Grammaticalization and the Rise of Configurationality in Indo-AryanThis book examines historical changes in the grammar of the Indo-Aryan languages from the period of their earliest attestations in Vedic Sanskrit (around 1000 bc) to contemporary Hindi. Uta Reinohl focuses specifically on the rise of configurational structure as a by-product of the grammaticalization of postpositions: while Vedic Sanskrit lacks function words that constrain nominal expressions into phrasal units - one of the characteristics of a non-configurational language - New Indo-Aryan languages have postpositions which organize nominal expressions into postpositional phrases. The grammaticalization of postpositions and the concomitant syntactic changes are traced through the three millennia of Indo-Aryan attested history with a focus on Vedic Sanskrit, Middle Indic Pali and Apabhramsha, Early New Indic Old Awadhi, and finally Hindi. Among the topics discussed are the constructions in which the postpositions grammaticalize, the origins of the postpositional template, and the paradigmatization of the various elements involved into a single functional class of postpositions. The book outlines how it is semantic and pragmatic changes that induce changes on the expression side, ultimately resulting in the establishment of phrasal, and thus low-level configurational, syntax. |
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Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Grammaticalization and configurationality | 19 |
The diverse origins of the Hindi simple postpositions | 53 |
Local particles The unique source of adpositions and configurationality in IndoEuropean? | 65 |
The components of the source constructions | 85 |
The origin of the postpositional syntagm | 119 |
From group to phrase | 147 |
Paradigmatization A process sui generis? | 175 |
Conclusion | 201 |
Attested examples of MadhyeUpari | 205 |
| 211 | |
| 229 | |
| 231 | |
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Grammaticalization and the Rise of Configurationality in Indo-Aryan Uta Reinöhl Limited preview - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
adnominal adpositional phrases adverbs Apabhramsha argument asymmetrical groups attested branches of Indo-European Bubeník Bybee Chapter clause clitic co-ranking co-referential configurationality constructions contrast DEM.NOM.SG.M discontinuity domain early Middle Indo-Aryan encoding epiphenomenality ergative example Fahs forms free morphemes function words genitive gram grammatical grammaticalization Hettrich Hindi Hindi postpositions historical Indo-Aryan languages instance involving lexemes lexical locative MADHYE and UPARI MADHYE/UPARI majjhe marker marking metonymic Middle Indic Middle Indo-Aryan modern postpositions morphological nominal elements nominal expressions nominal orientation non-basic grounds non-configurational languages non-configurationality obligatory oblique occur Old Indic Old Indo-Aryan origin outlined overt possessors Pali paradigm paradigmatization participle particles pattern phrase structure postnominal postpositional phrases prepositions pronominal possessors pronouns prosodic reanalysis reference relational noun expressions Rigveda scenario semantic changes simple postpositions stages synsemantic syntactic syntagm syntagmatic syntax texts Type usages Vedic Sanskrit Wackernagel position Warlpiri word order zero-valent
Bibliographic information
| Title | Grammaticalization and the Rise of Configurationality in Indo-Aryan Oxford Studies in Diachronic a Oxford linguistics Volume 20 of Oxford studies in diachronic and historical linguistics |
| Author | Uta Reinöhl |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2016 |
| ISBN | 0198736665, 9780198736660 |
| Length | 234 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Civilization Language Arts & Disciplines / Grammar & Punctuation Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / General |
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