Morphological Complexity and Language Contactzuniga.unibe.ch/islands/mithun.pdf · Morphology is...

Morphological Complexityand Language Contact

Marianne MithunUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

mithun@linguistics.ucsb.edu

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1. Morphological Complexity

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Many morphemes per word?

Many in every word?Many in every verb?

Average number of morphemes/word?Highest possible number of morphemes per word?

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Iroquoian family, Northeastern North America

Mohawk

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Mohawk Verb

Tha’tewakatonnhatierónnion.tha’-te-wak-at-onnh-at-ier-onni-onCONTRASTIVE-DUPLICATIVE-1SG.PAT-MID-life-MID-do-DIST-STATIVE

‘My life was really quite strange.’

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But consider the full sentence.

Iáh ki’ nowén:ton nahò:ten’iah ki’ n=o-went-on na-w-o’t-en’not actually the=N-ever-STATIVE PRTV-N-be.a.kind.of-PFVnot actually ever anything‘There was actually never anything

tha’tewakatonnhatierónnion.tha’-te-wak-at-onnh-at-ier-onni-onCONTRASTIVE-DV-1SG.PAT-MIDDLE-life-MIDDLE-do-DIST-STATIVEmy life was quite strangeunusual about my life.’

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Number of slots in a template?Mohawk Verb Template

CTR TL FAC DL FUT CL PROAGT

PROPAT

MD NS LK VR INCH CS INS BN DS AND ASP TAM

CNC IRR REP RFL REV

PRT

NEG

CTR CONTRASTIVE CL CISLOCATIVE CS CAUSATIVE

CNC COINCIDENT RP REPETITIVE INS INSTRUMENTAL

PRT PARTITIVE MD MIDDLE APPLICATIVE

TL TRANSLOCATIVE RFL REFLEXIVE BN BENEFACTIVE

FAC FACTUAL NS NOUN STEM APPLICATIVE

DL DUPLICATIVE LK LINKER DS DISTRIBUTIVE

FUT FUTURE VR VERB ROOT AND ANDATIVE

IRR IRREALIS INCH INCHOATIVE ASP ASPECTS

NEG NEGATIVE REV REVERSIVE TAM TENSE ETC. 7

Usually not all slots filled

CTR TL FAC DL FUT CL PROAGT

PROPAT

MD NS LK VR INCH CS INS BN DS AND ASP TNS

CNC IRR REP RFL REV

PRT

NEG

Thóhson.t-ho-ihs-onCISLOCATIVE-M.SG.PATIENT-finish-STATIVE

‘He has finished.’

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Usually not all slots filled

CTR TL FAC DL FUT CL PROAGT

PROPAT

MD NS LK VR INCH CS INS BN DS AND ASP TNS

CNC IRR REP RFL REV

PRT

NEG

Thóhson.t-ho-ihs-onCISLOCATIVE-M.SG.PATIENT-finish-STATIVE

‘He has finished.’

And not all languages are templatic.9

Eskimo-Aleut Family

Central Alaskan Yup’ik

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Number of bound morphemesin the inventory?

Central Alaskan Yup’ik Eskimo

One initial rootHierarchical derivational suffixes: ~500

Inflectional endings: ~ 450

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Cognitive separation of morphemes?

MohawkOntkáhtho’ [utkáhthoʔ]wa’-w-at-kahtho-’FACTUAL-N.AGT-MID-look-PFV

‘It saw it.’ [u] = wa’-w-a

Sequences of affixes are often lexicalized, processed as chunks,

probably much more than we realize.12

Cognitive separation of morphemes?

Yup’ikAyagciqsugnarqua.ayag-ciqe-yugnarqe-u-ago-FUTURE-probably-INTR.INDICATIVE-1SG

‘I’ll probably go.’

Suffix -yugnarqe-‘probably’-yuke- -narqe-‘think.that’ ‘tend.to.cause.one.to’

-nar-‘cause’ . . . 13

Phonological Processes?

Seneca (Iroquoian)ia:s ‘he eats’i-hra-k-sPROTHETIC-M.SG.AGT-eat-HAB

*r > 0 from masculine prefixes (contact)[-son] > 0 / __s #

Verbs must be at least two syllables. Add prothetic i if only one14

Where does elaborate morphologycome from?

Grammaticalization then fusion

pronouns > pronominal affixesauxiliarites > aspect affixes

etc.

Fusion then grammaticalization

compounded root > affix

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2. North America

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Languages Indigenous to North America17

North American LanguagesNorth of Mexico

Around 275 languages

Around 55 Genetic GroupsVarious sized groups

26 isolatesUto-Aztecan 31 languages

Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit 37 languages

Varying Documentation

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3. Arguments and predicate within the one word

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Pronominal Affixes

Just how much pronominal referencedo we need?

All core arguments?

Should every one be represented overtly?

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Yup’ik Pronominal Suffixes All core: 1, 2, 3, 3R

Elitnautuielitnaur-tu-a-iteach-customarily-TRANSITIVE.INDICATIVE-3SG/3PL

‘He teaches them.’

Paqciiqaqa.paqete-ciiqe-ar-kago.check-FUTURE-TRANSITIVE.INDICATIVE-1SG/3SG

‘I’ll go check it.’21

Languages with All Core Arguments: 1, 2, 3 22

But not all or nothing

Often unmarked

3rd person inanimate objects3rd person objects

3rd person topical subjects3rd person absolutives

3rd persons

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NavajoAthabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit

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Navajo1, 2, some 3

naa-sh-né ‘I am playing’na-ni-né ‘you are playing’naané ‘(he or she) is playing’

ha-sh-niłteeh ‘You are carrying me up.’ha-ni-shteeh ‘I am carrying you up.’haniłteeh ‘You are carrying (him/her) up.’

ha-bi-łteeh ‘(He/she/it) is carrying him/her (PROX).’ha-i-łteeh ‘(He/she) is carrying him/her/it (OBV).’

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ChoctawMuskogean family, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana

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ChoctawJust 1, 2

Baliili-li-tok. ‘I ran.’Ish-baliili-tok. ‘You ran.’Baliili-tok. ‘(He/she/it/they) ran.’

Chi-pisa-li-tok. ‘I saw you’Is-sa-písa-tok ‘You saw me.’

Pisa-li-tok ‘I saw (him/her/it/them)’Ish-pisa-tok. ‘You saw (him/her/it/them)’

Sa-pisa-tok. ‘(He/she/it/they) saw me’Chi-pisa-tok. ‘(He/she/it/they) saw you.’Pisa-tok. ‘(He/she/it/they) saw (him/her/it/them)’

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Not all or nothing

Clitics

subject clausal enclitics, object verb suffixesergative enclitics, absolutive suffixes

all clitics

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Siuslaw29

SiuslawSubject enclitics, Object suffixes

Yaʔkʷs=ɨn tša:qáqa-u:n.seal=1SG.SUBJECT spear.RDP-3OBJECT

‘I was spearing a seal.’

Frachtenberg, Leo 1914. Lower Umpqua texts and notes on the Kusan dialect. Columbia University Contributions to

Anthropology 4. New York: Columbia University Press. 68.8.30

Pronominal Reference to Some Core Arguments31

Languages with only free pronouns32

Impressive Stability

Nearly all pronominal affix systemsalready present in parent

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4. Noun IncorporationNOUN-VERB compounding

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Not necessary to make a verb a clausebut can reduce the number

of lexical arguments

Varyingrobustness

usesproductivity

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Robust, Pervasive, ProductiveMohawk

Wahonwahró:ri’ é:ren roia’tenhá:wiht,wa-honwa-hrori-’ eren ro-ia’t-enhawi-htFACT-M.PL/M.SG-tell-PFV away M.SG.PAT-body-carry-CAUS

they told him away he should bodily carry him

kí:ken rahnekakà:stha’.kiken ra-hnek-a-ka’st-ha’this M.SG.AGT-liquid-overdo-HAB

this he liquid overdoes

‘They told him to remove this drunkard.’ 36

NOUN-VERB VERB STEM

NOUN - VERB

-ia’t-enhawiht ‘body-remove’ = ‘remove anim physically’

NOUN - VERB

-hnek-ka’st ‘liquid-overdo’= ‘drink to excess’

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Siouan Languages38

Pervasive but more Restricted Lakhota

Wakšíyužažayo!wakši-yu-žaža=yodish-pulling-stir.in.water=M.IMPV

‘Wash the dishes!’ = ‘Dishwash!’

Large number of NOUN-VERB compoundsWord formation device

Generic activities, recurring situations

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Lexicalization

lol- ‘pertaining to food’lol’ígni ‘look for food’lol’óphethuŋ ‘buy grocerieslol’íh’aŋ ‘cook (deal with food)’lol’íšičA ‘be greedy with food’

Now no independent noun lol40

Archaic, Non-productiveChoctaw

Identifiable nouns inside of a few verbsok- ‘water/eye’nok- ‘neck’ ibi-/ibak ‘nose/face’ yosh ‘hair/head’

Only ok- corresponds to independent noun in Choctaw.

Others correspond to cognate nouns in other Muskogean languages.

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Choctaw relicsok-shalolih ‘have sunken eyes’ok-mochoolih ‘close the eyes’

ok-chabaahah ‘be thick (of liquid), viscous’ok-loboshlih ‘to sink’

ibak-tokolih ‘be blunt-nosed’ibii-kowah ‘have a nosebleed’

yosh-bonoochih ‘roll (hair)’yosh-milaalih ‘be totally bald’ 42

Noun Incorporation 43

Noun incorporation constructionscan continue to evolve to productive affixation

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Algonquian Languages

Innu

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Innu (Montagnais) MedialsLyn Drapeau, p.c.

Matineumesheu nutaui.ma:tənwe:-me:š-e:w n-uta:wi:share-fish-FIN.AI-3 1-father

‘My father shares out fish.’

VERB-NOUN > VERB-SUFFIX

Some suffixes resemble independent nouns others do not.

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[NOUN-VERB]V [PREFIX-VERB]VNavajo

Dá’ák’enáhi’niilcháá’.da’ák’e-ná-hi-’-ni-ii-l-cháá’field-back-one.after.the.other-NPFV-1DU.SUBJECT-CL-two.run.PFV

‘We two snuck back into the field.’

-l-chaa’ ‘two run’

dá’ak’e- ‘field’ < dá’ák’eh ‘field, cornfield’ dá’- < dáá ‘food, corn’ -k’eh ‘place’

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Tsimshianic Languages 48

[VERB-NOUN]V [PREFIX-NOUN]VNisgha

ḳim- Prefix ‘buy’ḳim-ksláw’iskʷ ‘buy a shirt’ḳim-pó:t ‘buy a boat’

’is- Prefix ‘smell of’’is-hó:n ‘to smell of fish’’is-lá:m ‘to smell of alcohol’

Some prefixes resemble root counterparts.

Tarpent, Marie-Lucie 1987. A grammar of the Nisgha language. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Victoria, B.C. 49

[VERB-NOUN]V [PREFIX-NOUN]VNisgha

ḳim- Prefix ‘buy’ Verb root kí:kʷ ‘buy’ḳim-ksláw’iskʷ ‘buy a shirt’ḳim-pó:t ‘buy a boat’

’is- Prefix ‘smell of’ Verb root ’iskʷ ‘stink’’is-hó:n ‘to smell of fish’’is-lá:m ‘to smell of alcohol’

Some prefixes resemble root counterparts.

Tarpent, Marie-Lucie 1987. A grammar of the Nisgha language. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Victoria, B.C. 50

Salishan languages 51

‘Lexical’ AffixesLillooet, Salishan

Some specific in meaning, some abstract, general

-qs ‘nose, point, protruding part, direction’nís-qs-am’ ‘to blow one’s nose’xát-qs-an’ ‘to lift up one end of a log’ƛ’iq-qs ‘to reach over here’ (to the tip or end of something)cuɫ-qs-ən ‘to point a finger at someone when angry’

xat- ‘lift up’, ƛ’iq- ‘arrive here’, cuɫ- ‘point at’, etc.

Eijk, Jan van 1997. The Lillooet Language. Vancouver: University of British Columbia 95.52

Descendants of Noun IncorporationLexical Affixes 53

Widespread Means/Manner PrefixesCentral Pomo

da-kél ‘brush away dirt’ma-kél ‘wipe feet’čʰ-kél ‘wipe off, as a baby’s dirty face’s-kél ‘wash off’’-kél ‘clean, as pebbles out of beans before cooking’š-kél ‘pull up weeds out of lawn’pʰ-kél ‘hoe dirt to make it look nice’

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Descendants of Noun Incorporation Means/Manner Prefixes 55

Languages with IncorporationOr Descendants of Incorporation 56

Languages with No Incorporationand no remnants of incorporation 57

5. VERB-VERBCompounding

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Kathlamet ChinookHymes 1955:218

VERB-VERBSecond verb indicates direction

-i-cu ‘go-down’ = ‘fall’-xuni-pck ‘drift-from.water.to.shore’-ski-λx ‘launch-go.toward.water’

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Widespread Locative/Directional SuffixesCentral Pomo

ča-w ‘run’ (-w PFV)

čá-:la-w ‘run down’čá-:qač’ ‘run up’čá-č ‘run away’čá-way ‘run against hither, as whirlwind up to you’čá-:’wa-n ‘run around here and there’ (-n IPFV)

čá-mli-w ‘run around something (tree, rock, pole)’čá-mač’ ‘run northward’čá-:q’ ‘run by, over (on level), southward’čá-m ‘run over, on, across (as a bridge)’

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Descendants of CompoundsLocative/Directional Suffixes 61

Remarkable Stability

Incorporation generally reconstructibleto parent languages

Iroquoian, Siouan, Caddoan, Kiowa-Tanoan, Muskogean families etc.

Lexical affixes generally reconstructibleAlgonquian, Salishan, Wakashan, Chimakuan families etc.

Means/Manner prefixes generally reconstructiblePomoan, Yuman-Cochiti, Palaihnihan, Chumashan, Maidun, Sahaptian,

Wappo-Yuki families, and Numic, Karuk, Yana, Washo, Klamath, Takelma.

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6. But Areality

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Overall

Circumstantial evidence of areal effectsbut transfer rarely caught in the act

Ample elaborate morphologyBut different kinds in different areas

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Why?

Morphology is distinguished by routinization.Speakers are less conscious of parts,

less likely to replicate in another language.

What is said most often is automatedover long periods of time,

gradually resulting in fusion, erosion, of frequently-recurring sequences.

Morphological complexity need not have spreadinstantaneously, fully formed. 65

What may be spread by bilingualismare patterns of expression

earlier in the process:

areas of semantic elaborationpatterns of compounding

tendencies toward fusion and erosion

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EvidenceParallel Patterns of Elaboration

Northwest CoastWakashan, Salishan, Chimakuan families

ROOT - LEXICAL SUFFIXES

California and neighboring areas of the Westacross hypothesized deep genetic lines, but not all relatives

Pomoan, Yuman-Cochiti, Palaihnihan, Chumashan, Maidun, Sahaptian, Wappo-Yuki, Uto-Aztecan families, Karuk, Yana, Washo, Klamath, Takelma

MEANS/MANNER PREFIXES – ROOT

WestROOT- LOCATIVE/DIRECTIONAL SUFFIXES

Pomoan, Karuk, Shastan, Palaihnihan,, Yana, Washo, Maidun, Klamath,Sahaptian67

Irrecoverable sources of affixes in core areasbut still visible compound sources

at the periphery

Uto-Aztecan NOUN-VERB compounds with initial instruments

Chinookan VERB-VERB compounds with final locations/directions

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7. Conclusion

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Nuanced ComplexityGradiant and Variable

Stablebecause morphology is routinization.

Affixes are not necessarily transferred as such.

Arealbecause multilinguals may transfer patterns of expressionand tendencies toward automation that underlie their development

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Mohawk Sweetgrass Basket Ann Mitchell, basketmaker 71