The Linguistic Cycle
Introduction
Cycles Workshop II
Tempe, AZ, 25-26 April 2014
Outline
A.
Why look at Cycles?
B.
Some background
C.
Examples of Linguistic Cycles
D.
Possible explanations
Cycles are a window on the Faculty
of Language
Reanalysis shows: loss of features
Cycle or Spiral:
von der Gabelentz 1901
Nun bewegt sich die Geschichte der
Sprachen in der Diagonale zweier Kräfte:
des Bequemlichkeitstriebes, der zur
Abnutzung der Laute führt, und des
Deutlichkeitstriebes, der jene Abnutzung
nicht zur Zerstörung der Sprache ausarten
lässt. Die Affixe verschleifen sich,
verschwinden am Ende spurlos; ihre
Funktionen aber oder ähnliche drängen
wieder nach Ausdruck.
ctd
Diesen Ausdruck erhalten sie, nach der
Methode der isolierenden Sprachen, durch
Wortstellung oder verdeutlichende Wörter.
Letztere unterliegen wiederum mit der Zeit dem
Agglutinationsprozesse, dem Verschliffe und
Schwunde, und derweile bereitet sich für das
Verderbende neuer Ersatz vor ... ; immer gilt das
Gleiche: die Entwicklungslinie krümmt sich
zurück nach der Seite der Isolation, nicht in die
alte Bahn, sondern in eine annähernd parallele.
Darum vergleiche ich sie der Spirale. (von der
Gabelentz 1901: 256)
The history of language moves in the
diagonal of two forces: the impulse
toward comfort, which leads to the
wearing down of sounds, and that
toward clarity, which disallows this
erosion and the destruction of the
language. The affixes grind
themselves down, disappear without
a trace; their functions or similar
ones, however, require new
expression.
They acquire this expression, by the method
of isolating languages, through word order
or clarifying words. The latter, in the course
of time, undergo agglutination, erosion, and
in the mean time renewal is prepared:
periphrastic expressions are preferred ...
always the same: the development curves
back towards isolation, not in the old way,
but in a parallel fashion. That's why I
compare them to spirals.
Comfort + Clarity =
Grammaticalization + Renewal
Von der Gabelentz’ examples of comfort:
the unclear pronunciation of everyday
expressions,
the use of a few words instead of a full
sentence, i.e. ellipsis (p. 182-184),
“syntaktische Nachlässigkeiten aller Art”
(`syntactic carelessness of all kinds’, p.
184),
and loss of gender.
Von der G’s examples of clarity
special exertion of the speech organs (p. 183),
“Wiederholung” (`repetition’, p. 239),
periphrastic expressions (p. 239),
replacing words like sehr `very’ by more powerful
and specific words such as riesig `gigantic’ and
schrecklich `frightful’ (243),
using a rhetorical question instead of a regular
proposition,
and replacing case with prepositions (p. 183).
Grammaticalization = one step
Hopper & Traugott 2003: content item >
grammatical word > clitic > inflectional affix.
The loss in phonological content is not a
necessary consequence of the loss of semantic
content (see Kiparsky 2011; Kiparsky &
Condoravdi 2006; Hoeksema 2009).
It can come from either phonological weakening
triggering semantic strengthening or the other
way round.
Renewal is the other step
In acknowledging weakening of pronunciation (“un
affaiblissement de la pronunciation”), Meillet (1912:
139) writes that what provokes the start of the
(negative) cycle is the need to speak forcefully (“le
besoin de parler avec force”).
Kiparsky & Condoravdi (2006) similarly suggest
pragmatic and semantic reasons. A simple negative
cannot be emphatic; in order for a negative to be
emphatic, it needs to be reinforced, e.g. by a
minimizer.
Macrocycles and microcycles
Heine, Claudi & Hünnemeyer’s (1991: 245)
distinguish different kinds of cycles:
grammaticalization, changes in subparts, e.g.
the TMA system, and entire language type
changes. I refer to these as micro and
macrocycles.
A microcyle involves just one aspect of the
language, for instance, negatives or
demonstratives being reinforced by adverbs, as
in English those people there. They include
Heine et al’s first and second kind.
Microcycles
(1)a. I’m gonna leave for the summer.
b. *I’m gonna to Flagstaff for the summer.
Nesselhauf (2012) identifies three features,
intention, prediction, and arrangement, in the
change of shall, will, ‘ll, be going to, be to, and
the progressive) in the last 250 years: as the
sense of intention is lost and replaced by the
sense of prediction, new markers of intention will
appear:
want has intention in (4a) and it is starting to gain
the sense of prediction, as in (4b).
(2)a. The final injury I want to talk about is brain
damage ... (Nesselhauf 2012: 114).
b. We have an overcast day today that looks
like it wants to rain. (Nesselhauf 2012: 115).
Modal and degree cycles
Remus Gergel:
Modal, degree, and rather
Lukasz Jedrzejowski
Verbs to modals in succession
And degree in the DP:
Johanna Wood
such and so
Macrocycles
Hodge (1971):
Proto-Afroasiatic
analytic
*Sm
Old Egyptian
synthetic
sM
Late Egyptian
analytic
Sm
Coptic
synthetic
sM
Huang (to appear):
Chinese, from moderately synthetic to
analytic to moderately synthetic.
Now on to four cycles:
Negative Cycles
(Jespersen 1917, Dahl 1979, Croft 1991, van der
Auwera 2009 etc)
I Indefinite phrase > negative = Jespersen’s Cycle
Negation weakens and is renewed. For instance:
(1) I cannot do that
>
(2) I ca(n’t) see nothing
II Verb > negative
(3) is-i
ba-d-o
Koorete
she-NOM
disappear-PF-PST
`She disappeared' (Binyam 2007: 7).
(4) ‘is-i
dana ‘ush-u-wa-nni-ko
she-NOM
beer
drink-PRES-not_exist-3FS-FOC
‘She does (will) not drink beer.’ (Binyam 2007: 9).
Negative Cycle in Old English
450-1150 CE
a.
no/ne
early Old English
b.
ne
after 900, esp S
c.
(ne) not
d.
not >
(na wiht/not)
after 1350
-not/-n’t
after 1400
Indefinite Negative Cycle,
e.g. English, French, Arabic
XP
Spec
na wiht
X'
X
not > n’t
YP
…
Negative source is a verb
(1)
wo
mei you shu
Chinese
I
not
exist book
`I don't have a book.’
(2)
Yao Shun ji
mo
...
Old Chinese
Yao Shun
since died
`Since Yao and Shun died, ...'
(Mengzi, Tengwengong B, from Lin 2002: 5)
(3)yu de
wang ren
mei kunan, ... Early Mandarin
wish PRT died person not-be suffering
`If you wish that the deceased one has no suffering, ...'
(Dunhuang Bianwen, from Lin 2002: 5-6)
According to Lin, mei went through a perfective stage, so:
(4) dayi ye mei you chuan, jiu
zou le chulai
coat even not
PF
wear, then walk PF out
`He didn't even put on his coat and walked out.' (Rulin
Waishi, from Lin 2002: 8)
(5)
NegP
Neg
mei
ASPP
ASP
mei
VP
V
mei
...
Three presentations on Neg Cycles
Ljuba Veselinova:
neg existential> neg
Johan vd Auwera & Frens Vossen:
word order, multiple negatives, and more
Clifton Pye: triggering the cycle
The Subject Cycle
A. demonstrative > third person pron > clitic
> agreement
B. oblique/noun > first/second pron > clitic >
agreement
Givón (1976, etc), Mithun (1991, etc) have
provided much insight into this and we’ll
hear more from them today!
Brazilian Portuguese
(1) Vossa mercê > Vosmecê > (V)ocê > cê
your favor/mercy
you
you-INDEF
(see Mattoso Câmara 1979; Gonçalves 1987;
Dutra 1991, cited in Vitral & Ramos 2006)
(2)
cê only in subject position and pre-V
English: in transition?
(a) Modification, (b) coordination, (c) position,
(d) doubling, (e) loss of V-movement, (f) Code switching
Coordination (and Case)
(1)
Me and Kitty were to spend the day.
(2)
%while he and she went across the hall.
Position
(3)
She’s very good, though I perhaps I shouldn’t say
so.
(4)
You maybe you've done it but have forgotten.
(5)
Me, I was flying economy, but the plane, … was
guzzling gas
Doubling and cliticization
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Me, I've tucking had it with the small place.
(BNC H0M 1608)
%Him, he ....
%Her, she shouldn’t do that (not
attested in the BNC)
*A dog, it should be happy.
CSE-FAC:
uncliticized
I
2037
you 1176
he
128
cliticized
685 (=25%)
162 (=12.1%)
19
(=12.9%)
total
2722
1338
147
Problem in English: why so slow!
Loss of V-movement and Code
switching
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
What I'm gonna do?
`What am I going to do'
How she's doing?
`How is she doing‘
*He ging weg `he went away’ Dutch-English CS
The neighbor ging weg
Subject Cycle, structurally
Full phrase moves to Spec TP >
Head moves to T
Reanalysis as to what the head is: pronoun
or agreement.
(Economy: agreement =uninterpretable and
then this needs an interpretable feature as
well)
Copula cycle, sources
• Verbs
• Demonstratives
• Prepositions etc
Reanalysis of location, identity, and aspect
features. The flavors in e.g. English are be,
become, go, fall, turn, seem, appear, stay,
and remain.
Indo-European > English
No difference in NP, PP predicate (but
inside the paradigm:
*es (< Dem)
*bheu `grow’ > Latin fui
> Old English `be, become’
*wes `remain, dwell’
*sta > estar (Spanish), tha (Hindi), tá (Irish)
*wert ‘turn’ > vartate (Sanskrit), wairþan
(Gothic), and weorðan (OE)
Old Egyptian (1) > Middle (2)
(1)
(2)
(3)
a.
rmt p-n
man MS-PROX `this man.’
b.
ntr-w
jp-w
god-P
MP-DIST `those gods.’
̩tmj-t
pw jmn-t
city-F
be west-F
`The West is a city.’
(Loprieno 1995; 2001)
p
-w
>
pw
[i-3MS]
[distal]
[loc]
[u-phi]
Identification/classification
vs location
Saramaccan
equative
–
identificational da
class membership da/dɛ
locative
dɛ
(McWhorter 2005: 117-8; 171)
NigerianPidgin
be/na
(Mazzoli 2013: 91)
-
de
Demonstrative and adverbial source of
copulas
(1) a. Mi da i
tatá Saramaccan
I
am your father
‘I am your father.’ (McWhorter 1997: 87)
b. Hεn dà dí
Gaamá
he is
the chief
‘He's the chief.’ (McWhorter 1997: 98)
(2) Dí
wómi
dε a
wósu
the woman
is
at
house
`The woman is at home.’ (McWhorter 1997: 88)
Demonstrative to article cycle
(1) demonstrative/adverb > definite
article > Case/non-generic > class
marker > 0
(2) gife to … þa munecas of þe mynstre
give to … the monks of the abbey
(Peterborough Chron. 656)
(3) * the
Demonstratives, pronouns, and pro-drop in
Old English
(1) þæt fram ham gefrægn Higelaces þegn,
god mid Geatum, Grendles dæda; se wæs
moncynnes mægenes strengest on þæm
dæge þysses lifes, æþele ond eacen.
`Hygelac’s thane heard about Grendel’s
deeds while in Geatland; he (=Hygelac’s
thane) was mankind’s strongest man on
earth, noble and powerful.
Old English ctd
Het him yðlidan godne gegyrwan, cwæð, he
guðcyning ofer swanrade secean wolde,
mærne þeoden, þa him wæs manna
þearf. ðone siðfæt him snotere ceorlas
lythwon logon, þeah he him leof wære.
(He) ordered himself a good boat prepared
and said that he wanted to seek the king
over the sea since he (=the king) needed
men. Wise men did not stop him
(=Hygelac’s thane) though he was dear to
them.’ (Beowulf 194-98)
Around 1200: a reanalysis
(1) & gaddresst swa þe clene corn
`and so you gather the clear wheat.’ (Ormulum
1484-5, Holt edition)
(2) 3ho wass … Elysabæþ 3ehatenn
`She was called Elisabeth.’ (Ormulum 115)
(3) & swa þe33 leddenn heore lif Till þatt te33
wærenn alde
`and so they led their lives until they were old.’
(Ormulum 125-6)
(4) þin forrme win iss swiþe god, þin lattre win iss
bettre.
`Your earlier wine is very good, your later wine is
better.’ (Ormulum 15409)
Reduction of the article and
renewal
(3) Morret's brother came out of Scoteland
for th'acceptacion of the peax
(The Diary of Edward VI, 1550s)
(4) Oh they used to be ever so funny houses
you know and in them days … They used
to have big windows, but they used to a all
be them there little tiny ones like that.
(BNC - FYD 72)
What happens?
Externally: a `strengthening’ of the third
person features in the pronoun and a shift
in the relationship with the demonstrative.
This reinforcement through external
pronouns, she and they, brought about a
reanalysis of the features of the pronoun
as deictic.
Demonstrative
[i-phi]/ [i-loc]
article
[u-phi]
Dem
C
copula
[i-phi]
[u/i-T]
[u-phi]
[i-loc]
[i-loc]
Also: degree adverb and tense marker (TibetoBurman)
Feature Economy:
Utilize semantic features: use them as for
functional categories, i.e. as formal features.
Generative Grammar
of the1990s-2013
Parameters consist of choices of feature
specifications as the child acquires a
lexicon (Chomsky 2004; 2007).
Baker, while disagreeing with this view of
parameters, calls this the Borer-ChomskyConjecture (2008: 156):
"All parameters of variation are attributable
to differences in the features of particular
items (e.g., the functional heads) in the
lexicon."
The importance of features
Chomsky (1965: 87-88): lexicon contains
information for the phonological,
semantic, and syntactic component.
Sincerity +N, -Count, +Abstract...)
Chomsky (1995: 230ff; 236; 277ff):
semantic (e.g. abstract object),
phonological (e.g. the sounds),
and formal features:
intrinsic or optional.
Semantic and formal overlap:
Chomsky (1995: 230; 381) suggests: "formal
features have semantic correlates and
reflect semantic properties (accusative
Case and transitivity, for example)."
I interpret this: If a language has nouns with
semantic phi-features, the learner will be
able to hypothesize uninterpretable
features on another F (and will be able to
bundle them there).
Summary
Cycle – Spiral
Micro-Macro Cycles
Four examples
Explanation in terms of features but many
others as we’ll see next!