Paradigmaticization: A Case Study from South Asia

Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (1988), pp. 293-30

Competition between Vectored Verbs and Factored Verbs

Professor Emeritus, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michiganインド・アーリア語における動詞+動詞の複合(以下,CV)の使用頻度(あるいは「流量」)が500 年以上にわたって増えてきているということを,ここ二十年以上にわたる計量的な調査は証明している。その全般的な増加の結果,CVの中でのvector(語彙的意味の薄れた後部要素)の機能や相対的使用度も拡大してきている。Paul Hopperが提唱する"specialization"(特化)概念にあるように,CVの全体的な使用頻度の増加に伴い,一部のvectorが他のものよりも多く用いられるようになったのである。昨秋の[NINJAL客員教授としての]私の研究では,使用頻度が増加することによって,機能的に見て,あるvectorがより語彙的でなくなり,あるいは意味的に条件づけられるものでなくなり,反面,より抽象的な,あるいは語用論的に条件づけられるものとなるのだということを証明した。このように抽象度が増加することによって,絶えず範囲を拡げる場面に対しての,より広い適用が可能となるのである。したがって,同じ場面を表現する中では,抽象性の低いvector動詞(あるいは「factor(語彙的意味を残した後部要素)」)の使用は減少する。ここで示した研究は,時間を空間へと射影することで,その発展のダイナミクスを描き出している。マラーティー語のようなCVの乏しい言語と,ヒンディー・ウルドゥー語のようなCVの豊富な言語との具体的な対照が,factor動詞{TAKE OUT}がより抽象的なvector動詞{TAKE}に取って代わられることを示している。すなわち,マラーティー語の「探し出す/発見する」といった意味の{探す+ TAKE OUT}は,ヒンディー・ウルドゥー語では同義の{探す+ TAKE}に,ほぼ完全に置き換えられるのである。Quantitative investigation carried out over the past two decades shows that the frequency (or "flux") of verb-verb compounding (hereafter CVs) in Indo-Aryan languages has been increasing over the past 500 years. As a consequence of that general increase, the functions and relative frequencies of the vector components of CVs have also evolved. In accordance with Paul Hopper\u27s concept of "specialization", as the overall frequency of CVs increases some vectors become more frequently used than others. My research this past Fall [as NINJAL Visiting Professor] shows that with increase in flux, the functions of certain vectors become less lexical or semantically conditioned while their functions become more abstract or pragmatically conditioned. This increasing abstractness results in wider applicability to an ever-widening circle of situations. Consequently there is a decrease in the use of less abstract vectors (or "factors") in rendering the same sets of situations. The research presented here uses the projection of apparent time onto space to delineate the dynamics of that evolution. Specific comparison of a CV-poor language like Marathi to a CV-rich language like Hindi-Urdu shows the factor verb {TAKE OUT} being overtaken by the more abstract vector {TAKE}. That is, {search + TAKE OUT} in the sense of \u27find\u27 or \u27discover\u27 in Marathi is almost completely replaced by {search + TAKE} in the same meaning in Hindi-Urdu

THE COMPOUND VERB IN HINDI.

Abstract not availabl

The compound verb in Munda: An areal and typological overview

A study of six Munda languages shows that the syntactic category compound verb (which alternates with simple verb) may be identified in each one of them. However, while compound verbs in South Munda form systems which closely resemble those found in adjacent Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. North and Central Munda feature compound verbs of a very different sort. The South Munda type seems to have arisen as the result of cross-linguistic diffusion from its neighbors while that in North and Central Munda owes its origin to independent developments.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29571/1/0000659.pd

THE COMPOUND VERB IN HINDI.

Abstract not availabl

Causative alternations in Siraiki

Siraiki is a major but understudied Indo‐Aryan language spoken mainly in central Pakistan. Its causative system, which has never been described in detail, shows many similarities with causative systems in related modern Indo‐Aryan languages, but also differences which render it unique within this family. We provide a detailed account of causativization in Siraiki, and attempt to explain the synchronic complexity of the Siraiki data, as well as the broader variation within modern Indo‐Aryan, in diachronic terms