Selected Papers from the 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, 2017
Oblique-oblique case mergers are now known to be exceedingly rare outside Indo-European, yet very... more Oblique-oblique case mergers are now known to be exceedingly rare outside Indo-European, yet very common within it (Baerman, Brown, and Corbett, 2001, 2005). Explanations of these mergers given after 2001 now need to include factors that are, individually or collectively, unique to Indo-European. In this paper, a set of such Indo-European specific factors is proposed, mainly phonological and prosodic, and its implications explored, particularly for the Germanic, Italic and Celtic families. We begin with Proto-Indo-European accent and ablaut morphology and PIE’s existing syncretism of the ablative case. Timelines and examples in Proto-Germanic help flesh out the explanation.
This paper aims to refine and broaden the traditional Neogrammarian account of loss or merger of ... more This paper aims to refine and broaden the traditional Neogrammarian account of loss or merger of cases in Indo-European languages between 500BC and 1400AD. Historically this is argued as the erosion of unaccented final syllables in languages with initial-syllable stress.
Modern metrical structure framework theory (after Liberman and Prince, 1977) is used to account for the fact that case loss does not follow segmental sound change. The basis for this approach is that metrical structure can be the source of phonological changes, and well-known quantity adjustments common to many languages are likely to follow a common sequence.
Commencing with a literature review, the paper uses existing data of known sound and prosodic changes from ancient to modern in Germanic, Hellenic and Romance languages.
In conclusion, there is significant evidence for specific sequencing of prosodic changes driving case loss, with foot structure compliance in particular being directly responsible for major quantity adjustments. However, semantic and syntactic change also play a direct part in the loss of case. Some evidence for word prosody change as a driver of case loss is found, and further research is required into the role of phrasal prosody to mediate between syntactic and morphophonological change.
Selected Papers from the 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, 2017
Oblique-oblique case mergers are now known to be exceedingly rare outside Indo-European, yet very... more Oblique-oblique case mergers are now known to be exceedingly rare outside Indo-European, yet very common within it (Baerman, Brown, and Corbett, 2001, 2005). Explanations of these mergers given after 2001 now need to include factors that are, individually or collectively, unique to Indo-European. In this paper, a set of such Indo-European specific factors is proposed, mainly phonological and prosodic, and its implications explored, particularly for the Germanic, Italic and Celtic families. We begin with Proto-Indo-European accent and ablaut morphology and PIE’s existing syncretism of the ablative case. Timelines and examples in Proto-Germanic help flesh out the explanation.
This paper aims to refine and broaden the traditional Neogrammarian account of loss or merger of ... more This paper aims to refine and broaden the traditional Neogrammarian account of loss or merger of cases in Indo-European languages between 500BC and 1400AD. Historically this is argued as the erosion of unaccented final syllables in languages with initial-syllable stress.
Modern metrical structure framework theory (after Liberman and Prince, 1977) is used to account for the fact that case loss does not follow segmental sound change. The basis for this approach is that metrical structure can be the source of phonological changes, and well-known quantity adjustments common to many languages are likely to follow a common sequence.
Commencing with a literature review, the paper uses existing data of known sound and prosodic changes from ancient to modern in Germanic, Hellenic and Romance languages.
In conclusion, there is significant evidence for specific sequencing of prosodic changes driving case loss, with foot structure compliance in particular being directly responsible for major quantity adjustments. However, semantic and syntactic change also play a direct part in the loss of case. Some evidence for word prosody change as a driver of case loss is found, and further research is required into the role of phrasal prosody to mediate between syntactic and morphophonological change.
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Papers by Steve Rapaport
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Modern metrical structure framework theory (after Liberman and Prince, 1977) is used to account for the fact that case loss does not follow segmental sound change. The basis for this approach is that metrical structure can be the source of phonological changes, and well-known quantity adjustments common to many languages are likely to follow a common sequence.
Commencing with a literature review, the paper uses existing data of known sound and prosodic changes from ancient to modern in Germanic, Hellenic and Romance languages.
In conclusion, there is significant evidence for specific sequencing of prosodic changes driving case loss, with foot structure compliance in particular being directly responsible for major quantity adjustments. However, semantic and syntactic change also play a direct part in the loss of case. Some evidence for word prosody change as a driver of case loss is found, and further research is required into the role of phrasal prosody to mediate between syntactic and morphophonological change.
Modern metrical structure framework theory (after Liberman and Prince, 1977) is used to account for the fact that case loss does not follow segmental sound change. The basis for this approach is that metrical structure can be the source of phonological changes, and well-known quantity adjustments common to many languages are likely to follow a common sequence.
Commencing with a literature review, the paper uses existing data of known sound and prosodic changes from ancient to modern in Germanic, Hellenic and Romance languages.
In conclusion, there is significant evidence for specific sequencing of prosodic changes driving case loss, with foot structure compliance in particular being directly responsible for major quantity adjustments. However, semantic and syntactic change also play a direct part in the loss of case. Some evidence for word prosody change as a driver of case loss is found, and further research is required into the role of phrasal prosody to mediate between syntactic and morphophonological change.