Article published In: Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 13:1 (2023) ► pp.115–172
The historical dialectology of stative morphology in Zapotecan
Published online: 16 August 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.21008.bea
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.21008.bea
Abstract
This paper updates the reconstruction of the stative aspect prefix in Proto-Zapotecan as *n- and tracks
innovations in stative marking. An early change is proposed to have deleted preconsonantal nasals, rendering segmentally unmarked
stative forms of consonant-initial verbs in varieties of Zapotec then spoken in and around the city of Monte Albán. Contact with
Chatino may be a factor in the retention of preconsonantal *n in Zapotec varieties spoken to the south. A fuller stative prefix,
usually *na-, arose later from a grammaticalized form of the stative-marked copula (Munro, Pamela. 2007. Aspects of Stativity in Zapotec. Unpublished manuscript.; . 2021. La pérdida de la vocal átona en el zapoteco central. Estudios lingüísticos y filológicos de lenguas indígenas mexicanas. Celebración por los 30 años del Seminario de Lenguas Indígenas. ed. by Francisco Arellanes Arellanes & Lilián Guerrero, 347–394.). *na- is more productive than *n- and
provides the basis for a new proposed “Eastern Zapotec” genetic grouping. However, the isogloss for *na- crosscuts the earlier
isogloss for preconsonantal nasal deletion, showing that any model of Zapotecan linguistic history needs to address not only
divergence but also convergence. Ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence provide a social context to the linguistic changes
discussed.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Usage of stative-marked forms
- 2.1Stative predicates
- 2.2Stative participles
- 3.The phonological form of the stative marker and its productivity
- 4.The loss of preconsonantal nasals
- 5.The development of *na-
- 5.1Conservative systems without stative 2
- 5.2The emergence of the stative 2 prefix
- 5.3The extension of Stative 2
- 5.4The reduction of stative 2
- 6.Divergence and convergence related to stative morphology
- 6.1Preconsonantal nasal deletion in Monte Albán Zapotec
- 6.2Inheritance and diffusion of stative 2
- 6.2.1Multiple waves of Sierra Norte migration
- 6.2.2Possible diffusion of stative 2 to Coyachilla from Central Zapotec
- 6.2.3Contact between Central and Southern Zapotec in the Sierra Sur
- 7.Problematic stative 2 data and their solutions
- 7.1n̆- in Cajonos
- 7.2/la-/ in Chatino
- 8.Conclusions and topics for future research
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Abbreviations
References
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Cited by (3)
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Operstein, Natalie
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2023. Realis morphology and Chatino’s role in the diversification of Zapotec languages. Diachronica 40:4 ► pp. 439 ff.
Beam de Azcona, Rosemary G.
2024. The tonal morphology of the potential in Coatec Zapotec (Di′zhke′). Journal of Historical Linguistics 14:2 ► pp. 179 ff.
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