Matthew Baerman

Macedonian and Bulgarian li questions: Beyond syntax

The distribution of the yes/no-interrogative clitic li in Macedonian and Bulgarian reveals a complex interaction of syntax with non-syntactic factors. The underlying syntactic uniformity of questions with li in the two languages is obscured by a series of prosodic idiosyncracies in one language or the other. In Macedonian, the major prosodic phenomenon affecting the placement of li is the option for certain sequences of words to share a single stress. In Bulgarian, two different prosodic phenomena are relevant: stressing of clitics after the negative element ne and inversion of initial clitics with the following verb. When these factors are controlled for, the syntax of li questions in the two languages is strikingly homogeneous. If no element is focused (i.e., moved to SpecCP), then, in both languages, the tensed verb head-incorporates into li in C. Additional non-syntactic factors, including lexical differences between the two languages in the clitic/non-clitic status of certain auxiliaries and differences in the usage of li questions, are also discussed.

Covert systematicity in a distributionally complex system

Current thinking on inflection classes views them as organized networks rather than random assemblages of allomorphs (Carstairs-McCarthy 1994, Malouf & Ackerman 2010, Muller 2007), but we still find systems which appear to lack any visible implicative structure. A particularly striking example comes from Voro (a variety of South Estonian). Its system of verbal inflectional suffixes is formally simple but distributionally complex: although there are never more than three allomorphs in competition, nearly two dozen inflectional patterns emerge through rampant cross-classification of the allomorphs. Allomorph choice in one part of the paradigm thus fails to constrain allomorph choice in the rest, so it looks as if the paradigms would have to be memorized en masse. The key to these patterns lies outside the system of suffixation itself, in the more conventional formal complexity of stem alternations and their paradigmatic patterning. The computationally implemented analysis presented here provides a model of inflection in which the implicational network of phonological, morphophonological and morphological conditions on formal realization are unified in a single representation.

Suppletive kin term paradigms in the languages of New Guinea

Abstract Kin terms in some languages have suppletive roots according to the person of the possessor, as in Kaluli na:la: ‘my daughter’, ga:la: ‘your daughter’ versus ida: ‘her/his daughter’. Suppletion is generally seen as a language-specific morphological peculiarity, but in this context there are a number of lexical and morphological similarities across languages, suggesting the motivation may also lie in the nature of kin terms themselves. We offer a typological assessment of suppletive kin terms through a case study of the languages of New Guinea, where the phenomenon appears to be particularly common.

Linguistic typology: Morphology

Abstract Typology in its modern form is connected with the search for universals. This works to the advantage of certain types of questions, those which allow a more or less coherent answer for any language. Phonology, syntax, and semantics are usually the starting point, and such topics as phonological inventories, word order, and the range of expressible semantic distinctions constitute the bulk of research. These also form the core questions of general linguistics, so this research emphasis is only to be expected. Conversely, one area that receives relatively little attention from typologists is morphology. This too is hardly surprising: of all the aspects of language, morphology is the most language-specific and hence least generalizable. Indeed, even the very presence of a meaningful morphological component is language-specific.

The evolution of prosodic constraints in Macedonian

Abstract Macedonian dialects display a number of different accentual systems, ranging from free lexical stress (with possible secondary stress) to a penultimate-antepenultimate stress window and to various fixed stress systems: antepenultimate, penultimate and initial. Dialect geography suggests a model for their historical development. The gradual restrictions on stress freedom seen along an East-West axis resulted from the demotion of a stress faithfulness constraint down a fixed hierarchy of prosodic constraints, while different patterns of fixed stress resulted from reranking of the prosodic constraints themselves. Against this background the antepenultimate stress system of Standard Macedonian is seen to result chiefly from the interaction of two alignment constraints operating on trochaic feet: gradient leftward alignment and non-gradient rightward alignment, with final syllable extrametricality allowing for better satisfaction of the former.

Mian and Kilivila Collection

The Mian and Kilivila Collection contains information pertaining to the nominal classification systems of two indigenous languages of Papua New Guinea, Mian and Kilivila. Kilivila has a single system of classifiers, with a great number of distinctions, while Mian has a dual system, which combines four genders and six classifiers. The Digital Collection on this website permits users to gain a greater understanding of these systems by exploring images of Mian and Kilivila objects and people. Users are also able to test what they have learnt about the classifications systems of these two languages by taking the online Quiz.