Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 39:4 (2022) ► pp.565–607
Preverbal a-marking in Palenquero Creole
Testing theories of grammaticalization, convergence, and inheritance
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
Published online: 25 March 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.20072.smi
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.20072.smi
Abstract
Formally similar grammatical features in a creole and its genetic or areal relatives may indicate substrate transfer,
lexifier influence, or grammaticalization. Against this backdrop, the present study investigates the origin(s) of the preverbal past marker
a in Palenquero Creole (Colombia). Results from distributional analysis and tests for significance indicate that several
diachronically-related meanings are a-marked at rates approaching obligatory, suggesting advanced grammaticalization.
Comparative results for Peninsular haber + PP suggest that past marking has grammaticalized much further in half the time
in Palenquero Creole than in its lexifier, Spanish. Why? I argue, against traditional accounts about the origins of a,
that, given the contact history of Palenquero speakers, most likely a pre-existing Kikongo prefixal form merged with an already
grammaticalizing haber, thus propelling grammaticalization in the creole. The synchronic patterning shows adherence to
typological patterns observed for perfectives in line with well-known constraints on competition and selection in contact languages, such as
their grammatical congruence or particular social ecologies.
Zusammenfassung
Formelle Ähnlichkeiten in den grammatischen Strukturelementen einer Kreolsprache und deren genetischen Verwandten
oder geographischen Nachbarn können auf Substrateinfluss, Lexifiereinfluss oder auf Grammatikalisierung zurückgeführt werden. Vor diesem
Hintergrund untersucht diese Studie die Herkunft des präverbalen Partikels a in der spanisch-basierten Kreolsprache
Palenquero (Kolumbien). Distributionelle Analysen und Signifikanztests zeigen, dass verschiedene diachronisch verwandte Bedeutungen durch
a markiert werden, was vorgeschrittene Grammatikalisierung andeutet (n = 1327). Ein Vergleich mit dem
kontinentalspanischen haber + PP weist wiederum darauf hin, dass bei der Markierung der Vergangenheit die
Grammatikalisierung im Palenquero in der halben Zeit viel weiter vorgeschritten ist als in dessen Lexifier. Warum ist dem so? Im Gegensatz
zur traditionellen Auffassung der Herkunft der Partikel a argumentiere ich, dass deren Ursprung am wahrscheinlichsten in
einem aus der Sprache Kikongo stammenden Präfix liegt, das mit dem Hilfsverb haber – wo bereits Grammatikalisierung im
Gange war – verschmolzen ist und so die Grammatikalisierung in der Kreolsprache beschleunigt hat. Der synchronische Gebrauch zeigt deutlich
an, dass die typologischen Muster für Perfektiva eingehalten werden, samt der bekannten Einschränkungen für Konkurrenz und Auswahl in der
Grammatik der Kontaktsprachen, wie zum Beispiel deren grammatische Kongruenz oder spezifische gesellschaftliche Kontexte.
Résumé
Des caractéristiques grammaticales formellement similaires dans un créole et des langues apparentées (sur point de
vue génétique ou aréal) peuvent indiquer un transfert de substrat, une influence de la langue lexificatrice ou une grammaticalisation. Dans
ce contexte, cette étude examine l’origine du marqueur passé préverbal a en créole palenquero (Colombie). Les résultats de
l’analyse distributionnelle et des tests de signification indiquent que plusieurs significations diachroniquement liées sont marquées à des
taux quasi-obligatoires, ce qui indiquerait une grammaticalisation avancée (n = 1 327). Les résultats comparatifs pour
haber + PP en espagnol péninsulaire semblent indiquer que le marquage passé s’est grammaticalisé beaucoup plus en deux
fois moins de temps en Palenquero que dans sa langue lexificatrice. Pourquoi? Je soutiens, à l’encontre des recherches antérieures sur les
origines de ce a, qu’une forme préfixée existant déjà en Kikongo aurait fusionné avec un haber en voie de
grammaticalisation, accélérant ainsi la grammaticalisation dans le créole. La synchronie de la marque correspond aux traits typologiques des
perfectifs, ainsi qu’aux contraintes bien connues de compétition et de sélection dans les langues issues du contact langagier: par exemple
leur accord grammatical ou des écologies sociales particulières.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Historical background
- 3.Grammaticalization, competition, selection, and change in creoles
- 3.1Grammaticalization and constraints on selection in contact varieties
- 3.2Grammaticalization theory as a diagnostic tool in creole formation
- 3.3Diachronic perspective on synchronic distributions
- 4.Variable past expression in Palenquero (preverbal a versus zero) and grammaticalization
- 5.Data, participants, corpus, and methods
- 5.1The data and selection of participants
- 5.2The corpus and transcription
- 5.3The variationist method
- 5.4Aspectual categories: Definitions and examples
- Perfective
- Perfect
- Remote past
- Habitual
- Progressive
- State exists
- States of limited duration
- 6.Analysis of Palenquero past reference marking: Preverbal a and zero
- 7.Questions regarding the provenance of preverbal a
- 7.1Spanish ya, Portuguese ja, and Papiamentu a
- 7.2Spanish haber as a potential lexical source
- 7.3Kikongo prefixal a- and zero as potential sources
- 8.What about a and zero with present statives?
- 9.Discussion: Explanatory factors regarding the selection and grammaticalization of a
- 10.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
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