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Article published In: Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 8:3 (2018) ► pp.388–443

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Swimming against the typological tide or paddling along with language change?

Dispreferred structures and diachronic biases in affix ordering

 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem
 | F.R.S.-FNRS | University of Liège
Published online: 13 March 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.17027.gro
Abstract
It has repeatedly been observed that there is a worldwide preference for suffixes over prefixes. In this article, we argue that universally dispreferred – or rare – structures can and do arise as the result of regular processes of language change, given the right background structures. Specifically, we show that Ancient Egyptian-Coptic undergoes a long-term diachronic macro-change from exhibiting mixed suffixing-prefixing to showing an overwhelming preference for prefixing. The empirical basis for this study is a comparison of ten typologically significant parameters in which prefixing or affixing is potentially at stake, based on Dryer, Matthew S. 2013a. Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath, eds., Ch. 26. Available at [URL] 969-language sample. With its extremely high prefixing preference, Coptic belongs to the rare 6% or so of languages that are predominantly prefixing. We argue that each of the micro-changes implicated in this macro-change are better understood in terms of changes at the level of individual constructions, rather than in terms of a broad structural “drift.” Crucially, there is nothing unusual about the actual processes of change themselves.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
  • 3.A predominantly prefixing language: Coptic
    • 3.1Ancient Egyptian-Coptic: Background information
    • 3.2The prefixing score of Coptic
    • 3.3Coptic morphology: Some basic facts
  • 4.The diachrony of affixing and affix ordering in Ancient Egyptian-Coptic
    • 4.1Case-marking
    • 4.2Subject person markers on verbs
    • 4.3Tense-aspect affixes on verbs
    • 4.4Plural affixes on nouns
    • 4.5Pronominal possessive affixes on nouns
    • 4.6Definite or indefinite affixes on nouns
    • 4.7Pronominal object affixes on verbs
    • 4.8Negative affixes on verbs
    • 4.9Interrogative affixes on verbs
    • 4.10Adverbial subordinator affixes on verbs
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • Sources
  • References
References (183)
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