Krzysztof Stroński

VARIATION OF ERGATIVITY PATTERNS IN INDO-ARYAN

Variation of Ergativity Patterns in Indo-Aryan Ergativity in the Indo-Aryan languages is a very intricate phenomenon. At the morphological level, we can observe a certain continuum, from disappearance of ergativity to its reinforcement. The first tendency is clearly visible not only in Eastern Hindi and Bihari dialects, but also in Western Rajasthani. The second tendency can be noted in the Pahari dialects. Somewhere in between are the Western Hindi dialects, which have introduced analytical marking for agent and patient. The transitional character of ergativity in Indo-Aryan can be observed in considering the alignment of the three syntactic-semantic Dixonian primitives, namely A, S, and O (Dixon 1979; 1994). It appears that, in fact, all possible alignments are traceable, even that in which A and O receive the same marking and which has been excluded by typologists (Comrie 1978). However, extending the Dixonian three-primitive system by Obi. (Klimov 1983), we can also observe that the same treatment of A and Obi. (perceived as one of the implications of ergativity) is shared by, for example, early Rajasthani, contemporary Pahari and Western Hindi, where it is closely connected with the polyfunctionality of the ergative postposition.

Approaches to Ergativity in Indo-Aryan

Approaches to Ergativity in Indo-Aryan The present paper aims at giving an overview of the basic theories pertaining to the emergence and development of ergativity in Indo-Aryan. It has usually been argued that ergativity could have been derived either from the passive or the originally PIE ergative construction. In addition to these two basic approaches to ergativity in IA, other perspectives are also taken into consideration here, namely the theory which is based on the pragmatic properties of OIA, and the hypothesis of the possible borrowing from the substratum languages. The existing models of the historical scenarios of the emergence of ergativity in IA, including their later mutations, are confronted with the hypothesis of the possible active typology of PIE. The active residues in OIA and its continuants might prove that ergativity arose due to the transition from the PIE active to the nominative stage attested in the daughter languages.

Non-Nominative Subjects in Rajasthani and Central Pahari. The Status of the Ergative and Obligatory Constructions

Non-Nominative Subjects in Rajasthani and Central Pahari. The Status of the Ergative and Obligatory Constructions It was noted very early (Kellog 1972 [1875]; Grierson 2005 [1916], vol. IX, part IV: 103-107) that Rajastahani and Pahari dialects displayed many morphological affinities. However languages belonging to both groups show different treatment of non-nominative subjects in ergative and obligatory constructions. Western Rajasthani is an example of constant drift towards nominativity and disappearance of the oblique subject marking in the ergative domain (cf. Khokhlova 2001; 2006). Eastern Rajasthani reinforces the A and O contrast by introducing the ne postposition which serves as a dative marker as well. Pahari dialects on the other hand consistently mark A of the transitive sentence with the le postposition which is also employed as an instrumental marker. Those dative and instrumental markers are also used in the obligatory constructions. Both types of markers are of recent origin but the ergative and obligatory patterns can be observed throughout the history of the IA languages. In Rajasthani and Pahari one can see two divergent morphological developments which have resulted in attrition and reinforcement of ergativity respectively. The situation seems to be more complex if we take into consideration specific developments in verbal agreement in Rajasthani and the maintenance of unmarked pronominal O in Kumauni (cf. Sharma 1987) in ergative construction and the reinterpretation of the obligatory construction as future tense in Kumauni and Garhwali. The present paper argues that despite the recent origin of case marking in IA languages they do share certain structural properties which are traceable historically. Introduction of new markers has served only to maintain structural pattern continuum. The employment of the ergative postposition with intransitive verbs (e.g. cough, laugh) (cf. Montaut 2004) and its implementation in the obligatory construction can be perceived as an attempt to rebuild the system which goes back neither to the ergative nor to accusative (cf. Klimov 1983; Lehmann 1995; Bauer 2000).

An application supporting language analysis within the framework of the phonetic grammar

The aim of the paper is to present an application supporting language analysis within the framework of the phonetic grammar. The notion of the phonetic grammar has been concisely introduced and the basic potential of the application and the algorithms employed in it are briefly discussed. The application is to enable a uniform description and a comparative analysis of many languages. At the first stage the languages taken into consideration are Polish, Chinese and Hindi.

Binary Classification Algorithms for the Detection of Sparse Word Forms in New Indo-Aryan Languages

This paper describes experiments in applying statistical classification algorithms for the detection of converbs – rare word forms found in historical texts in New Indo-Aryan languages. The digitized texts were first manually tagged with the help of a custom made tool called IA Tagger enabling semi-automatic tagging of the texts. One of the features of the system is the generation of statistical data on occurrences of words and phrases in various contexts, which helps perform historical linguistic analysis at the levels of morphosyntax, semantics and pragmatics. The experiments carried out on data annotated with the use of IA Tagger involved the training of multi-class and binary POS-classifiers.

Evolution of Stative Participles in Pahari

Abstract The point of departure for the present paper is the status of the bare participial form as inherited from MIA (Middle Indo-Aryan) by early NIA (New Indo-Aryan) with its stative force. It is a very well known phenomenon in the contemporary IA languages that the past participle can be extended by a past participle form based of the verb to be (e.g. MSH - Modern Standard Hindi - huā). It is also noticeable that not all NIA languages allow such extension and that several languages developed further, and reinterpreted the extended forms. The aim of the present paper will be to demonstrate how the stative participles developed in two branches of IA, namely Eastern and Western Pahari.1 The data for this preliminary research has been excerpted from Western Pahari inscriptions (Chhabra 1957), Eastern Pahari inscriptions (Pokharel 1974; Cauhān 2008; Joshi 2009), reference grammars and folk texts

An Axiomatic Approach to the General Theory of Compounds

An Axiomatic Approach to the General Theory of Compounds The aim of this article is to provide a logical reconstruction of the general theory of compounding. The theory formulated here is partly based on the axiomatic approach to general morphology presented in Bańczerowski (1997) and it can be conceived of as its continuation.

Computing the hierarchy of the articulatory dimensions

The aim of this paper is to present the notion of a hierarchy of articulatory dimensions and its application in phonetic typology. To calculate the hierarchies a computer application was designed, and preliminary counts were carried out on the phonetic repertories of Chinese, Hindi and Polish. The theoretical foundation of the calculus is based on earlier research referring to the axiomatic theory of phonetic grammar.