Lecture 1: Word Order Correlates
VF (Verb Final): OV (Object+Verb) in pragmatically neutral simplex sentences. Most common type: SOV, rare OVS. Such Ls contrast with VI (Verb Initial): Most common type VSO but some VOS. Correlates: Pre-/Post- position (joy-with vs with joy), Possessum/Possessor (father of this boy vs this boy’s father); suffixal/prefixal verbal morphology (verb / Tense/Aspect/Mood). Main V /Modal (able)/Aspect (begin)/Intent (try)/Desire (want). Correlates with case marking systems, position of subordinate and coordinate conjunctions, resumptive pronouns, verb second.
(1/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180628151833183/multimedia/MEDIA180628151833183.mp4
(2/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180628151917301/multimedia/MEDIA180628151917301.mp4
(3/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180628151952651/multimedia/MEDIA180628151952651.mp4
Readings
Keenan/Keenan & Kalin: The Verb Final Typology
Keenan/Keenan & Kalin: The Verb Initial Typology
Munro, Pamela. 2013. Word order. In The Bloomsbury Companion to Syntax Pp 118 – 142.
Dryer, Matthew. 2007. Word order. In Language Typology and Syntactic Description. Vol 1, 2nd edition. Tim Shopen (ed) CUP.
Lecture 2: Voice Marking and Case Marking Systems
The syntactic role of rich voice systems (Philippines, Malagasy, Kwakwala), anti-passive in ergative languages (Mayan; Djirbal) and applicatives (in e.g. Bantu). Voice marking, in both nominative and ergative languages may function to make verbal arguments accessible to relative clause formation (usually head initial; in one case we know of head final; no head internal to our knowledge). Advancement of obliques to object feeds passive which feeds relative clause formation.
(1/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180702163333191/multimedia/MEDIA180702163333191.mp4
(2/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180702163427934/multimedia/MEDIA180702163427934.mp4
(3/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180702163454949/multimedia/MEDIA180702163454949.mp4
Readings
Keenan, E.L. and M.S. Dryer. 2007. Passive in the world’s languages. In Language Typology and Syntactic Description. Vol 1, 2nd edition. Tim Shopen (ed) CUP. Pp. 325 – 361
Keenan, E.L. 2013. Passives and Antipassives. In The Bloomsbury Companion to Syntax. Pp. 240 – 260.
Polinsky, Maria. 2018. Syntactic Ergativity. The Companion to Syntax 2nd edition. Martin Everaert and Henk van Riemsdijk. John Wiley & Sons. 2017.
Lecture 3: Quantification across languages
Quantifiers play an important role in studies of natural language semantics, but have only recently been subject to extensive cross language sampling. The most thorough and recent (30 plus languages, 2000 pages) is by myself and Denis Paperno, Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Languages. Matthewson (2008) is also an excellent earlier source, and Bach et al 1995. We contrast nominal vs adverbial quantifiers and within each consider (generalized) existential, universal, proportional and definite quantifiers, offering 15 new generalizations re the distribution and interpretation of quantifiers cross linguistically, e.g. all Ls have an all and an only, not all have a some distinct from the number one.
(1/4) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180710143809200/multimedia/MEDIA180710143809200.mp4
(2/4) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180710143851170/multimedia/MEDIA180710143851170.mp4
(3/4) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180710143923240/multimedia/MEDIA180710143923240.mp4
(4/4) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180710143954746/multimedia/MEDIA180710143954746.mp4
Readings
Paperno, Denis and E.L. Keenan. 2017. Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Language. Springer. Questionnaire and summary
Matthewson, Lisa (ed). 2008. Quantification: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective. Emerald, North Holland linguistic Series.
Bach, E., E. Jelinek, A. Kratzer, B.Partee. 1995. Quantification in Natural Languages, Kluwer.
Lecture 4: Reciprocals in the World’s Languages
This lecture is based on on-going research. I provide a survey of the attested means of expressing reciprocal situations and then look some detail at verbal affix reciprocals, focusing especially on Malagasy (Austronesian, Madagascar).
(1/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180713130024742/multimedia/MEDIA180713130024742.mp4
(2/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180713130111388/multimedia/MEDIA180713130111388.mp4
(3/3) http://mc.univ-paris-diderot.fr/videos/MEDIA180713130150183/multimedia/MEDIA180713130150183.mp4
Readings
Dimitriadis, Alexis. 2008. Irreducible symmetry in reciprocal constructions. In Ekkehard Koenig and Volker Gast (eds). Reciprocals and Reflexives: Theoretical and Typological Explorations. Mouton de Gruyter
Keenan, E.L. Reciprocals in the World’s Languages. Ms UCLA
Maslova, Elena and Nedjalkov, Vladimir P. 2011. Reciprocal constructions in WALS (World Atlas of Language Structures) On line. Http://wals.info/chapter/106.
Nedjalkov, Vladimir. (2010) Reciprocal Constructions 5 vols. John Benjamins Pub. Co.