An analysis of transitivity in Cheyenne

Verbal typology in Cheyenne has traditionally been analyzed following the terminology that Bloomfield used in 1946 in order to describe Proto-Algonquian verbal classes. That terminology mixed two syntactic concepts, namely valence and transitivity, in order to refer to the different types of verb in Algonquian languages. Although in Cheyenne the verbal paradigms are available in a number of excellent sources (Petter 1952; Meeussen 1962; Leman 1980b; Russell 1987), this article attempts to provide a more comprehensive description of the verbal system in Cheyenne by classifying Cheyenne predicates into three groups in terms of their semantic valence, that is the number of core arguments they require: (1) one-place predicates, which are accompanied by only one core argument, (2) two-place predicates, which have two core arguments, and (3) three-place predicates, which include up to three core arguments. This classification will prove more accurate than the traditional four-way division, since it captures better the existence of four further distinct verbal paradigms, namely those illustrated by the construction including an inanimate subject and an animate patient, the Unspecified Agent construction, and the ditransitive constructions with inanimate theme, and the ditransitive construction with theme.On the other hand, the study of three-place predicates will occupy a special place in the last part of the article, since it raises interesting questions, such as the number of arguments coded in the verb, the semantic role played by these arguments, and the possible existence of alternations and splits. Furthermore, the analysis of ditransitive constructions will allow us to classify this type of predicate in Cheyenne in terms of the concept of alignment, which refers to the comparison of the properties of the core arguments of the predicate

A comparative analysis of three-place predicates in Lakhota within the RRG framework

This paper provides a Role and Reference Grammar (hereafter RRG) (Van Valin and LaPolla 1997) study of transitivity in Lakhota, putting special emphasis on the analysis of three-place predicates and the coding alternations they enter into. Since there exists a reasonable range of typological variation regarding the realization of this type of predicates morpho-syntactically, the main aim of this paper will be the classification of this language into one of the three major ditransitive alignment types posited by Dryer (1986) on the basis of which of the two semantic roles, that is, the Patient or Recipient, is treated like the monotransitive Undergoer. In order to achieve this goal, some obstacles concerning the fact that Lakhota is a pronominal-argument language and, consequently, all their obligatory arguments appear coded as pronominal affixes within the verb will have to be overcome. In the final section, a representation of the bidirectional linking algorithm will be offered in order to confirm the validity of this theory to represent comparable structures in different languages in an analogous way.Este artículo proporciona un estudio de la transitividad en Lakhota de acuerdo con el marco de la Gramática del Papel y la Referencia (Van Valin and LaPolla 1997), haciendo hincapié en el análisis de predicados triádicos y las alternancias de codificación que admiten. Debido a que existe bastante variación tipológica en cuanto a la realización de este tipo de predicados morfo-sintácticamente, el principal objetivo de este trabajo será la clasificación de esta lengua en uno de los tres tipos más importantes de alineamiento ditransitivo propuestos por Dryer (1986) teniendo en cuenta cuál de los dos papeles semánticos, es decir, Paciente o Recipiente, es tratado como el Padecedor monotransitivo. Para lograr esta meta, algunos obstáculos relacionados con el hecho de que el Lakhota es una lengua de argumento pronominal y, como consecuencia, todos sus argumentos obligatorios aparecen codificados como afijos pronominales dentro del verbo tendrán que ser superados. En la sección final, se ofrecerá una representación del algoritmo de enlace bidireccional para confirmar la validez de esta teoría para representar estructuras comparables en diferentes lenguas de forma análoga

A study of DOM in asturian ('Dialectu Vaqueiru')

The present paper explores Differential Object Marking in a variety of Asturian (Western Iberian Romance) spoken in western Asturias (northwestern Spain). This ancestral form of speech stands out from Central Asturian and especially from Standard Spanish. For a number of reasons, ranging from profound changes in pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology and information structure to slight but very relevant effects on syntax. The main goal of this study is to examine the special marking of direct objects in order to find out what triggers the distribution of Differential Object Marking in this variety. To this aim, this paper will examine, from a variationist perspective, the influence of a number of semantic and discourse-pragmatic parameters on the marking of direct objects in this Western Asturian language as well as in Standard Spanish 1 and Central Asturian (which is generally considered the normative variety of Asturian). The results obtained from this comparison will allow us to outline the differences between these three varieties in terms of object marking, shedding more light on the origin and function of Differential Object Marking in Spanish

The Asturian language and the evolution of Romance clausal structure

Over the past few years, the comprehensive study of syntactic variation across both the Germanic and the Romance branches of languages in relation to the unmarked word order pattern has meant a more in-depth knowledge of the nature of the verb-second phenomenon – an extremely intricate typological concept because of the complex factors that give rise to such a word order restriction. The aim of this paper is to investigate word order phenomena in the Asturian language (Romance, Western Iberian: Spain) from a comparative perspective1 by examining the word order patterns found in a number of documents written over the course of two centuries, with a view to determining what constitutes the unmarked word order and gaining a better understanding of its core syntax. Such a study has entailed collating research on the verb-first, verb-second and subjectverb- object orders. Finally, it aims to shed more light on the evolutionary development of the Romance language

The structure of content questions in Cheyenne

This article has as its main goal to investigate interrogative sentences in Cheyenne and therefore adds to the diversity of such analyses found in other Algonquian languages. This paper attempts to provide evidence that content questions in this language differ in structure depending on the status of the questioned element as an argument or adjunct and that content questions involving an interrogative pronoun are bi-clausal, as they exhibit a cleftlike structure such that the fronted ‘wh’-word functions as the stative predicate of a copular clause that is generated sentence-initially encoding the focus of the construction. By contrast, content questions requiring an interrogative adverb are mono-clausal and exhibit ‘wh’-movement in the traditional sense, that is through ‘wh’-fronting. Thus, this paper intends to contribute to the long-standing discussion on whether Algonquian ‘wh’-questions have a mono-clausal structure, involving traditional ‘wh’-movement or a bi-clausal structure, exhibiting ‘wh’-cleftin

Layers and operators in Scottish Gaelic

Financial support for this research has been provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RTI2018-094601-B-100 and PID2019-107362GA-I00

A Role And Reference account of interrogative sentences In Lakhota

This article has investigated interrogative sentences in Lakhota within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (hereafter RRG) (Van Valin, 1995; Van Valin and LaPolla, 1997), with the aim of explaining their structure as well as finding out the restrictions on ´wh´-question formation that this language exhibits. By means of this study, we will be able to verify the close relationship that also exists between the interrogative words and the indefinite pronouns in this language, see the constraints on linking in simple ´wh´-questions and give an account of the subjacency effects that block the formation of ´wh´-questions involving complex constructions. All in all, this paper will show the remarkable role that the interplay between several syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic features plays in the formation of interrogative sentences, hence it will prove that the RRG analysis provides an adequate explanatory account of the structure of interrogative sentences and also of the restrictions on extraction phenomena. This is very relevant because it demonstrates that these restrictions can be accounted for through the interaction of syntax, semantics and pragmatics, rather than simply through syntactic movement rules

The difficult task of finding a standard writing system for the Sioux Languages

Creating an orthography is often seen as a key component of language revitalisation. Encoding an endangered variety can enhance its status and prestige. In speech communities that are fragmented dialectally or geographically, a common writing system may help create a sense of unified identity, or help keep a language alive by facilitating teaching and learning. Despite clear advantages, creating an orthography for an endangered language can also bring challenges, and this volume debates the following critical questions: whose task should this be - that of the linguist or the speech community? Should an orthography be maximally distanciated from that of the language of wider communication for ideological reasons, or should its main principles coincide for reasons of learnability? Which local variety should be selected as the basis of a common script? Is a multilectal script preferable to a standardised orthography? And can creating an orthography create problems for existing native speakers

The influence of the focus structure on the placement of pronominal clitics in Asturian

The present paper examines the enclisis and proclisis alternations of an ancestral variety of Asturian spoken in two very small geographically and culturally isolated villages in the mountains of western Asturias, Sellón and Masenga (Municipality of Villayón). These villages, once seasonal settlements, are inhabited by descendants of the ancestral ethnic group known as Vaqueiros de Alzada, a nomadic people that have been living there from time immemorial. In their ancestral form of speech, we can observe very specific characteristics, ranging from profound changes in pronunciation, information structure, vocabulary and morphology to slight but relevant effects on syntax. More specifically, the main aim of this study is to investigate the properties that clitics have in this variety that make them different from the clitics in Central Asturian and Standard Modern Spanish and, subsequently, to account for the post- and preverbal clitic alternations in the simple and elegant way provided by the Role and Reference Grammar framework. This would serve to highlight the crucial role played by the interaction between syntax and information structure on the distinctive placing of pronominal clitics exhibited by this variety.All in all, this paper will outline the differences between Standard Spanish, Central Asturian (which is normally considered the normative variety of Asturian) and this ancestral variety of Western Asturian regarding the clitic placement alternation arising both in matrix and embedded clausesFinancial support for this research has been provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), (FFI2011-53788-C3-1-P