The nanosyntax of spatial deixis

This paper provides a fine-grained morphosyntactic analysis of spatial deixis. We propose that the universal core of spatial deixis is a three-way contrast: Proximal close to speaker', Medial close to hearer', and Distal far from speaker and hearer'. This system arises from three features merged as heads in a single universal functional sequence: Dx(3) > Dx(2) > Dx(1). The hierarchy is understood in terms of superset-subset relations, such that Proximal [Dx(1)] is a subset of Medial [Dx(2) [Dx(1)]], which in turn is a subset of Distal [Dx(3) [Dx(2) [Dx(1)]]]. Evidence comes from patterns of syncretism and morphological containment in the demonstrative systems of a number of genetically diverse languages. Regarding syncretisms, languages can show a transparent three-way morphological contrast, or some sort of syncretism: Medial/Proximal vs. Distal, Distal/Medial vs. Proximal, or a totally syncretic Distal/Medial/Proximal (i.e. a neutral demonstrative). These syncretisms entail that the features responsible for the Proximal and Medial readings be adjacent and that the features responsible for the Distal and Medial readings be adjacent in the fseq. Regarding containment, we show that Proximal can be structurally contained within Medial and that Medial can be structurally contained within Distal, meaning that Medial structures are larger than Proximal structures, and that Distal structures are larger than Medial structures, confirming our hierarchy. We show that these facts are naturally accounted for by nanosyntactic principles of spellout. We end the paper by accounting for potential counterexamples and other issues

Linguistic theory, linguistic diversity and Whorfian economics

Languages vary greatly in their words, sounds and sentence structures. Linguistic theory has shown that many aspects of variation are superficial and may not reflect underlying formal similarities between languages, which are relevant to how humans learn and process language. In this chapter, I show both how languages can vary and how the surface variations can be manifestations of underlying similarities. Economists have sometimes adopted a ‘Whorfian’ view that differences in languages can cause differences in how their speakers think and behave. Psychological experiments have shown both support for this hypothesis and evidence against it. Specific arguments that language causes thought, which have been made in recent economics papers, are examined in the light of what linguistics tells us about superficial and underlying variatio

A grammar of Ma'di

This grammar provides one of the most detailed accounts available of the syntax of a Nilo-Saharan language. It fully describes some of the unusual characteristics of Ma'di, including the different word orders associated with different tenses, the particle-based modal and focus systems, the full range of adverbials, and the structure and meaning of the noun phrase. The grammar also describes the phonetics, phonology, morphology, and aspects of the lexicon of the language

An Introduction to the Grammar of Màdí

A short account of the Màdí language, particularly suitable for a native speaker readership, based on the 2002 grammar by the same authors