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In:Topicality and the Shaping of Grammar: New perspectives from lesser-studied languages
Edited by Enrique L. Palancar, Claudine Chamoreau and Anaïd Donabédian
[Typological Studies in Language 137] 2026
► pp. 188–218

Chapter 6
Word order, anaphora, and topicality in Eastern Armenian

 | University of Cambridge
 | INALCO, SeDyL
 | INALCO, SeDyL
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
The main aim of this study was to use the methodologies of Du Bois (1987) and Givón (1983) to investigate the relationships between various features associated with topicality (role (A, S, O), humanness, givenness, person, topic persistence (TP), referential distance (RD)) and the type and position of referential elements within the clause, in a corpus of Eastern Armenian oral narrative texts. Three main issues are explored here: factors affecting the distribution of lexical NPs , factors affecting the distribution of pronouns vs. zero anaphora, notably the ‘emphatic’ pronoun inkʿə, and factors affecting the position of objects (preverbal vs. postverbal). The results show that the most important factor favouring the avoidance of lexical NPs and the use of a pronoun or zero anaphora is low RD, with humanness, high TP, and role prominence (agent role) as probable further contributing factors. Zero anaphora and the ‘emphatic’ pronoun inkʿə are associated with low RD, while the average RD of demonstratives is intermediate between that of zero and lexical NP. Definiteness is argued to be the key factor in object position, with indefinite (especially specific) objects typically appearing preverbally, while definite objects can also appear postverbally.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Referential choice
    • 2.2Lexical NPs vs. reduced referential devices (RDD)
    • 2.3Zero anaphora, verb agreement, and unstressed pronouns
    • 2.4Independent (stressed) pronouns
    • 2.5Word order and referential choice
  • 3.Armenian: Structural features and typology
    • 3.1Anaphoric elements in Armenian
    • 3.2Word order and information structure
  • 4.Quantitative study
    • 4.1Methodology
    • 4.2Results: Challenging the theoretical framework
      • 4.2.1DuBois Preferred Argument Structure (PAS)
      • 4.2.2Givenness
      • 4.2.3Humanness
      • 4.2.4Choice between reduced referential devices
      • 4.2.5Interaction between word order and referential choice
      • 4.2.6Conclusions on issues related to theoretical framework
  • 5.Issues specifically relevant to features of Armenian
    • 5.1Selection of Third-Person pronouns in Armenian
      • 5.1.1Demonstrative pronouns
      • 5.1.2Emphatic 3rd person pronoun
      • 5.1.3Word order
      • 5.2.1Position of S and A Arguments
      • 5.2.2Definiteness as a determinant of word order
  • 6.Summary and conclusion
  • Transliteration
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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