This book presents a comprehensive reconstruction of Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages... more This book presents a comprehensive reconstruction of Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. It includes sections on phonology, lexicon, and—the key contribution—syntax. The author argues for an effective methodology of syntactic reconstruction and reconstructs a diverse range of syntactic phenomena, including verb serialization, clause subordination, nonverbal predicate structure, and switch reference.
We provide a phonetic examination of intrusive vowels in Sgi Bara [jil]. These vowels are inserte... more We provide a phonetic examination of intrusive vowels in Sgi Bara [jil]. These vowels are inserted in predictable places, and their quality (either [i], [ɨ], or [u]) is also predictable, so they are not considered phonemic. We demonstrate that they differ from phonemic vowels in their duration, being shorter; and in their articulation, being more peripheral; but not in their intensity. We then demonstrate how this phonetic understanding of the difference between intrusive and phonemic vowels can be used to answer phonological questions about Sgi Bara. We offer two case studies: phonologically ambiguous sequences of high vowels, and frequent two-word combinations that may be univerbating. The results confirm the existence of a distinction between intrusive and phonemic vowels.
Practitioners of syntactic reconstruction have not acknowledged that arbitrariness and iconicity ... more Practitioners of syntactic reconstruction have not acknowledged that arbitrariness and iconicity influence syntactic change, and that they therefore need to be incorporated into methods of reconstruction. I argue that iconicity creates a directional tendency in syntactic change, privileging structures that are more iconic. I propose a method for incorporating this fact into methods of syntactic reconstruction. I demonstrate the application of this method on two pieces of reconstructed syntax: orientation serial verb constructions and left-peripheral topics. Both case studies are from Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages of Papua New Guinea. A third, briefer case study concerns Proto-Carib.
We present an analysis of the general noun-modifying clause construction in Wiru (Trans-New Guine... more We present an analysis of the general noun-modifying clause construction in Wiru (Trans-New Guinea). In this construction, a subordinate clause modifies a head noun, whether or not the head noun plays a syntactic role in the subordinate clause. We present several structural features that are of typological interest. Subordinate clauses inflect for a restricted set of tense-aspect-mood categories: they neutralize the distinction between future and optative, and they exhibit a strong preference for anterior aspect. They can contain resumptive pronouns as well as full nouns that are coreferential with the head noun. Moreover, the head noun itself can be omitted, although other noun phrase constituents (such as adjectives or determiners) may still be present. This construction also exhibits special tonal properties, in that the lexical tone of the head noun is overridden and replaced with an HL falling contour. Finally, verb agreement with subjects that contain subordinate clauses is semantically governed, not structurally. We conclude with some areal comparisons.
This paper presents an overview of the tense-aspect system in the Sogeram languages of Papua New ... more This paper presents an overview of the tense-aspect system in the Sogeram languages of Papua New Guinea. Taking the Proto-Sogeram reconstruction in Daniels (2015, 2020) as a starting point, I outline the innovations that have taken place in daughter languages and discuss the patterns of change that emerge. The study confirms a variety of known cross-linguistic tendencies, such as the common occurrence of the analytic-to-synthetic and aspect-to-tense pathways of change. More notable trends include the diachronic stability of the present and most remote past tenses; the instability of the middle pasts and future; the stability of the relative semantic ordering of tenses; the absence of a pathway leading from relative-tense to absolute-tense marking; and the ability of innovative tenses to be inserted anywhere into the five-way tense system of Proto-Sogeram. The study also illustrates how featural systems can interact over time, at first by introducing a new feature value in one system which can combine with values from another (as with the Manat habitual), and then, if the featural distinction is lost, creating a pattern of distributed exponence (as in Mum).
This paper discusses the historical borrowing of an enclitic across unrelated Papuan languages sp... more This paper discusses the historical borrowing of an enclitic across unrelated Papuan languages spoken along the lower Sogeram River in the Middle Ramu region of present-day Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. The enclitic *=a, which attached to the right edge of a prosodic unit, was borrowed from the Ramu family into the ancestor of three modern Sogeram languages. Both morphological and prosodic substance were borrowed, as was the dual functionality of the enclitic-as a pragmatic marker in independent utterances and a linking device on dependent domains. We discuss the clitic's formal and functional properties as evidence for its contact-induced origin and subsequent historical development in western Sogeram, as well as the implications of these developments for our understanding of morphological and pragmatic borrowing. The complexities of this borrowing event highlight the potential for theories of language contact to benefit from collaborative research on previously unstud-ied contact areas.
We present a new phenomenon in inflectional morphology, 'repartitioning', based on data from Soq ... more We present a new phenomenon in inflectional morphology, 'repartitioning', based on data from Soq (Trans New Guinea). In repartitioning, the semantic boundary between two sets of morphological forms is redrawn in a single domain; one feature value takes over part, but not all, of the meaning of the other. In Soq the boundary is redrawn between the yesterday past tense and the hodiernal; the domain is the lexeme s-'stay'. For this one verb, the yesterday past takes over most of the range of the hodiernal, while the morphological forms remain regular. In clause chains the repartitioned verb surprisingly shows no syntactic effects. We demonstrate key differences from known phenomena, notably syncretism and overdifferentiation. Repartitioning is indeed new. It can be modeled in a theory based on default inheritance, but poses problems for other approaches. Finally, we present a typology of featural mismatches that situates Soq relative to known phenomena.*
The principle of directionality is an important part of the comparative method: in order to arriv... more The principle of directionality is an important part of the comparative method: in order to arrive at a reconstruction, historical linguists need a robust theory that informs them in what direction linguistic change is likely to proceed. But any such theory will have exceptions. How are these to be spotted? I examine one case in which a counter-directional change, degrammaticalization, can be reconstructed by invoking the phonotactics of the proto-language. The degrammaticalized form is the Sirva 3SG pronoun be, and the proto-language is Proto-Sogeram. After making this reconstruction, I also demonstrate that it can be used to enhance our understanding of degrammaticalization. Be spawned a small family of related forms, which shows us that degrammaticalized forms can become polygrammaticalized in the same way as other grammatical morphemes.
Historical glottometry is a method, recently proposed by Kalyan and François (François 2014, Kaly... more Historical glottometry is a method, recently proposed by Kalyan and François (François 2014, Kalyan & François in press), for analyzing and representing the relationships among sister languages in a language family. We present a glottometric analysis of the Sogeram language family of Papua New Guinea and in the process provide an evaluation of the method. We focus on three topics that we regard as problematic: how to handle the higher incidence of cross-cutting isoglosses in the Sogeram data; how best to handle lexical innovations; and what to do when the data do not allow the analyst to be sure whether a given language underwent a given innovation or not. For each topic we compare different ways of coding and calculating the data, and suggest the best way forward. We conclude by proposing changes to the way glottometric data is coded and calculated and the way glottometric results are visualized. We also discuss how to incorporate historical glottometry into an effective historical-linguistic research workflow.
Most scholars agree that grammatical borrowing is a serious obstacle to syntactic reconstruction,... more Most scholars agree that grammatical borrowing is a serious obstacle to syntactic reconstruction, but to date there have been few proposed solutions to this methodological conundrum. In this paper I propose a method, couched in a constructional view of language, for mitigating the problem of borrowing in syntactic reconstruction. The method begins with the reconstruction of partially schematic constructions, whose phonological material can be tested for cognacy. Fully schematic reconstructions are then achieved via generalizations made over sets of reconstructed constructions. I exemplify the effectiveness of this method by applying it to two pieces of grammar from the Sogeram languages of Papua New Guinea: clause chain nominalization and the desiderative construction. The method allows the reconstruction of the former, but identifies the latter as a likely grammatical borrowing and therefore not reconstructable to Proto-Sogeram.
In this paper I address the question of the genealogical affiliation of Gants, a language of Mada... more In this paper I address the question of the genealogical affiliation of Gants, a language of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, that has been classified several different ways in the literature. I argue that Gants belongs to the Sogeram group of languages, a subgroup of the Madang branch of the Trans New Guinea family. More specifically, I claim that Gants is an East Sogeram language, and I also argue that the closest genealogical relative of Gants is Kursav, another East Sogeram language, but one that is spoken farther from Gants than any of the eight other Sogeram languages.
In this paper I introduce Magɨ, a previously undocumented speech variety of central Madang Provin... more In this paper I introduce Magɨ, a previously undocumented speech variety of central Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Magɨ is closely related to the Aisi language; however, I argue that it should not be considered an Aisi dialect but rather a separate language. I present arguments from various domains in support of this position, including lexicon, phonology, morphology, syntax, historical change, mutual intelligibility, and language attitudes. The facts provided as evidence for these arguments also double as an outline of Magɨ structure , and I conclude that Magɨ is a separate language. The first appendix contains Magɨ and Aisi wordlists, and the second contains a short Magɨ text.
Koch, H.; R. Mailhammer, R. Blust, C. Bowern, D. Daniels, A. François, S. Greenhill, B. Joseph, L. Reid, M. Ross & P. Sidwell (2014) Research priorities in historical-comparative linguistics: A view from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Diachronica 31: 2, 267-278. , Jul 2014
This book presents a comprehensive reconstruction of Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages... more This book presents a comprehensive reconstruction of Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. It includes sections on phonology, lexicon, and—the key contribution—syntax. The author argues for an effective methodology of syntactic reconstruction and reconstructs a diverse range of syntactic phenomena, including verb serialization, clause subordination, nonverbal predicate structure, and switch reference.
We provide a phonetic examination of intrusive vowels in Sgi Bara [jil]. These vowels are inserte... more We provide a phonetic examination of intrusive vowels in Sgi Bara [jil]. These vowels are inserted in predictable places, and their quality (either [i], [ɨ], or [u]) is also predictable, so they are not considered phonemic. We demonstrate that they differ from phonemic vowels in their duration, being shorter; and in their articulation, being more peripheral; but not in their intensity. We then demonstrate how this phonetic understanding of the difference between intrusive and phonemic vowels can be used to answer phonological questions about Sgi Bara. We offer two case studies: phonologically ambiguous sequences of high vowels, and frequent two-word combinations that may be univerbating. The results confirm the existence of a distinction between intrusive and phonemic vowels.
Practitioners of syntactic reconstruction have not acknowledged that arbitrariness and iconicity ... more Practitioners of syntactic reconstruction have not acknowledged that arbitrariness and iconicity influence syntactic change, and that they therefore need to be incorporated into methods of reconstruction. I argue that iconicity creates a directional tendency in syntactic change, privileging structures that are more iconic. I propose a method for incorporating this fact into methods of syntactic reconstruction. I demonstrate the application of this method on two pieces of reconstructed syntax: orientation serial verb constructions and left-peripheral topics. Both case studies are from Proto-Sogeram, the ancestor to ten languages of Papua New Guinea. A third, briefer case study concerns Proto-Carib.
We present an analysis of the general noun-modifying clause construction in Wiru (Trans-New Guine... more We present an analysis of the general noun-modifying clause construction in Wiru (Trans-New Guinea). In this construction, a subordinate clause modifies a head noun, whether or not the head noun plays a syntactic role in the subordinate clause. We present several structural features that are of typological interest. Subordinate clauses inflect for a restricted set of tense-aspect-mood categories: they neutralize the distinction between future and optative, and they exhibit a strong preference for anterior aspect. They can contain resumptive pronouns as well as full nouns that are coreferential with the head noun. Moreover, the head noun itself can be omitted, although other noun phrase constituents (such as adjectives or determiners) may still be present. This construction also exhibits special tonal properties, in that the lexical tone of the head noun is overridden and replaced with an HL falling contour. Finally, verb agreement with subjects that contain subordinate clauses is semantically governed, not structurally. We conclude with some areal comparisons.
This paper presents an overview of the tense-aspect system in the Sogeram languages of Papua New ... more This paper presents an overview of the tense-aspect system in the Sogeram languages of Papua New Guinea. Taking the Proto-Sogeram reconstruction in Daniels (2015, 2020) as a starting point, I outline the innovations that have taken place in daughter languages and discuss the patterns of change that emerge. The study confirms a variety of known cross-linguistic tendencies, such as the common occurrence of the analytic-to-synthetic and aspect-to-tense pathways of change. More notable trends include the diachronic stability of the present and most remote past tenses; the instability of the middle pasts and future; the stability of the relative semantic ordering of tenses; the absence of a pathway leading from relative-tense to absolute-tense marking; and the ability of innovative tenses to be inserted anywhere into the five-way tense system of Proto-Sogeram. The study also illustrates how featural systems can interact over time, at first by introducing a new feature value in one system which can combine with values from another (as with the Manat habitual), and then, if the featural distinction is lost, creating a pattern of distributed exponence (as in Mum).
This paper discusses the historical borrowing of an enclitic across unrelated Papuan languages sp... more This paper discusses the historical borrowing of an enclitic across unrelated Papuan languages spoken along the lower Sogeram River in the Middle Ramu region of present-day Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. The enclitic *=a, which attached to the right edge of a prosodic unit, was borrowed from the Ramu family into the ancestor of three modern Sogeram languages. Both morphological and prosodic substance were borrowed, as was the dual functionality of the enclitic-as a pragmatic marker in independent utterances and a linking device on dependent domains. We discuss the clitic's formal and functional properties as evidence for its contact-induced origin and subsequent historical development in western Sogeram, as well as the implications of these developments for our understanding of morphological and pragmatic borrowing. The complexities of this borrowing event highlight the potential for theories of language contact to benefit from collaborative research on previously unstud-ied contact areas.
We present a new phenomenon in inflectional morphology, 'repartitioning', based on data from Soq ... more We present a new phenomenon in inflectional morphology, 'repartitioning', based on data from Soq (Trans New Guinea). In repartitioning, the semantic boundary between two sets of morphological forms is redrawn in a single domain; one feature value takes over part, but not all, of the meaning of the other. In Soq the boundary is redrawn between the yesterday past tense and the hodiernal; the domain is the lexeme s-'stay'. For this one verb, the yesterday past takes over most of the range of the hodiernal, while the morphological forms remain regular. In clause chains the repartitioned verb surprisingly shows no syntactic effects. We demonstrate key differences from known phenomena, notably syncretism and overdifferentiation. Repartitioning is indeed new. It can be modeled in a theory based on default inheritance, but poses problems for other approaches. Finally, we present a typology of featural mismatches that situates Soq relative to known phenomena.*
The principle of directionality is an important part of the comparative method: in order to arriv... more The principle of directionality is an important part of the comparative method: in order to arrive at a reconstruction, historical linguists need a robust theory that informs them in what direction linguistic change is likely to proceed. But any such theory will have exceptions. How are these to be spotted? I examine one case in which a counter-directional change, degrammaticalization, can be reconstructed by invoking the phonotactics of the proto-language. The degrammaticalized form is the Sirva 3SG pronoun be, and the proto-language is Proto-Sogeram. After making this reconstruction, I also demonstrate that it can be used to enhance our understanding of degrammaticalization. Be spawned a small family of related forms, which shows us that degrammaticalized forms can become polygrammaticalized in the same way as other grammatical morphemes.
Historical glottometry is a method, recently proposed by Kalyan and François (François 2014, Kaly... more Historical glottometry is a method, recently proposed by Kalyan and François (François 2014, Kalyan & François in press), for analyzing and representing the relationships among sister languages in a language family. We present a glottometric analysis of the Sogeram language family of Papua New Guinea and in the process provide an evaluation of the method. We focus on three topics that we regard as problematic: how to handle the higher incidence of cross-cutting isoglosses in the Sogeram data; how best to handle lexical innovations; and what to do when the data do not allow the analyst to be sure whether a given language underwent a given innovation or not. For each topic we compare different ways of coding and calculating the data, and suggest the best way forward. We conclude by proposing changes to the way glottometric data is coded and calculated and the way glottometric results are visualized. We also discuss how to incorporate historical glottometry into an effective historical-linguistic research workflow.
Most scholars agree that grammatical borrowing is a serious obstacle to syntactic reconstruction,... more Most scholars agree that grammatical borrowing is a serious obstacle to syntactic reconstruction, but to date there have been few proposed solutions to this methodological conundrum. In this paper I propose a method, couched in a constructional view of language, for mitigating the problem of borrowing in syntactic reconstruction. The method begins with the reconstruction of partially schematic constructions, whose phonological material can be tested for cognacy. Fully schematic reconstructions are then achieved via generalizations made over sets of reconstructed constructions. I exemplify the effectiveness of this method by applying it to two pieces of grammar from the Sogeram languages of Papua New Guinea: clause chain nominalization and the desiderative construction. The method allows the reconstruction of the former, but identifies the latter as a likely grammatical borrowing and therefore not reconstructable to Proto-Sogeram.
In this paper I address the question of the genealogical affiliation of Gants, a language of Mada... more In this paper I address the question of the genealogical affiliation of Gants, a language of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, that has been classified several different ways in the literature. I argue that Gants belongs to the Sogeram group of languages, a subgroup of the Madang branch of the Trans New Guinea family. More specifically, I claim that Gants is an East Sogeram language, and I also argue that the closest genealogical relative of Gants is Kursav, another East Sogeram language, but one that is spoken farther from Gants than any of the eight other Sogeram languages.
In this paper I introduce Magɨ, a previously undocumented speech variety of central Madang Provin... more In this paper I introduce Magɨ, a previously undocumented speech variety of central Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Magɨ is closely related to the Aisi language; however, I argue that it should not be considered an Aisi dialect but rather a separate language. I present arguments from various domains in support of this position, including lexicon, phonology, morphology, syntax, historical change, mutual intelligibility, and language attitudes. The facts provided as evidence for these arguments also double as an outline of Magɨ structure , and I conclude that Magɨ is a separate language. The first appendix contains Magɨ and Aisi wordlists, and the second contains a short Magɨ text.
Koch, H.; R. Mailhammer, R. Blust, C. Bowern, D. Daniels, A. François, S. Greenhill, B. Joseph, L. Reid, M. Ross & P. Sidwell (2014) Research priorities in historical-comparative linguistics: A view from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Diachronica 31: 2, 267-278. , Jul 2014
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