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Article published In: Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area
Vol. 45:1 (2022) ► pp.22–71

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Syntactic change in Palaungic

Exploring the origins of an atypical Austroasiatic relative construction

 | University of Zurich
 | University of Zurich
Published online: 2 June 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ltba.21004.lee
Abstract
The relative constructions in several Palaungic languages (Htanaw, Wa, Lawa, Rumai Palaung, Samlong Palaung, and Rucing Palaung), here shown to be participant nominalizations, display striking mutual similarities, while conspicuously diverging from the dominant relativization strategy within the Austroasiatic family. Instead of the common n [rel (s) v (o)] pattern, the Palaungic constructions examined exhibit the following structural features: (a) rel invariably precedes the verb complex directly; (b) internal constituent order is vs(o), with the exception of Htanaw. An unusual functional trait is additionally found in the three Palaung varieties: the construction only performs object relativization. By placing the findings in a diachronic perspective, we propose two new pathways of branch-internal syntactic change that may explain this unusual synchronic status. Among these, the lexical-to-clausal-nominalization pathway in particular offers a plausible alternative scenario to the earlier hypothesis that such verb-initial structures are inherited from Proto-Austroasiatic (Jenny, Mathias. 2020. Verb-initial structures in Austroasiatic languages. In Mathias Jenny, Paul Sidwell & Mark Alves (eds.), Austroasiatic syntax in areal and diachronic perspective, 21–45. Leiden, Boston: Brill. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Furthermore, a tentatively suggested etymological origin of the relativizer, pAA *pa ‘place’, provides an account of the narrow semantics in Palaung.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Language background
    • 2.1Classification and data sources
    • 2.2Language contact
    • 2.3Relevant grammatical features of Palaungic
      • 2.3.1Noun phrase
      • 2.3.2Simple sentences
      • 2.3.3Complex sentences
  • 3.Relativization in Palaungic
    • 3.1Palaungic pV(N) relativization as nominalization
    • 3.2Additional functions of pV(N) construction
  • 4.Relativization in Austroasiatic
    • 4.1Major construction: n [(rel) v (o)] / n [(rel) (s) v]
    • 4.2Minor constructions: v s order, rel adjacent to v
    • 4.3Summary of constructions and functions
  • 5.Towards a diachronic account
    • 5.1Syntactic cognacy
      • 5.1.1Lexical cognacy of pV(N)
      • 5.1.2A Proto-Palaungic construction?
    • 5.2Syntactic change in pV(N) constructions
      • 5.2.1Inheritance hypothesis
      • 5.2.2Nominalization hypothesis
        • i.Nominalization by pV(N)
        • ii.Zero-nominalization
      • 5.2.3Antitopic hypothesis
    • 5.3An etymological proposal: pV/pV(N) < ‘place’
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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List of cited corpus texts
DSJ = Differences_Seat_Journal (based on task from Skopeteas et al. 2006)
LT = Little_Tiger (children’s story, free narrative)
Sxx = elicitation session no. xx
Trad1 = Traditional_Story1 (folktale, free narrative)
Trad2 = Traditional_Story2 (folktale, free narrative)
Vid = Video_Commentary (conversation between four speakers while watching same video)
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Jing, Yingqi, Paul Widmer & Balthasar Bickel
2023. Word order evolves at similar rates in main and subordinate clauses. Diachronica 40:4 ► pp. 532 ff. DOI logo

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