Verbal Inflectional Morphology

Dashtaki is a Fārs dialect that is spoken in a small village in Fārs province of Iran. Dashtak is a high mountainous area (altitude: 2040m) situated at the feet of three tall mountains, which impedes the ability for villagers to communicate with people from other regions. It is known in contemporary linguistic theory that geography shapes language, and in particular, “mountain geography favours isolation” (Auer, Hilpert, Stukenbrock, & Szmrecsanyi, 2013, p. 38), which may explain the conservative and somewhat archaic nature of Dashtaki’s verbal inflection paradigm.
This paper aims to introduce Dashtaki as an inflectional variety of Fārs dialects and attempts to make a depiction of the different constructions used in its inflectional paradigms. The abundant literature on Fārs dialects (e.g. Salami, 2004-2014) lacks attention to the Dashtaki variant, and existing work on Dashtaki (see Morgenstierne, 1960; Fallahi, 2008; Hajiyani, 2009; Dorostkar, Qasemi, Fallahi, & Sheibani, 2015) lacks any detailed account of its verbal inflection system. This study aims to fill a gap in this literature by presenting fieldwork data from Dashtak to provide an overview of its verbal inflection system. This speech data collected included poetry verse readings by local poets as recorded by the village’s administration board. Daily conversations between older locals were also recorded with the assistance of locals and officials for the purposes of this study. Two native speakers of the dialect (middle-aged, educated locals) assisted in the analysis of the dataset, including their translation of more than 200 verb tokens which are glossed in Flex.

The study’s preliminary findings indicate that Dashtaki, like many other Fārs dialects, retains ergative marking on verbal constructions. Specifically, the agent of transitive verbs is marked by a personal proclitic, which is typically attested in the past tense. However, Dashtaki’s verbal inflection paradigm displays differences to the majority of other Fārs dialects. Consider the perfect marking in Table 1, which uses ergative marking for transitive verbs boredan and nādan, as opposed to the majority of the Fārs dialects, in which marking the auxiliary verb using the prefix ēst- is the case. With regards to intransitive verbs, periphrastic constructions comprise of the -ta-ka- (perfect) infix and the auxiliary budan (present), which is the case with Persian too. The difference between the ergative constructions in the past and perfect tense is that the personal proclitics are used in the past tense with the ancient past stem of the verb (or a shortened form of it), while in the perfect, a perfect participle is used. For example, the 3rd sg. of the past for the verb xardan: to eat, is eš xa: (S)he ate, while the perfect is eš xarda: (S)he has eaten. Further, the pluperfect, also uses an ergative construction which is marked with a personal proclitic and a perfect participle and bi, i.e. the 3rd person singular of the auxiliary verb budan, e.g. the 3rd sg. pluperfect for xardan: to eat, is eš xarda bi. Other forms examined in this study include imperative, subjunctive, continuous and passive verb inflections. The continuous form displays a serial verb construction identical to that of Persian. Table 1 includes two intransitive verbs (i.e. budan: to be and šodan: to go) and two transitive verbs (i.e. nādan: to put and boridan: to cut) to visualise the inflectional features discussed. This paper concludes the inflectional features of the Dashtaki verb and will finds similarities and differences with the other Fārs dialects.

Herewith, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Samad Moezzi and Mohammad Ahmadi who helped with the data collection and translation.

As línguas latinas, como o português e o francês, compartilham uma série de características morfológicas em seus paradigmas de flexão verbal. Assim, podem-se estabelecer associações e operações morfológicas específicas a cada língua. Mas existem também regras gerais e morfemas equivalentes nos dois sistemas em relação às desinências modo-temporal e número-pessoal. Este artigo a) apresenta o funcionamento morfológico da flexão verbal do português e do francês através de uma metodologia descritiva e comparativa da formação e utilização do verbo e b) discute as semelhanças e diferenças entre os dois sistemas a partir de uma abordagem teórica lexical baseada no morfema. Argumenta-se a favor de um modelo comum e geral subjacente às estruturas morfológicas da flexão verbal do português e do francês.

Στην παρούσα διατριβή εξετάζεται το μορφολογικό σύστημα της κρητικής διαλέκτου. Συγκεκριμένα, διερευνώνται οι μορφολογικές διαδικασίες της κλίσης και παραγωγής καθώς και τα μορφολογικής φύσης φαινόμενα που εμφανίζονται στη διάλεκτο από τον 14ο αι., δηλαδή τον αιώνα που εντοπίζονται οι πρώτες πηγές της διαλέκτου, έως και τη σημερινή εποχή.
Από τον 6ο αι. μ.Χ έως και τον 12ο αι. μ.Χ., γραπτές πηγές που να περιέχουν διαλεκτικά χαρακτηριστικά δεν έχουν διασωθεί, λόγω της παγίωσης του κινήματος του Αττικισμού (Browning 2008, Μπαμπινιώτης 2002, Horrocks 2010). Η στάση της βυζαντινής αυτοκρατορίας στο ζήτημα της γλώσσας ήταν συντηρητική και προέβλεπε την τήρηση της γλωσσικής παράδοσης, όπως είχε διαμορφωθεί από το αττικιστικό ρεύμα και είχε πάντοτε την αποδοχή και τη στήριξη των Πατέρων της Εκκλησίας (Μπαμπινιώτης 2002: 149, Horrocks 2010: 323). Το κύρος της λόγιας γλώσσας μειώθηκε σημαντικά μετά την Άλωση της Κωνσταντινούπολης από τους Φράγκους στα 1204, αφού το εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα του κράτους κατέρρευσε (Browning 2008: 99, Μπαμπινιώτης 2002: 150).  Με τη συρρίκνωση της βυζαντινής αυτοκρατορίας και την κατάρρευση του πολιτικού συστήματος, ξεκινά μία περίοδος στη λογοτεχνία όπου τα πρώτα διαλεκτικά στοιχεία λόγου είναι πλέον ορατά, ιδιαίτερα στις περιοχές που κατακτήθηκαν από τις δυτικές δυνάμεις (Horrocks 2010: 281, 323).
Υιοθετώντας το σύστημα χρονολόγησης της ελληνικής γλώσσας των Holton & Manolessou (2010: 540-541), οι οποίοι χωρίζουν την Ελληνική σε Πρώιμη Μεσαιωνική (500 – 1100), Όψιμη Μεσαιωνική (1100 – 1500) και Πρώιμη Νέα Ελληνική (1500 – 1700), προτείνω μία χρονολόγηση της Κρητικής με κριτήριο τόσο τις πηγές όσο και τα διαφορετικά στάδια εξέλιξης της διαλέκτου σε: α) Όψιμη Μεσαιωνική Κρητική (1300 – 1500), β) Πρώιμη Νεότερη Κρητική (1500 – 1700) και γ) Νεότερη Κρητική (1900 –) .
Αποτελεί κοινή διαπίστωση πως στη σημερινή εποχή απουσιάζουν μελέτες βασιζόμενες σε σύγχρονες γλωσσολογικές μεθόδους ανάλυσης που να περιγράφουν την κλίση της κρητικής διαλέκτου. Πληροφορίες για το ονοματικό και ρηματικό σύστημα της Νεότερης Κρητικής συγκεντρώνουμε κυρίως από παραδοσιακές περιγραφές της διαλέκτου (βλ., μεταξύ άλλων, Χατζιδάκι 1915, Αναγνωστόπουλο 1926, Πάγκαλο 1955, Κοντοσόπουλο 1969) και διαλεκτικά λεξικά/γλωσσάρια (Πάγκαλος 1955, Τσιριγωτάκης 2008, Ξανθινάκης 2009 κ.ά.) που αφιερώνουν ένα μικρό μέρος της ύλης τους στην παρουσίαση των μορφολογικών, φωνολογικών, σημασιολογικών και λεξιλογικών χαρακτηριστικών της διαλέκτου. Για τη Μεσαιωνική και Πρώιμη Νεότερη Κρητική έχουν εκπονηθεί φιλολογικές μελέτες (βλ., μεταξύ άλλων, van Gemert 1980, Bakker & van Gemert 2002), οι οποίες αφιερώνουν ελάχιστες σελίδες στη γλώσσα των λογοτεχνικών πηγών και δεν ξεπερνούν τα όρια μιας απλής περιγραφής.
Για το κεφάλαιο της κλίσης θέτω τα εξής ερευνητικά ερωτήματα: α) ποια ήταν η μορφή του ονοματικού και ρηματικού κλιτικού συστήματος της Κρητικής την περίοδο του όψιμου μεσαίωνα (1300 – 1500), β) ποια ήταν η μορφή του ονοματικού και ρηματικού κλιτικού συστήματος της Κρητικής την περίοδο των πρώιμων νεότερων χρόνων (1500 – 1700), γ) διαφοροποιείται η Νεότερη Κρητική από την Κρητική της περιόδου του 14ου – 17ου αι. μ.Χ., δ) κατά πόσο έχει επηρεάσει η Κοινή Νέα Ελληνική (εφεξής και ΚΝΕ) το ονοματικό και ρηματικό κλιτικό σύστημα της Νεότερης Κρητικής. Για την ανάλυσή μου υιοθετώ το μοντέλο της Ralli (2000) και Ράλλη (2005) και προτείνω ένα σύστημα κλιτικών τάξεων της Κρητικής ανά περίοδο, το οποίο, δε συμβάλλει μόνο στην περιγραφή του κλιτικού συστήματος, αλλά διαφωτίζει και τα διαφορετικά στάδια εξέλιξης της διαλέκτου. Συμπληρωματικά, εξετάζονται τα φαινόμενα και οι μορφολογικοί μηχανισμοί που προκαλούν αλλαγή στο κλιτικό σύστημα της διαλέκτου (π.χ. αναλογία, ετερόκλιση, παραδειγματική ομοιομορφία κ.ά.) υπό το πρίσμα των τελευταίων εξελίξεων της γλωσσολογικής θεωρίας.
Για τη διαδικασία παραγωγής λέξεων στην Κρητική οι αναφορές στη βιβλιογραφία εξακολουθούν να είναι πενιχρές. Το μοναδικό έργο που αφιερώνει ορισμένες σελίδες στην παραγωγή έως σήμερα είναι εκείνο του Πάγκαλου (1955). Ο συγγραφέας παρουσιάζει έναν μακροσκελή κατάλογο με παραγωγικά επιθήματα, ωστόσο, περιορίζεται σε μία απλή περιγραφή και σημειώνει τις περιοχές που αυτά εντοπίζονται. Στο κεφάλαιο της παραγωγής λέξεων θα επιχειρήσω να δώσω απάντηση σε μία πλειάδα ερευνητικών ερωτημάτων όπως: α) ποια είναι τα βασικότερα είδη παραγωγής λέξεων στην κρητική διάλεκτο, β) κατά πόσο διαφέρει η παραγωγή της διαλέκτου από αυτή της ΚΝΕ σε επίπεδο προσφυματοποίησης, γ) υπάρχουν περιορισμοί στην παραγωγή, οι οποίοι, αν και απαντούν στην ΚΝΕ, απουσιάζουν από την κρητική διάλεκτο, δ) παρουσιάζεται διαφοροποίηση μεταξύ των δύο κρητικών ιδιωμάτων (ανατολικού και δυτικού) σε επίπεδο παραγωγής, ε) παρατηρούνται μεταβολές ως προς τις παραγωγικές διαδικασίες της διαλέκτου από τον μεσαίωνα έως σήμερα. Για τη μελέτη της παραγωγής υιοθετώ το γενετικό μοντέλο της Ralli (1988) και Ράλλη (2005). Η διατριβή δεν περιορίζεται μόνο στη διαδικασία της προσφυματοποίησης που είναι το πιο κοινό είδος παραγωγής στην Ελληνική (βλ. Ράλλη 2005), αλλά και σε λιγότερο παραγωγικές διαδικασίες, όπως η μετάπλαση/μηδενική παραγωγή και η αναδρομική παραγωγή.

In this paper, I provide an overview of tone encoding grammatical meanings, a phenomenon which to date has been insufficiently studied in depth by typologists, nor theoretical morphologists. A starting point for the present discussion is the newly published volume “Tone and inflection” (Palancar, Léonard eds. 2016), which contains a collection of papers focusing on inflectional tone in various languages, but mainly Oto-Manguean. I discuss basic formal and semantic properties of tone in grammar illustrating my claims with examples from the “Tone and inflection” volume as well as with cases from various African languages. I suggest and justify several implicational hypotheses covering typological patterning of grammatical tones; these proposed generalizations should be tested in a balanced survey in the future.

In this thesis we try to work out the crucial theoretical problem of the relation between Inflection and Derivation. In particular, we examine Greenberg’s Universal 28 which states that inflectional elements will be peripheral with respect to derivational elements. Central to the discussion are Modern Greek prefixed verbs with internal augment but also other European languages that is to say Germanic Languages, Romance Languages and some Modern Greek dialects.

In a general introductory section we discuss the main theoretical problem of the relation between Inflection and Derivation. Every approach to such a topic entails taking a position in the current theoretical debate about the issue if there is a sharp boundary between the two categories. We adopt the idea there is a cline from derivation to inflection rather than a clear-cut dichotomy between the two. In this view, interactions between Derivation and Inflection show that Inflection may feed Derivation

In section 2 we examine the morphological status of the verbal augment in Standard Modern Greek. 

In section 3 we discuss the morphological status of Ancient Greek prepositions. Following previous analyses, it is shown that AG prepositions have derivational properties in Modern Greek and are placed in a morphological continuum, which is determined on properties such as structural boundness and lexical meaning. AG prepositions are situated in the middle between bound stems and affixes. Strong evidence for this relation is drawn from the examination of the prepositional system evolution and from other languages. 



In section 4 the main topic of discussion is the occurrence of internal augment in prefixed verbal forms. What is potentially problematic about this case is the fact that, although there is a syllable to bear the stress, an extra syllable (the ‘augment’) appears. All the previous theoretical analyses do not examine prefixed verbal forms in order to investigate what happens with the ‘augment’. So, we examined thoroughly these forms and we argue that this is a case in which a derivational prefix precedes an inflectional one, thus forming an exception to Greenberg’s Universal 28.


In section 5 it is claimed that Greek data can be described in a satisfactory way by making use of a Construction Morphology framework, a theory of morphology in which word formation is accounted for by morphological schemas of varying degrees of abstraction in a hierarchical lexicon.

Dans cette contribution, je présente la morphologie verbale du francoprovençal, une langue romane parlée dans l'est de la France (région Rhône-Alpes), en Suisse romande et en Vallée d'Aoste (Italie) qui offre des particularités morphologiques remarquables. Au centre de ma recherche portant sur la morphologie verbale des langues (gallo-)romanes figurent deux phénomènes morphologiques (ainsi que leur interaction) qui constituent une déviation de la correspondance biunivoque entre forme et sens, présumée en linguistique.

In this chapter, we shall present a selection of the most relevant phenomena in inflectional verb morphology, i.e. where a debate about their nature has significantly evolved: with respect to the morphology-phonology interface, i.e. morphophonology, we shall basically highlight stem allomorphy. Throughout this chapter, syncretism will play a major role as a prime example and recurrent theme which elucidates the variety of interfaces pertaining to the inflection of verbs – as all important interfaces with morphology are involved: phonology, syntax, and semantics/pragmatics. Other instances of non-canonical morphology discussed include suppletion, periphrases, overabundance, and defectiveness. Lastly, we shall address the notion of the Autonomy of Morphology, i.e. the assumption of an autonomous morphomic level.

This dissertation investigates the IP-related categories and how the verbal domain of Turkish is organized. Within the theory of Universal Grammar, there are three major approaches to the IP domain of languages. The initial distinction is between the Syncretic IP model and the Rich IP model. The former refers to the conception that human language only makes available the heads and phrases required in a specific derivation, and that languages display parametric variation while the latter argues that the human mind comes with a highly articulated and rigid schematic hierarchy where all features of all functional categories are available in every derivation without parametric variation, yet most of them are silent. Additionally, there is an intermediate hypothesis, the Split IP model, where only major categories such as tense, mood and aspect, have dedicated head positions, and the morphological form inserted to each head position specifies its value.

The dissertation aims to find out which one of these models is supported by the data in Turkish. I argue that split or syncretic character of the IP in Turkish should be sensitive syntactic operations that can target the functional heads individually. With this in mind, I suggest that a non-finite adjunct clause in Turkish is exceptional in that it lacks any kind of content when it stands alone, and therefore cannot be uttered in isolation. Yet when adjoined to a matrix clause, it is interpreted as having the values of the functional heads in the matrix clause via the mechanism ‘copy’. The data illustrates that although ‘copy’ can target some heads individually, there are two sets of heads that are always copied as a whole. Assuming that ‘copy’ can only single out independent heads, I conclude that Turkish has two syncretic phrases where two morphemes co-head the phrase. Specifically, ability modal and negation form the deontic modality phrase (DmodP) while tense co-heads another phrase with an aspect or modal marker (TAMP).

Why did Shakespeare write 'shak’d' when we say 'shook'? Why do some people say 'dived' and others 'dove'?

These questions have to do with how we inflect verbs for past tense, and how those strategies vary across time and space. This dissertation sheds light on the issue through case studies of verbs in Swedish and Frisian, and by using analogy (structural similarity) as a way of explaining language change. In the first half of the book the development of verbal inflection in the Germanic languages is treated, along with more detailed histories of that inflection in Swedish and Frisian.

The second part is dedicated to analogy. The hypothesis is that verbs that sound alike will tend to have the same kind of past tense inflection as well. After an introduction of the concept of analogy, it is applied to the data described in the first half of the book. Using two analogical computer models, changes from the history of Swedish and Frisian are recreated, and the successes and failures of the models show how well analogy can explain inflection class changes in these languages. In addition, the analogical modelling findings are related to frequency, leading to the conclusion that analogy and frequency together determine patterns of stability and shift in verbal inflection classes.

Finally, the two appendices of this dissertation contain historical mini-dictionaries of verbs with strong inflection in the Germanic languages.

In Kiranti languages, the presence of rich alternations in verbal paradigms make internal reconstruction possible, and allow a better understanding of the vowels and codas of the proto-language than is possible for other parts of speech. This paper, using data from four representative languages (Wambule, Khaling, Bantawa, Limbu), proposes a new approach to Proto-Kiranti historical linguistics combining the comparative method and internal reconstruction, and taking morphological alternations and analogy into account. It presents a comprehensive account of the sound correspondences between the four target languages and reconstructs more than 280 proto-Kiranti verb roots.

After discussing the second verbal inflection in the theory part (how to deduce different types of verbal inflections; what regular forms depend on, §2), the work shows that Valencian-Catalan, taking as reference French verbal inflection (inflection with no model), has created a new model which covers the 75% of the verbal forms (§3). In the 19th century, Pau Ballot and Josep Nebot reduce the apparent chaos in a structural description, which is closer to reality (§4). These contributions disappear in Pompeu Fabra. Without any theory nor reflection on verbal inflection structures, he makes a false statement, which has the effect of presenting regular verbs as irregular, taking two irregular verbs as the model (§5.1). The lack of describing the inflected structures built by speakers leads us to misinterpret the regular form of the infinitive ({valer/valdre}, §5.2) and the gerund ({duent/duguent}, §5.3).

En esta presentación hago un esbozo de la caracterización de los rasgos del alineamiento semántico en hñähñu, con especial atención en los verbos de patrón pacientivo y los verbos fluidos.

In this presentation I describe the features of the semantic alignment in Hñähñu, and I pay special attention to verbs following patientive and fluid patterns.

Dentro da lingüística estrutural é común o axioma de que se debe realizar unha descrición lingüística sincrónica dunha variedade ignorando o cambio continuo a que se ve sometida. Fundaméntase este axioma na oposición metodolóxica saussureana entre diacronía e sincronía. Saussure é pai desta dicotomía, pero tamén doutras que foron preteridas ou revisadas polas correntes principais do estruturalismo europeo. Neste artigo presentarei algunhas desas ideas de Saussure preteridas; estas ideas esquecidas constitúen un precedente teórico de novas concepcións da gramática (a lingüística baseada no uso e nos exemplares) que superan algúns dos problemas que, ó meu xuízo, se detectan no modelo de morfoloxía flexiva que hoxe domina a lingüística galega. Un resultado desta revisión teórica será a constatación de que tanto na explicación coma na descrición dun estado de lingua non se pode prescindir da información diacrónica. En § 2 presento as ideas de Saussure recibidas e hoxe mantidas; en § 3 as ideas deste autor preteridas; en 4, a concepción da morfoloxía flexiva dominante na nosa tradición gramatical e os seus problemas; en § 5 ofrezo un modelo alternativo, basado na gramática baseada no uso e nos exemplares.

Evolution of aorist and imperfect endings from Indo-European to Classical Armenian.
Based on a talk held May 14, 2015 in Saint Petersburg.
Автор: Реми Вирда
Full volume here: https://alp.iling.spb.ru/en/xiv1.html
French and Russian abstracts : see end of paper.
English abstract: Armenian aorist and imperfect endings
Armenian aorists go back to PIE aorists (elik‘), imperfects (eharc‘), or even durative imperfects (ekeac‘).
Armenian imperfects, as in Slavic, all go back to *ēs- ‘was/were’, either by itself (běxъ, ei), or in periphrastic constructions (nesěaxъ, berei), whose first element has perhaps been identified (Jasanoff 1978, 2003).
Endings show numerous innovations:
– 1 sg. *-m̥ → *-om, as in Slavic: *ēsm̥ ‘I was’ → *ēsom (cf. Bonfante 1942; hence the loss of the final nasal in Armenian). – Motive: probably the personal pronoun *eg1om.
– 1 sg. athematic *-m (after vowels) and *-om (after consonants) → * som, again as in Slavic: *(e)dōm ‘I gave’ → *(e)dōsom, hence daxъ, etu (Bonfante 1942). – Motive: presumably an opposite substitution 3 sg. *-s-t > *-s → *-t in sigmatic aorists and the imperfect *ēst.
– In the plural, Armenian did not share in the reshaping to *dō-s- seen in Slavic daxomъ, witness edak‘ ‘we put’ ← *(e)dhames. This means that etun ‘they gave’ is not identical to Slavic dašę ← *dōsn̥t, but rather a late reshaping of *etn < *(e)dont.
– After the loss of final consonants in 2 sg. *(e)bheres, *(e)dōs and 3 sg. *(e)bheret, *(e)dōt, the personal pronoun was added to restore the distinction: 3 sg. *(e)bere, *(e)tō > eber, et, but 2 sg. *(e)bere-du, *(e)tō-du > berer, etur (Pedersen 1905, Viredaz 2005).
– After 1 sg. aorist *ebéro > *ebér had merged with 3 sg. *ebére > ebér, the former was replaced by berí, presumably the then imperfect form (Viredaz 2002a). In its imperfect function, *berí was reshaped to bereí.
– The y in keray ‘I ate’ possibly arose when *(e-)gwera-som ‘I swallowed’ > *ekéro ‘I ate’ was remade to *kerá-yo after *eí(y)o ‘I was’, *edí(y)o ‘I put’.
– In the imperfect ei, êr ‘I was, he was’, the stem e- was added to the inherited forms *ío, *í < *ēsom, *ēt ← *ēsm̥, *ēst ; 3 sg. -r might reflect an old demonstrative (Pedersen 1905).
The medio-passive endings are more briefly treated. Klingenschmitt’s (1982) views on the origin of present i and aorist a are endorsed.

L’objectif de cette rencontre internationale, dont les actes sont ici publiés dans le volume 22 des Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique de Paris, est de mettre en valeur le grand potentiel empirique – mais aussi théorique – que représentent les dialectes du vaste continuum roman pour les modélisations en morphologie flexionnelle, dans une perspective qui articule universaux et types. Les contributions réunies dans ce volume offrent d’une part des modélisations de données dialectales à la lumière des modèles contemporains en morphologie flexionnelle (ou « nouvelles morphologies », telles que Paradigm Function Morphology, la Morphologie Exemplariste ou la Grammaire de Graphes), avec notamment, un retour critique sur les classes flexionnelles proposées d’ordinaire par les grammaires structurales des langues romanes de grande diffusion; d’autre part, elles tentent un retour réflexif sur des modèles « canoniques » ou des descriptions monographiques originales, mais encore peu connues ou insuffisamment revisitées, comme celle de Jacques Allières sur le verbe gascon (ALG V). Elles explorent le grain fin des types, pour des variétés aussi bien centrales que périphériques de la Romania, au bénéfice de la linguistique générale aussi bien que de ce qu’on peut appeler la dialectologie générale, entendue comme une typologie à haut degré de résolution et de complexité systémique des langues du monde.

The author uses a 'canonical' approach to offer a new perspective on the complex phenomenon of inflectional classes. This means extrapolating from what there is to what there might be, in order to define the theoretical space into which real instances fit. To do this, the author proposes eight criteria, grouped under two overarching principles. These are: I. distinctiveness: canonical inflectional classes are as clearly distinct as possible; and II. independence: the distribution of lexical items over canonical inflectional classes is unmotivated. The author investigates the various deviations from these principles, by considering in turn the more detailed criteria which exemplify them. While one might reasonably expect that 'canonical inflectional class' is an ideal without exemplars, the author finds an example which comes remarkably close to canonical.

This presentation contrasts two different members of the proposed Na-Dené-Yeniseian family (Navajo, Ket) and focuses on the similarities and differences that show up in the behavior of inflectional morphemes.  The continuum of inflection and derivation/grammar and lexicon is addressed by the property of "thematicity" that emerges when grammatical and lexical morphemes constructionalize. The genetical question is not answered here, but the conclusions that arise by comparing these two languages could also be discussed in historical linguistics, namely, why and how thematicity emerges.

Variation in verbal morphology is a phenomenon which has been the object of linguistic research for a long time. Two competing sets of predictions have been put forth to account for the distribution of verbal inflections in learner language: The Aspect Hypothesis posits that learners predominantly use inflections to indicate categories of lexical aspect, while the Discourse Hypothesis claims that they are used to differentiate foreground from background in narratives. Drawing on a corpus of more than sixty L2 narrations elicited in a German-English immersion elementary school, this longitudinal study analyzes the interaction of lexical aspect and discourse grounding. The results confirm both predictions and show more clearly than previous research in what way both effects can interact with each other.

Resumen: En este trabajo analizamos la defectividad verbal como una manifestación de las vacilaciones que experimentan los hablantes al elegir un tipo de flexión, regular o irregular. Este tipo de defectividad formal (NGLE 2009) se debe a que la representación que tomarían ciertas palabras verbales no es semejante a las formas correspondientes análogas en paradigmas productivos rivales, uno regular y otro irre-gular. Esta falta de coincidencia provoca que los hablantes rechacen ambas formas posibles, dejen sin usar las celdas correspondientes y susciten con ello un “defecto” en el paradigma. Ahora bien, si alguna de las formas rechazadas comienza a usarse y se impone en la comunidad de habla, entonces el verbo dejará de ser defectivo. Esto es lo que ha sucedido recientemente con el verbo abolir, del cual pueden docu-mentarse formas regulares: abolo, abole, abola, abolen.

PALABRAS CLAVE: MORFOLOGÍA, FLEXIÓN, PRETÉRITO, IMPERATIVO, LÉXICO 1. Introducción D entro del marco de la Gramática Generativa, la morfología fue durante un tiempo el área a la que se prestó menos atención. No fue sino hasta la aparición de un breve artículo de Morris Halle ("Prolegomena") que se hizo evidente el vacío que existía en la teoría lingüística respecto de la estructura interna de las palabras. El artículo inicial de Halle fue seguido por trabajos como los de Aronoff y Siegel en los que se proponían diferentes enfoques acerca de la formación de palabras. A partir de entonces han surgido diversos modelos para el estudio de la morfología. Entre los más relevantes encontramos los de Lieber (On the Organization, Deconstructing Morphology), Selkirk, Di Sciullo y Williams, todos ellos clasificables bajo lo que se podría denominar como "lexicis-mo". En dichos trabajos la suposición básica es que los afijos tienen en el léxico el mismo estatus que las palabras, es decir, constituyen entradas léxicas en las que está especificada una forma fonológica, un contenido semántico, un marco de subcategorización y una lista de propiedades morfosintácticas (persona, nú

L'évolution de la morphologie verbale des langues romanes se joue sur deux axes : l'aspect conservateur, d'une part, car la morphologie verbale romane se conçoit comme concinuatrice de celle du latin et les irrégularités du radical sont celles du latin (p. ex. les formes du verbe être au présent de l'indicatif en français standard). L'aspect novateur, d'autre part, avec l'émergence de nouveaux temps synthétiques comme le futur et le conditionnel et le développement de nouvelles irrégularités du radical qui sont dues d'abord aux changements phonétiques, puis à des réfections analogiques. Enfin, on a affaire au syncrétisme qui devient la force majeure structurant tout le système verbal dans le domaine d'oïl (et aussi, mais moins prononcé, en francoprovençal et dans des dialectes gallo-italiens et rhéto-romans). Ce phénomène est presque absent du système verbal latin mais présent dans la quasi-totalité des langues romanes à des degrés très inégaux.

The three major classes of verbs in Northern Somali are discussed: suffix-conjugated verbs with their three conjugations, prefix-conjugated verbs, and adjectival verbs. Their main inflectional features are described, and their most impportant subgroups.
Subsequently, the major types of verbal nouns that are derived from these verbs are briefly described.

LEXICAL SPLITS: THEIR SURPRISING TYPOLOGY

Greville G. Corbett
Surrey Morphology Group
University of Surrey

In trying to understand natural language, we need to consider what is a ‘possible word’ (lexeme). We find simple lexemes that are internally homogeneous and externally consistent. On the other hand, there are others with splits in their internal structure and inconsistencies in their external behaviour. I first explore the characteristics of the most straightforward lexemes, in order to establish a point in the theoretical space from which we can calibrate the real examples we find. I then schematize the interesting phenomena which deviate from this idealization: these deviations include suppletion, syncretism, deponency and defectiveness. Next I analyse the different ways in which lexemes are split into two or more segments by such phenomena. I set out a typology of possible splits, along four dimensions: (i) splits based on the composition/feature signature of the paradigm versus those based solely on morphological form; (ii) motivated (following a boundary motivated from outside the paradigm) versus purely morphology-internal (‘morphomic’); (iii) regular (extending across the lexicon) versus irregular (lexically specified); (iv) externally relevant versus irrelevant. I identify instances of these four dimensions separately: they are orthogonal to each other. Their interaction gives a substantial typology, and it proves to be surprisingly complete: the possibilities specified are all attested. The typology also allows for the unexpected patterns of behaviour to overlap in particular lexemes, producing some remarkable examples. Such examples show that the notion ‘possible word’ is more challenging than has generally been realized.

Elena FELL, Macro-reasoning and cognitive gaps: understanding post-Soviet Russians’ communication styles. ESSACHESS - Journal for Communication Studies. Vol 10, No 1(19) (2017). P. 91-110.

Russians and Westerners access, process and communicate information in different ways. Whilst Westerners favour detailed analysis of subject matter, Russians tend to focus on certain components that are, in their view, significant. This disparity makes it difficult to achieve constructive dialogues between Western and Russian stakeholders contributing to cross-cultural communication problems. The author claims that the difference in the ways Russians and Westerners negotiate information is a significant cultural difference between Russia and West rather than an irritating (and in principle amenable) lack of analytical skills on the Russian partners' part. Understanding the reasons behind the Russian-specific approaches to dealing with information would be a positive step towards a more effective cross-cultural communication, important in business situations and essential in diplomacy.

El objetivo de esta contribución es describir, comparar y analizar los patrones de sincretismo en la morfología verbal de las lenguas ibero- y galorrománicas, y de caracterizar su representación teórica. Generalmente, las lenguas iberorrománicas no tienen muchas formas sincréticas, sin embargo, encontramos un sincretismo de la 1SG = 3SG 1 muy difundido en casi todas las diversas combinaciones de tiempo, modo y aspecto (que llamaremos paradigmas parciales), excepto el PRES.IND, el PRET.IND (indefinido) y el FUT.IND.