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Content uploaded by Daniel W. Hieber
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All content in this area was uploaded by Daniel W. Hieber on May 31, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
1
Optional subject marking in Chitimacha
Daniel W. Hieber
University of California, Santa Barbara
Chicago Linguistics Society 55, May 16–18, 2019
Keywords: Chitimacha, isolate, endangered languages, language revitalization, optional
argument marking, Southeast US, areal linguistics, language contact, grammaticalization,
language change, syntax
This paper presents a first analysis of subject marking in Chitimacha, and argues that
Chitimacha exhibits a discourse-optional nominative marker. The form of this nominative is
however shared by several other functions, and in this paper I distinguish those functions and
suggest a diachronic pathway whereby these functions – including the nominative – emerged
from a single original form. I also discuss evidence for the idea that the nominal alignment
system of Chitimacha may be the result of contact with other languages of the U.S. Southeast.
Previous grammatical descriptions of Chitimacha treat noun phrases as uninflected for case
(Swanton 1920: 75; Swadesh 1946: 319), yet describe various “postpositions” that sound
suspiciously like markers of grammatical relations. For example, Swadesh (1939a: 26; 134)
states that the form -(n)k is a marker of “general relationship” that “indicates mild contrast or
emphasis” and optionally marks subjects, perhaps suggestive of a nominative or absolutive.
Examples of this function are in (1) and (2).1
(1) siksi-nk his heːčt-iʔi
eagle-?? RESP call-NF;SG
‘an eagle met him’ (Swadesh 1939b: A1b.1)
(2) ʔiš-k kuː keta=nki ʔap ni-ːkʼ-š hi-ki
1SG-?? water side=LOC VEN to_water-PTCP-PERF
AUX(NEUT)-1SG
‘I have come to the water’s side’ (Swadesh 1939b: A1b.3)
However, Swadesh also describes an andative ‘to, towards’ meaning for this form, shown in (3)
and (4).
(3) šeːni-nk hup hi ničw-iʔi
pond-?? to AND move_to_water-NF;SG
‘he came to a pond’ (Swadesh 1939b: A1a.2)
(4) we ʔasi=š ha-nk ʔap nenšw-iʔi
DET man=TOP DEM(PROX)-?? VEN cross_water-NF;SG
‘the man came over here’ (Swadesh 1939b: A1.d4)
1 Abbreviations are provided at the end of this abstract.
2
Moreover, there are additional examples in the Chitimacha corpus that do not seem to fit either
of the above functions. Two such examples are in (5) and (6), where the -(n)k-marked word
cannot be considered either a nominative / absolutive or an andative.
(5) huykʼi we panš niːk-ma-nk ʔuča-ːš-naʔa
well DET people be.sick-PLACT-?? do-PRES:IPFV-NF;PL
‘they made sick people well’ (Swadesh 1939b: A3g.3)
(6) ʔiš-k we piya wiš-ma-nk kin ni waːčʼiki-puy-ki
1SG-?? DET cane burn-PLACT-?? with DEF
play-PAST:IPFV-1SG.AGT
‘I used to play with the burnt cane’ (Swadesh 1939b: A36d.8)
Using a corpus of texts recorded by the last two fluent speakers of Chitimacha with Morris
Swadesh in the 1930s (Swadesh 1939b), I show that -(n)k is a polysemous form with six separate
functions. These functions are diachronically related but synchronically distinct. I provide
synchronic evidence for a historical pathway whereby -(n)k was used first as a locative
nominalizer, and later developed into an agent nominalizer (a common diachronic pathway; cf.
Heine & Kuteva 2004), and then finally into a nominative case marker. Each of these functions
was retained in the language, however, giving rise to the polyfunctionality exhibited by -(n)k
today (a classic example of polygrammaticalization; cf. Craig 1991; Hopper & Traugott 2003:
114). I then show that nominative -(n)k appears only when the topic is unexpected (i.e. lower in
animacy, agency, or definiteness). Finally, I briefly discuss the possibility that the development
of the nominative function may have been due to contact with other languages of the U.S.
Southeast.
This work is a valuable contribution to language revitalization efforts being undertaken by
the Chitimacha tribe, since these markers appear frequently in archival materials, but their
functions have previously been opaque to modern language learners. This talk therefore not only
provides a first description of a previously unacknowledged component of Chitimacha grammar,
but also contributes to Chitimacha revitalization efforts, as well as an understanding of
grammatical relations from an areal perspective in the U.S. Southeast.
References
Craig, Colette G. 1991. Ways to go in Rama: A case study in polygrammaticalization. In Elizabeth Closs
Traugott & Bernd Heine (eds.), Approaches to grammaticalization, Vol. II: Types of grammatical
markers (Typological Studies in Language 19.2), 455–492. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Heine, Bernd & Tania Kuteva. 2004. World lexicon of grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Hopper, Paul J. & Elizabeth Closs Traugott. 2003. Grammaticalization, 2nd edn. (Cambridge Textbooks
in Linguistics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swadesh, Morris. 1939a. Chitimacha grammar. In Chitimacha grammar, texts and vocabulary (American
Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages Mss.497.3.B63c G6.5).
Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society Library.
Swadesh, Morris. 1939b. Chitimacha texts. In Chitimacha grammar, texts and vocabulary (American
Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages Mss.497.3.B63c G6.5).
Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society Library.
Swadesh, Morris. 1946. Chitimacha. In Cornelius Osgood (ed.), Linguistic structures of Native America
(Publications in Anthropology 6), 312–336. New York: Viking Fund.
3
Swanton, John R. 1920. A sketch of the Chitimacha language (Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some
earlier), MS 4122). Suitland, MD: National Anthropological Archives.
Abbreviations
1 first person
AGT agent
AND andative
AUX auxiliary
DEF definite
DEM demonstrative
DET determiner
IPFV imperfective
LOC locative
NEUT neutral / sitting
NF non-first person
PAST past
PERF perfect
PL plural
PLACT pluractional
PRES present
PROX proximal
PTCP participle
RESP responsive
TOP topic
SG singular
VEN venitive