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In:The NP-strategy for Expressing Reciprocity: Typology, history, syntax and semantics
Elitzur A. Bar-Asher Siegal
[Typological Studies in Language 127] 2020
► pp. v–x

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Published online: 4 March 2020

https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.127.toc

Table of contents

Symbols and abbreviations xi

Acknowledgments

Introduction 1

1.Studying reciprocity 1

2.The NP-strategy for expressing reciprocity: Typology, history, syntax and semantics 2

3.The literature on reciprocal constructions 3

4.A methodology for constructing a typology for the reciprocal constructions 10

5.The methodology in practice: The NP-strategy for expressing reciprocity 13

6.The semantics of the NP-strategy for expressing reciprocity – preliminary observations 15

7.Building theoretical bridges between historical linguistics and formal semantics 20

7.1Background 20

7.2Working hypothesis 23

8.The scope and goals of the book 25

8.1The topics 25

8.2The languages 25

9.The structure of the book and the intended audience 28

Part 1. 31

Chapter 1.The types of constructions and their origin 33

1.1Introduction 33

1.2Types of NP-strategy constructions for expressing reciprocity in Semitic languages 34

1.3The two-unit constructions: Origin and semantics 37

1.3.1Two-unit constructions: A nominal construction 37

1.3.2Two-unit constructions: Pronominal constructions 43

1.3.2.1Constructions with a repetition of anaphoric pronouns vii

1.3.2.2Quantificational constructions vii

1.3.2.2.1Existential quantifiers vii

1.3.2.2.2Expansion of a pronominal construction vii

1.3.2.2.3Constructions with partitives vii

1.3.2.2.4Constructions with a universal quantifier vii

1.3.2.3Repetition of semantically bleached nouns vii

1.4A compositional explanation for the origin of the NP-strategy constructions 53

1.5Conclusions 59

Chapter 2.The diachronic development from a two-unit to a one-unit construction 61

2.1Introduction 61

2.2Previous proposals for the emergence of the one-unit construction 63

2.3Syntactic differences between the one- and the two-unit construction 64

2.4The diachronic development within the NP-strategy 68

2.4.1Stage I 68

2.4.2Stage II 71

2.4.3Stage III 75

2.4.3.1The basic changes vii

2.4.3.2Univerbation vii

2.4.3.3Insertion of an agreement marker vii

2.4.3.4A change of grammatical case vii

2.5an interim summary and the significance of the observations 84

2.6From one- to two-unit constructions 86

2.7Conclusions and extrapolations 87

2.7.1Diachronic developments, syntax and semantics 87

2.7.2The nature of the change from two- to one-unit constructions 89

2.7.3Future typological study 92

Part 2. 93

Chapter 3.Relics as a syntactic category: Modern Hebrew and Italian constructions as frozen formulae 95

3.1Introduction 95

3.2Modern Hebrew and Modern Italian constructions 96

3.3The syntax of the one-unit construction in Modern Hebrew (and Modern Italian) 102

3.4Interim summary 109

3.5In real time: A diachronic development in Modern Hebrew 109

3.6Conclusions 111

Chapter 4.Heterogeneity: Languages with more than one NP-Strategy construction 113

4.1Introduction 113

4.2Various approaches to account for heterogeneity 114

4.3Part 1: The range of NP-strategy constructions in Early and Late Hebrew 117

4.3.1The relation between Early and Late Hebrew 117

4.3.2NP-strategy in Biblical Hebrew 118

4.3.3NP-strategy in Mishnaic Hebrew 120

4.3.3.1The constructions vii

4.3.3.2The Origin of the Mishnaic Construction vii

4.3.4The functions of the Biblical and Mishnaic construction 125

4.3.5Another type of heterogeneity in Mishnaic Hebrew 131

4.4Part 2: Heterogeneity in Modern Hebrew 134

4.4.1Introduction 134

4.4.2The origin of the Modern Hebrew constructions 135

4.4.3The availability of a two-unit construction in Modern Hebrew 138

4.4.4A mixed-gender antecedent 142

4.4.5Semantic agreement with plural subjects 146

4.5Summary and concluding remarks 148

Chapter 5.Changing meaning of the NP-strategy constructions 151

5.1Introduction 151

5.2One-unit anaphors and adverbs 152

5.2.1The adverbial-strategy for expressing reciprocity 152

5.2.2Defining the adverbial-strategy for expressing reciprocity 154

5.3The Akkadian expression ah̬āmiš 157

5.3.1ah̬āmiš as an anaphor 157

5.3.2A putative shift: one-unit anaphor > adverb 161

5.4Strategies for encoding reciprocity versus collective, sociative and comitative expressions 164

5.4.1Collective, sociative and comitative expressions 164

5.4.2Shifts in meaning between the conceptual categories of reciprocity and sociativity 165

5.5The origin of the Akkadian one-unit anaphor ah̬āmiš 168

5.6Summary and discussion of formal analyses of changes in meaning 176

5.7Appendix: An observation found in an ancient text on the grammatical relationship between the reciprocal and the sociative domains 181

Chapter 6.A comparative linguistics study of NP-strategy constructions 183

6.1Introduction 183

6.2A brief history of Aramaic 183

6.3NP-strategy constructions in the history of Aramaic 184

6.4Linking Eastern Neo-Aramaic NP-strategy constructions with their Late Aramaic forebears 188

6.4.1Two types of constructions preserved from Late Aramaic 188

6.4.2Derivatives of the Late-Aramaic one-unit constructions/anaphors 189

6.4.3NENA forms deriving from unattested morphemes 190

6.4.4The emergence of a new one-unit anaphor 192

6.5Concluding notes 194

Part 3. 197

Chapter 7.The basic meaning of the NP-strategy for expressing reciprocity 199

7.1Introduction 199

7.2Structure and meaning 200

7.3Previous scholarship 202

7.4The Strongest Meaning Hypothesis 206

7.5The modal hypothesis 210

7.6Non reciprocal readings of NP-strategy constructions for expressing reciprocity 213

7.7Unspecified constructions 221

7.7.1A weak interpretation as the basic meaning 221

7.7.2NP-strategy constructions under negation 224

7.7.3Support from diachronic evidence 228

7.8The Indifference Implicature 233

7.9An additional type of implied meanings 236

7.10Summary 237

Chapter 8.Specifying the meaning of the NP-strategy through context 239

8.1Introduction 239

8.2The role of context in interpretation 240

8.3Hypothesis: Consistency with Relevant Descriptions of Events in Causal Relations (CRDECR) 242

8.3.1Identifying the causal relations for a given context 242

8.3.2Inducing alternatives 247

8.3.3Broader issues germane to the current analysis 251

8.4The NP-strategy with focus-sensitive particles 254

8.5The Indifference Implicature within CRDECR 255

8.6Two clarifications 258

8.6.1Sentences out of context 258

8.6.2Contextual contradictions 260

8.7Summary 261

References 265

Language index 285

Subject index 287