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Contact-induced change as an innovation 1
Abstract
This paper explores a specific contact-induced change, that is, innovation, defined as structure that emerges as a consequence of contact between two languages and that diverges from the patterns of both the model language and the replica language. In other terms, these new innovated linguistic features are not created on the model of the model language. In this paper I investigate the development of new features as consequences of the contact between Purepecha, the replica language, and Spanish, the model language, with which it has been in contact for nearly five centuries. According to the types of contact-induced changes described by Thomason and Kaufman (1988), Purepecha presents a situation of intense contact and the characteristics of a shift situation, since the changes are mainly in phonology and morphosyntax (Chamoreau 2007, 2010).
... Yet Purepecha, for example, possesses few clear lexical borrowings from other languages of the Mesoamerican LA, let alone any identified transferred structures, other than from Spanish (e.g. Chamoreau, 2012b; see also Bellamy, 2018b). Indeed, a more detailed study of the Mesoamerican LA traits said to be present in Purepecha also reveals that only the vigesimal system can be identified (Chamoreau, in press). ...
The internal structure of numeral systems can shed light on processes of word formation, language contact and change. In this article I analyze the numeral system of P’urhepecha on the basis of historical and contemporary sources. The system is unusual typologically and areally since it possesses monolexemic terms to six, while seven to nine are compounds with five; and the forms for the base (20) and next power (400) have clear non-corporeal meanings. I also provide a more nuanced evaluation of vigesimal counting systems in Mesoamerica. The language-internal and external findings underline the importance of more detailed historical studies of P’urhepecha.
This thesis considers Purepecha from the perspectives of genealogy and contact, as well as offering insight into word formation processes. The genealogy study re-visits the most prominent classification proposals for Purepecha, concluding on the basis of a quantitative lexical comparison and a typological comparison of affix ordering that there is no signal of relatedness between Purepecha and any other sampled language. The two language contact studies address possible interaction between Purepecha and other languages at long-distance, regional and local levels. The lexicon of metallurgy, the most convincing archaeological evidence for long-distance interaction, does not support this contact scenario although the lack of observable loanwords in this domain may reflect the largely non-verbal nature of technology transmission. At the regional and local levels Purepecha also displays very few borrowings from the prehispanic period. This paucity of borrowings is reversed in the modern period, with Spanish exerting a heavy influence in all domains. The shift in borrowing pattern is explained by huge socio-political change since the imposition of Spanish. The word formation studies focus on the varying semantic transparency of roots and suffixes, with a specific emphasis on olfactory language. They also introduce the notion that roots may be precategorial in nature.
This volume presents novel cross-linguistic insights into how olfactory experiences are expressed in typologically (un-)related languages both from a synchronic and from a diachronic perspective. It contains a general introduction to the topic and fourteen chapters based on philological investigation and thorough fieldwork data from Basque, Beja, Fon, Formosan languages, Hebrew, Indo-European languages, Japanese, Kartvelian languages, Purepecha, and languages of northern Vanuatu. Topics discussed in the individual chapters involve, inter alia, lexical olfactory repertoires and naming strategies, non-literal meanings of olfactory expressions and their semantic change, reduplication, colexification, mimetics, and language contact. The findings provide the reader with a range of fascinating facts about perception description, contribute to a deeper understanding of how olfaction as an understudied sense is encoded linguistically, and offer new theoretical perspectives on how some parts of our cognitive system are verbalized cross-culturally. This volume is highly relevant to lexical typologists, historical linguists, grammarians, and anthropologists.
This paper explores the relations between three domains dealing with linguistic variation: dialectology, typology, and contact linguistics. It aims to contribute to dialectal research that also considers syntactic questions, exploring the syntactic domain of comparative constructions of superiority in Purepecha (a language isolate spoken in Mexico). I demonstrate that the expression of the comparison of superiority can be mapped onto the language by means of ten constructions, which may be divided into four types, showing that language contact can lead to the emergence of new types. This study points out that the consequences of language contact are not homogeneous, but fall into various types of construction aligned with local specificities and geographical distribution. I argue that the integration of dialectology, typology, and contact linguistics results in a dynamic and multi-dimensional organization, which I characterize as a multi-layered perspective.
Tarascan, Purepecha Topicalization, focalization, P’orhépecha
The phenomenon of language contact, and how it affects the structure of languages, has been of great interest to linguists. This study looks at how grammatical forms and structures evolve when speakers of two languages come into contact, and offers an interesting insight into the mechanism that induces people to transfer grammatical structures from one language to another. Drawing on findings from languages all over the world, Language Contact and Grammatical Change shows that the transfer of linguistic material across languages is quite regular and follows universal patterns of grammaticalization - contrary to previous claims that it is a fairly irregular process - and argues that internal and external explanations of language structure and change are in no way mutually exclusive. Engaging and informative, this book will be of great interest to sociolinguists, linguistic anthropologists, and all those working on grammaticalization, language contact, and language change.
Grammaticalization is based on universal strategies of conceptual transfer. Contact-induced language change on the other hand is an areally confined process resulting from specific historical events. What this suggests is that the two constitute quite divergent phenomena and, in fact, in the relevant literature they tend to be described as mutually exclusive processes. Accordingly, this literature abounds with discussions on whether some specific grammatical change is due to the former or the latter. The position taken in this paper is that the two are in no way mutually exclusive; rather, perhaps more often than not, they jointly conspire in triggering grammatical change.
The main function of language is to convey meaning. Therefore, argues Bernd Heine in these pages, the question of why language is structured the way it is must first of all be answered with reference to this function. Linguistic explanations offered in terms of other exponents of language structure (for example, syntax) are likely to highlight peripheral or epiphenomenal—rather than central—characteristics of language structure. Heine provides a solid introductory treatment of the ways in which language structure (that is, grammar) and language usage can be explained with reference to the processes underlying human conceptualization and communication. Exploring and area of linguistics that has developed only recently and is rapidly expanding, Cognitive Foundations of Grammar will appeal to students of linguistics, psychology, and anthropology, especially those interested in grammaticalization processess.
Constructions with an auxiliary or a copula are often viewed as an analytic way of expressing events that are otherwise expressed with synthetic constructions. Languages generally show some preferences for one type of constructions or for another. In this paper, I will analyze the development of analytic constructions in Purepecha using two verbs: xa, 'be there', and xinte, 'be', as auxiliaries and copulas. In Purepecha, the evolution towards more analytical constructions operates in various construction types; this is not an isolated phenomenon. In its current state, Purepecha has both analytic and synthetic constructions for expressing passive constructions on one hand, and nominal predicate constructions with specific pragmatic and sociolinguistic particularities on the other hand. The analytic constructions do not replace the synthetic ones, but rather add to the expressive power of the overall verb system.
This paper explores the relations between three domains dealing with linguistic variation: dialectology, typology, and contact linguistics. It aims to contribute to dialectal research that also considers syntactic questions, exploring the syntactic domain of comparative constructions of superiority in Purepecha (a language isolate spoken in Mexico). I demonstrate that the expression of the comparison of superiority can be mapped onto the language by means of ten constructions, which may be divided into four types, showing that language contact can lead to the emergence of new types. This study points out that the consequences of language contact are not homogeneous, but fall into various types of construction aligned with local specificities and geographical distribution. I argue that the integration of dialectology, typology, and contact linguistics results in a dynamic and multi-dimensional organization, which I characterize as a multi-layered perspective.
Members of a functional category that I tentatively call "utterance modifiers" are the most vulnerable items to contact-related linguistic change in grammar. Utterance modifiers regulate linguistic-mental processing activities that can be attributed to a "grammar of directing." Bilinguals, when faced with the tension of choosing among the systems at their disposal in what is a highly automaticized operation, are tempted to reduce the overt representation of the "grammar of directing" to just one set of elements. Preference is given to the pragmatically dominant language. Contact-related change in the area of utterance modifiers is therefore not due to lack of equivalent functions in the indigenous language, nor is it due to the prestige effect that the integration of L2 items may have on the overall flavor of the discourse. Rather, I attribute synchronic variation in the speech of bilinguals to the cognitive pressure exerted on them to draw on the resources of the pragmatically dominant language for situative, gesturelike discourse-regulating purposes, and the diachronic change that arises from such variation to the establishment of a permanent licensing for speakers to do so.
In semantic or cognitive terms, comparison can be defined as a mental act by which two objects are assigned a position on a predicative scale. Should this position be the same for both objects, then we have a case of the comparison of equality. If the positions on the scale are different, then we speak of the comparison of inequality. In both cases, however, the notion essentially involves three things: a predicative scale, which, in language, is usually encoded as a gradable predicate, and two objects. Although these objects can, in principle, be complex, the practice of typological linguistic research has been to restrict them to primary objects, which are typically encoded in the form of noun phrases. Thus, a comparative construction typically contains a predicate and two noun phrases, one of which is the object of comparison (the comparee NP), while the other functions as the 'yard-stick' of the comparison (the standard NP).
In the present chapter, I will concentrate on the influence of Spanish contact on Purepecha, specifically, on the grammatical structure. related to this contact are found in the areas of phonology, morphological typology, nominal and verbal structures, other parts of speech, constituent order, and syntax. This paper deals with the dialect of Jaracuaro (denoted Jr), a peninsula in Lake Patzcuaro, however, when necessary, I use data from other varieties. Purepecha varieties are more or less mutually intelligible, nevertheless, great sociolinguistic differences exist between them (Chamoreau 2005). Most of the data considered for this paper are the result of my own field research projects carried out over a period of fifteen years.
Obra en que se explora la historia y la pertinencia del gentilicio de los antiguos y modernos habitantes de Michoacán en el marco de la historia de este pueblo desde antes de la llegada de los españoles y durante su dominio. De esta manera, se estudian también las relaciones sociales y de poder que había entre los pueblos prehispánicos y entre los conquistados y los conquistadores; es por ello que los textos también rastrean quién denominaba a quién y desde qué perspectiva.
The Adjectival Category. Criteria for Differentiation and Identification
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Contribución de algunas lenguas de Mesoamérica a la tipología de las construcciones de comparación de superioridad
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