixation), we show how statistical modeling including a phylogenetic regression term (phylogenetic control) and a two-dimensional Gaussian Process (areal control) can be used to capture genealogical
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Patterns of persistence and diffusibility in the European lexicon Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-10-13 Volker Gast,Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm
Abstract This article investigates to what extent the semantics and the phonological forms of lexical items are genealogically inherited or acquired through language contact. We focus on patterns of colexification (the encoding of two concepts with the same word) as an aspect of lexical-semantic organization. We test two pairs of hypotheses. The first pair concerns the genealogical stability (persistence)
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Cross-linguistic constraints and lineage-specific developments in the semantics of cutting and breaking in Japonic and Germanic Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-10-13 John L. A. Huisman,Roeland van Hout,Asifa Majid
Abstract Semantic variation in the cutting and breaking domain has been shown to be constrained across languages in a previous typological study, but it was unclear whether Japanese was an outlier in this domain. Here we revisit cutting and breaking in the Japonic language area by collecting new naming data for 40 videoclips depicting cutting and breaking events in Standard Japanese, the highly divergent
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Universal and macro-areal patterns in the lexicon Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-09-28 Thanasis Georgakopoulos,Eitan Grossman,Dmitry Nikolaev,Stéphane Polis
Abstract This paper investigates universal and areal structures in the lexicon as manifested by colexification patterns in the semantic domains of perception and cognition, based on data from both small and large datasets. Using several methods, including weighted semantic maps, formal concept lattices, correlation analysis, and dimensionality reduction, we identify colexification patterns in the domains
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The general noun-modifying clause construction beyond Eurasia Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-09-27 Tong WU
Abstract I aim to provide a typological investigation of the General Noun-modifying Clause Construction (NMCC) in languages other than those of Eurasia. I show that the five properties proposed by Matsumoto et al. as potentially correlating with the General NMCC are rather areal features which are falsified by the data of languages from Africa and Europe. The semantic interpretability condition and
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Areal patterns and colexifications of colour terms in the languages of Africa Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-09-27 Guillaume Segerer,Martine Vanhove
Abstract Of all the semantic domains, colour terms have attracted the largest amount of attention, notably from a typological point of view. However, there is much more to be discovered. A search of the cross-linguistic lexical database of African languages (RefLex) reveals several previously undetected areal colexification patterns and shared lexico-constructional patterns in a genetically balanced
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Introduction to special issue on areal typology of lexico-semantics Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-09-08 Antoinette Schapper,Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm
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Sitting and talking together: packaging meaning into verbs with the neighbors Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-09-03 Marianne Mithun
Abstract As observed by Koptjevskaja-Tamm and Liljegren, the impact of language contact on grammatical typology is well recognized, but the field of lexico-semantic areal typology is still young. Here some mechanisms leading to an areal pattern are explored in the domain of certain sets of basic verbs in languages indigenous to the North American West. The patterns involve the apparent evocation, as
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A typology of consonant-inventory gaps Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-08-23 Dmitry Nikolaev
Abstract This article provides a new precise algorithmic definition of the notion “phonological-inventory gap”. On the basis of this definition, I propose a method for identifying gaps, provide descriptive data on several types of consonant-inventory gaps in the world’s languages, and investigate the relationships between gaps and inventory size, processes of sound change, and phonological segment
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Baring the bones: the lexico-semantic association of bone with strength in Melanesia and the study of colexification Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-07-27 Antoinette Schapper
Abstract In this article I demonstrate that there is a pervasive lexico-semantic association bones are strength in the languages of Melanesia, but that its linguistic expression is highly varied; languages are scattered along a lexical-to-clausal cline in their expression of the association between bone and strength, with a large number of language-specific idioms based on the association to be observed
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Kinship terminologies reveal ancient contact zone in the Hindu Kush Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-07-26 Henrik Liljegren
Abstract The Hindu Kush, or the mountain region of northern Pakistan, north-eastern Afghanistan and the northern-most part of the Indian-administered Kashmir region, is home to approximately 50 languages belonging to six different genera: Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Nuristani, Sino-Tibetan, Turkic and the isolate Burushaski. Areality research on this region is only in its early stages, and while its significance
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Red, black, and white hearts: ‘heart’, ‘liver’, and ‘lungs’ in typological and areal perspective Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-07-15 Matthias Urban
Abstract On the basis of a sample of 424 languages or dialects, this article provides a typological-comparative investigation of designations for three major internal organs of the torso, the ‘heart’, the ‘liver’, and the ‘lungs’. While colexification patterns are relatively unconstrained, the data show a skewing in morphologically complex terms: ‘heart’ and ‘liver’ often serve as head nouns in complex
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How a West African language becomes North African, and vice versa Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-07-06 Lameen Souag
Abstract Updating the methodology of Hayward, Richard J. 1991. A propos patterns of lexicalization in the Ethiopian language area. In Daniela Mendel & Ulrike Claudi (eds.), Ägypten im afroorientalischen Kontext. Special issue of Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, 139–156. Cologne: Institute of African Studies, using the concept of colexification (François, Alexandre. 2008. Semantic maps and the typology
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Appositive possession in Ainu and around the Pacific Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-06-09 Anna Bugaeva,Johanna Nichols,Balthasar Bickel
Abstract Some languages around the Pacific have multiple possessive classes of alienable constructions using appositive nouns or classifiers. This pattern differs from the most common kind of alienable/inalienable distinction, which involves marking, usually affixal, on the possessum, and has only one class of alienables. The Japanese language isolate Ainu has possessive marking that is reminiscent
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Towards a typology of predicative demonstratives Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-05-26 Don Killian
Abstract Although there has been growing interest in the study of demonstratives, a number of demonstrative categories remain largely unexplored. This article addresses one gap, presenting a preliminary typological overview of predicative demonstratives, a type of demonstrative used primarily in non-verbal predication constructions. The morphosyntax of predicative demonstratives is first briefly examined
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Corpus-based typology: applications, challenges and some solutions Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-03-30 Natalia Levshina
Abstract Over the last few years, the number of corpora that can be used for language comparison has dramatically increased. The corpora are so diverse in their structure, size and annotation style, that a novice might not know where to start. The present paper charts this new and changing territory, providing a few landmarks, warning signs and safe paths. Although no corpus at present can replace
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Betrayal through obedience: on the history of the unusual inflectional chain in Siyuewu Khroskyabs Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-03-01 Yunfan Lai
Abstract This paper focuses on the verbal inflection chain of Siyuewu Khroskyabs, a Gyalrongic language (Trans-Himalayan). Siyuewu Khroskyabs goes against two general typological tendencies: first, as an SOV language, it shows an overwhelming preference for prefixes, which is rarely reported typologically; second, the inflectional prefixes in the outer slots are older than those in the inner slots
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Jenneke van der Wal and Larry M. Hyman: The conjoint/disjoint alternation in Bantu Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-02-24 Jeff Good
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Sinitic as a typological sandwich: revisiting the notions of Altaicization and Taicization Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-02-19 Pui Yiu Szeto,Chingduang Yurayong
Abstract Decades of works dedicated to the description of (previously) lesser-known Sinitic languages have effectively dispelled the common myth that these languages share a single “universal Chinese grammar”. Yet, the underlying cause of their grammatical variation is still a matter for debate. This paper focuses on typological variation across Sinitic varieties. Through comparing the typological
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Heterogeneous sets: a diachronic typology of associative and similative plurals Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-02-15 Caterina Mauri,Andrea Sansò
Abstract This paper provides a diachronic typology of what we call ‘heterogeneous plurals’, an overarching term comprising associative plurals (expressions meaning X[person] & company) and similative plurals (expressions meaning X and similar entities). Based on a 110-language sample, we identify the most recurrent sources of these two types of plurals by means of various types of evidence (homophony/identity
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Bare classifier phrases in Thai and other mainland Asian languages: implications for classifier theory and typology Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-02-04 Nitipong Pichetpan,Mark W. Post
Abstract This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the little-known “bare classifier phrase” construction in Modern Standard Thai. It describes the syntax, semantics and discourse functions of Thai bare classifier phrases, and further proposes a diachronic account of their origin in reduction of post-posed numeral ‘one’. Following this synchronic and diachronic description, this article attempts
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Perspectives on information structure in Austronesian language Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-01-26 Jozina Vander Klok
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Don’t feel obligated, lest it be undesirable: the relationship between prohibitives and apprehensives in Papapana and beyond Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-01-22 Ellen Smith-Dennis
Abstract This paper analyses the preverbal morpheme te, used in both apprehensive ‘precautioning’ sentences and in one of two prohibitive constructions in Papapana (papa1265, Austronesian, Oceanic; Papua New Guinea). I aim to establish whether there is a diachronic relationship between the two functions of te, and in which direction, how and why semantic change may have occurred. This requires consideration
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Review of Marius Zemp. A Grammar of Purik Tibetan Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2021-01-11 Bettina Zeisler
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Typological hierarchies in synchrony and diachrony. (Typological Studies in Language 121.) Amsterdam Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-12-23 Peter Arkadiev
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Highly complex syllable structure: A typological and diachronic study (Studies in Laboratory Phonology 9) Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-12-08 Natalia Kuznetsova
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Teotitlán Zapotec: An ‘activizing’ language Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-12-07 Hiroto Uchihara,Ambrocio Gutiérrez
Abstract Some languages tend to derive intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, while others tend to derive transitive verbs from intransitive verbs. In this paper, we will argue that Teotitlán Zapotec, an Otomanguean language spoken in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, represents an extreme case of a transitivizing language: the transitive counterpart is almost always morphologically more complex, not
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Heritage languages and their speakers (Cambridge studies in linguistics 159) Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Joshua Bousquette
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Direction and associated motion in Tibeto-Burman Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-11-09 Carol Genetti,Kristine Hildebrandt,Nathaniel A. Sims,Alexia Z. Fawcett
AbstractThis study analyzes systems of direction and associated motion in 23 languages of the Tibeto-Burman family. Both direction and associated motion can be encoded by a range of grammatical strategies, including affixes, clitics, particles, serial-verb constructions, and auxiliary verbs. While some languages have only associated motion or direction, others have both, either via distinct subsystems
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A typological portrait of Mano, Southern Mande Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-11-06 Maria Khachaturyan
AbstractThis paper provides a typological survey of Mano, a Mande language of Guinea and Liberia. It sketches a linguistic portrait of Mano as a representative member of the Southern branch of the Mande family. The family features shared by Mano include S-Aux-O-V-X word order, the parallelism between nominal and verbal syntax, and the ubiquity of passive lability. The branch features include rich tonal
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Revising an implicational hierarchy for the meanings of ideophones, with special reference to Japonic Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-10-19 Bonnie McLean
Abstract An elicitation task was conducted with speakers of Japonic varieties to investigate whether stimuli of varying sensory modalities (e.g. audio, visual, tactile etc.) were more or less likely to elicit ideophones or iconic words. Stimuli representing sounds, movements, shapes and textures were most likely to elicit ideophones, and this is posited to reflect the relative ease or naturalness with
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Verb-based restrictions on noun incorporation across languages Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-09-30 Marieke Olthof,Eva van Lier,Tjeu Claessen,Swintha Danielsen,Katharina Haude,Nico Lehmann,Maarten Mous,Elisabeth Verhoeven,Eline Visser,Marine Vuillermet,Arok Wolvengrey
AbstractAlthough some characteristics of incorporating verbs and non-incorporating verbs have been proposed in previous studies, little systematic cross-linguistic research has been done on restrictions on the types of verbs that incorporate nouns. Knowledge about possible verb-based restrictions on noun incorporation may, however, provide important insights for theoretical approaches to noun incorporation
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Quasi-passive reflexive constructions: Bridging autonomous and passive situations Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-09-29 Liljana Mitkovska,Eleni Bužarovska
Abstract It is common for languages crosslinguistically to employ the same verb form in several diathetic constructions distinguished by a different degree of agent suppression. In South Slavic languages the so called ‘quasi-passive reflexive se-constructions’ (QRCs) encode a number of non-factual situations, expressing an array of semantically close meanings unified by modal semantics. The paper argues
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Comparability and measurement in typological science: The bright future for linguistics Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-09-18 Erich R. Round, Greville G. Corbett
Abstract Linguistics, and typology in particular, can have a bright future. We justify this optimism by discussing comparability from two angles. First, we take the opportunity presented by this special issue of Linguistic Typology to pause for a moment and make explicit some of the logical underpinnings of typological sciences, linguistics included, which we believe are worth reminding ourselves of
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Introduction: Why the comparability problem is central in typology Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-09-16 Nicholas Evans
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Fifty shades of grue: Indeterminate categories and induction in and out of the language sciences Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-09-07 Matthew Spike
Abstract It is hard to define structural categories of language (e.g. noun, verb, adjective) in a way which accounts for linguistic variation. This leads Haspelmath to make the following claims: i) unlike in biology and chemistry, there are no natural kinds in language; ii) there is a fundamental distinction between descriptive and comparative linguistic categories, and; iii) generalisations based
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A reference grammar of the Onondaga language Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-09-02 Karin Michelson
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A cross-linguistic study of expletive negation Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-09-01 Yanwei Jin, Jean-Pierre Koenig
The grammars of Romance languages are famous for including what is traditionally called expletive negation (EN): a negator can occur despite contributing nothing to the polarity of the proposition denoted by the clause it occurs in. This phenomenon is attested in many other languages in the world although most of the literature on this topic only mentions a few contexts that trigger EN. In this paper
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Comparability in evolutionary biology: The case of Darwin’s barnacles Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-08-31 Lindell Bromham
Abstract Language change and biological evolution are sufficiently similar that biologists and linguists often face similar challenges in reconstructing paths of historical change connecting different species or languages. Tracing evolutionary change over time requires us to consider how shared features have been modified in different lineages since they shared a common ancestor, and this means we
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Ordering biases in cross-linguistic perspective: The interaction of serial order and structural level Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-08-27 Thomas Berg
Abstract Capitalizing upon the typological fact that the same content may be coded in different positions and at different structural levels, this study examines whether the syntactic and the morphological levels exhibit different serial-order preferences. A large-scale comparison of word and morpheme order across six grammatical categories including definiteness and negation reveals that all six categories
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Syntax in morphological guise: Interrogative verbal morphology in Abaza Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-08-27 Peter M. Arkadiev
Abstract Abaza, a polysynthetic ergative Northwest Caucasian language, possesses a typologically unique system of forming content questions by means of inflectional marking in the verb. I offer a detailed description of this peculiar system, showing how it is grounded in the more general pattern of encoding relativization by means of prefixes forming part of the basic cross-referencing paradigms. I
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The typology of sound symbolism: Defining macro-concepts via their semantic and phonetic features Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-08-27 Niklas Erben Johansson, Andrey Anikin, Gerd Carling, Arthur Holmer
Abstract Sound symbolism emerged as a prevalent component in the origin and development of language. However, as previous studies have either been lacking in scope or in phonetic granularity, the present study investigates the phonetic and semantic features involved from a bottom-up perspective. By analyzing the phonemes of 344 near-universal concepts in 245 language families, we establish 125 sound-meaning
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On nominal tense Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-08-27 Pier Marco Bertinetto
Abstract Nordlinger & Sadler’s (2004. Nominal tense in crosslinguistic perspective. Language 80. 776–806) seminal work fostered an intense debate on the semantics of nominal tense systems, with the side effect of widening the typological coverage of this grammatical feature. This paper aims at contributing to the ongoing debate. In contrast with work by Tonhauser, who excluded ‘tense’ as a semantic
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Comparability of signed and spoken languages: Absolute and relative modality effects in cross-modal typology Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-08-19 Ulrike Zeshan,Nick Palfreyman
Abstract This article sets out a conceptual framework and typology of modality effects in the comparison of signed and spoken languages. This is essential for a theory of cross-modal typology. We distinguish between relative modality effects, where a linguistic structure is markedly more common in one modality than in the other, and absolute modality effects, where a structure does not occur in one
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Grammaticalization from a typological perspective Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-08-19 Thanasis Georgakopoulos
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Review of ‘The Bantu Languages, second edition’ Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-07-01 Jenneke van der Wal
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A Grammar of Kusaal: A Mabia (Gur) Language of Northern Ghana Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-05-27 Klaudia Dombrowsky-Hahn
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Corrigendum to: Topicality and the typology of predicative possession Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-05-27 Hilary Chappell,Denis Creissels
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Simeon Floyd, Elisabeth Norcliffe, and Lila San Roque: Egophoricity Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-05-27 Nathan W. Hill
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Final particles in Asia: Establishing an areal feature Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-05-27 Vladimir Panov
Abstract This paper presents the results of an areal study of the elements known as (sentence-)final particles (FPs) in the languages of Asia. FPs constitute a crucial part of many languages of the region and are reported in language-particular descriptions under various labels. However, they have not been the subject of large-scale areal studies. In this paper, I discuss the morphosyntactic and functional
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Continuous and discontinuous nominal expressions in flexible (or “free”) word order languages – Patterns and correlates Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-05-27 Uta Reinöhl
Abstract This study explores continuous and discontinuous word order patterns of multi-word nominal expressions in flexible word order languages (traditionally referred to as “free word order” or “non-configurational” languages). Besides describing syntagmatic patterns, this paper seeks to identify any functional or other correlates that can be associated with different word orders. The languages under
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Areal patterns in the vowel systems of the Macro-Sudan Belt Linguistic Typology (IF 1.7) Pub Date : 2020-05-27 Nicholas Rolle, Florian Lionnet, Matthew Faytak
Abstract This paper investigates the areal distribution of vowel systems in the Macro-Sudan Belt, an area encompassing most of the western and central parts of northern Sub-Saharan Africa. We report on a survey of 681 language varieties with entries coded for two phonological features: advanced tongue root (ATR) harmony and the presence of interior vowels (i.e. non-peripheral vowels [ɨ ɯ ɜ ə ʌ … ])