Uta Reinöhl
Biographic Data
| ID | 829233 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Uta Reinöhl |
| GIVEN NAMES | Uta |
| FAMILY NAME | Reinöhl |
| SIGNATURE | REINÖHL U |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Freiburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2829-682X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 14 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
How much is too much
The one-new-idea constraint (ONICON) is a classic of functionalist literature.This hypothesis, proposing that no more than one new idea can be realised in a single intonation unit, plays a central role in Wallace Chafe's work (e.g
The one–new–idea constraint, functor–argument metaphors, and holistic speech processing
The one-new-idea constraint (ONICON) is a hypothesis about how much information we can package in one intonation unit ( Chafe 1982 , 1992 , 1994 ). Chafe (1994) suggests that constructions containing multiple new content words do not necessarily violate the ONICON. Examples include prefabs as well as constructions consisting mostly of low-content elements, and no more than one high-content word (as in, e.g. light verb constructions). We argue in …
The ‘idea’ in the one-new-idea constraint
This paper offers a conceptual clarification and an operationalization of a classic functionalist generalization: the one-new-idea constraint ( Chafe 1982 , 1987, 1994). While often referenced, this constraint has not, to date, been sufficiently spelled-out or made sufficiently precise to become testable. This paper aims to fill this gap by, first, differentiating the concept of idea into discourse-level and lexical-semantic ideahood. Secondly, w…
A sketch grammar of Igu, the Shamanic language of the Kera’a
This paper offers the first linguistic description of Igu, the shamanic language of the Kera’a (also 'Idu (Mishmi)'), and thus presents one of the first linguistic descriptions of an Eastern Himalayan ritual language. The Kera’a are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking society of ca. 10 000-16 000 members, based in and around the very northeastern Himalayan river valley of India, in the Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Th…
Diachrony and Diachronica
Compositionality, Metaphor, and the Evolution of Language
One of the great unknowns in language evolution is the transition from unstructured sign combination to grammatical structure. This paper investigates the central — while hitherto overlooked — role of functor–argument metaphor. This type of metaphor pervades modern language, but is absent in animal communication. It arises from the semantic clash between the default meanings of terms. Functor–argument metaphor became logically possible in protola…
Metaphor forces argument overtness
This paper uncovers how metaphor forces argument overtness – across languages and parts of speech. It addresses the relationship between semantically unsaturated terms, functors, and the argument terms that complete them. When the component terms’ default senses clash semantically, a metaphor arises. In such cases, the argument must be overt, in contrast to literal uses. It is possible to say Everyone was waiting at the hotel. Finally, Kim arrive…
Typologizing nominal expressions
This article develops foundations for a new typology of nominal expressions. Despite the significant diversity attested in languages around the world, a view traditionally and sometimes still found holds that languages either have ‘classic’, rigidly structured noun phrases (NPs) or lack them. A simple dichotomy, however, does not adequately represent the significant language-internal and crosslinguistic diversity of forms and functions of nominal…
What are and what aren’t complex nominal expressions in flexible word order languages
This paper tackles the challenge of how to identify multi-word (or “complex”) nominal expressions in flexible word order languages including certain Australian languages and Vedic Sanskrit. In these languages, a weak or absent noun/adjective distinction in conjunction with flexible word order make it often hard to distinguish between complex nominal expressions, on the one hand, and cases where the nominals in question form independent expression…
Roots of Ergativity in Africa (and Beyond)
In the literature, it is often assumed that ergative constructions originate in passive constructions. The present contribution explores the likelihood of such a passive-to-ergative analysis for one language (Tima, Niger-Congo, Sudan), showing that this analysis cannot be substantiated and suggesting an origin in active constructions instead. This study is situated in its areal context (outlining similarities to split case marking systems across …
Continuous and discontinuous nominal expressions in flexible (or "free") word order languages
This study explores continuous and discontinuous word order patterns of multi-word nominal expressions in flexible word order languages (traditionally referred to as "free word order" or "non-configurational" languages). Besides describing syntagmatic patterns, this paper seeks to identify any functional or other correlates that can be associated with different word orders. The languages under investigation are a number of Australian languages as…
When grammaticalization does not occur
Recent decades have seen a surge of interest in grammaticalization. In this paper, however, we are not concerned with reaching a better understanding of the nature of grammaticalization phenomena or their triggering factors, but we ask under what circumstances grammaticalization does not take place, even if it would have seemed likely to – a topic that has scarcely been addressed in the literature. Based on a comparative investigation of the hist…
Renewal
The concept of 'renewal' is widely used in the literature on morphosyntactic change, but hardly ever theorized. Here we scrutinize the viability of this concept theoretically as well as empirically, revisiting in detail the most frequently cited case of renewal, namely the resemblance between the Latin and French synthetic futures. Phenomena accounted for in terms of renewal can also be accounted for in terms of grammaticalization theory. We argu…
A single origin of Indo-European primary adpositions
It has been widely assumed that the primary adpositions of modern Indo-European languages constitute a historically identical category, descending from the Proto-Indo-European ‘local particles’. I argue that this assumption needs to be revised, because a major branch of the language family, Indo-Aryan, possesses adpositions of unrelated origin. This is not only a question of different etyma, but the New Indo-Aryan adpositions descend from structu…
Renewal
The concept of 'renewal' is widely used in the literature on morphosyntactic change, but hardly ever theorized. Here we scrutinize the viability of this concept theoretically as well as empirically, revisiting in detail the most frequently cited case of renewal, namely the resemblance between the Latin and French synthetic futures. Phenomena accounted for in terms of renewal can also be accounted for in terms of grammaticalization theory. We argu…
Continuous and discontinuous nominal expressions in flexible (or "free") word order languages
This study explores continuous and discontinuous word order patterns of multi-word nominal expressions in flexible word order languages (traditionally referred to as "free word order" or "non-configurational" languages). Besides describing syntagmatic patterns, this paper seeks to identify any functional or other correlates that can be associated with different word orders. The languages under investigation are a number of Australian languages as…
Compositionality, Metaphor, and the Evolution of Language
One of the great unknowns in language evolution is the transition from unstructured sign combination to grammatical structure. This paper investigates the central — while hitherto overlooked — role of functor–argument metaphor. This type of metaphor pervades modern language, but is absent in animal communication. It arises from the semantic clash between the default meanings of terms. Functor–argument metaphor became logically possible in protola…
A single origin of Indo-European primary adpositions
It has been widely assumed that the primary adpositions of modern Indo-European languages constitute a historically identical category, descending from the Proto-Indo-European ‘local particles’. I argue that this assumption needs to be revised, because a major branch of the language family, Indo-Aryan, possesses adpositions of unrelated origin. This is not only a question of different etyma, but the New Indo-Aryan adpositions descend from structu…
Renewal
The concept of 'renewal' is widely used in the literature on morphosyntactic change, but hardly ever theorized. Here we scrutinize the viability of this concept theoretically as well as empirically, revisiting in detail the most frequently cited case of renewal, namely the resemblance between the Latin and French synthetic futures. Phenomena accounted for in terms of renewal can also be accounted for in terms of grammaticalization theory. We argu…
When grammaticalization does not occur
Recent decades have seen a surge of interest in grammaticalization. In this paper, however, we are not concerned with reaching a better understanding of the nature of grammaticalization phenomena or their triggering factors, but we ask under what circumstances grammaticalization does not take place, even if it would have seemed likely to – a topic that has scarcely been addressed in the literature. Based on a comparative investigation of the hist…
What are and what aren’t complex nominal expressions in flexible word order languages
This paper tackles the challenge of how to identify multi-word (or “complex”) nominal expressions in flexible word order languages including certain Australian languages and Vedic Sanskrit. In these languages, a weak or absent noun/adjective distinction in conjunction with flexible word order make it often hard to distinguish between complex nominal expressions, on the one hand, and cases where the nominals in question form independent expression…
Roots of Ergativity in Africa (and Beyond)
In the literature, it is often assumed that ergative constructions originate in passive constructions. The present contribution explores the likelihood of such a passive-to-ergative analysis for one language (Tima, Niger-Congo, Sudan), showing that this analysis cannot be substantiated and suggesting an origin in active constructions instead. This study is situated in its areal context (outlining similarities to split case marking systems across …
Continuous and discontinuous nominal expressions in flexible (or "free") word order languages
This study explores continuous and discontinuous word order patterns of multi-word nominal expressions in flexible word order languages (traditionally referred to as "free word order" or "non-configurational" languages). Besides describing syntagmatic patterns, this paper seeks to identify any functional or other correlates that can be associated with different word orders. The languages under investigation are a number of Australian languages as…
Typologizing nominal expressions
This article develops foundations for a new typology of nominal expressions. Despite the significant diversity attested in languages around the world, a view traditionally and sometimes still found holds that languages either have ‘classic’, rigidly structured noun phrases (NPs) or lack them. A simple dichotomy, however, does not adequately represent the significant language-internal and crosslinguistic diversity of forms and functions of nominal…
Compositionality, Metaphor, and the Evolution of Language
One of the great unknowns in language evolution is the transition from unstructured sign combination to grammatical structure. This paper investigates the central — while hitherto overlooked — role of functor–argument metaphor. This type of metaphor pervades modern language, but is absent in animal communication. It arises from the semantic clash between the default meanings of terms. Functor–argument metaphor became logically possible in protola…
Metaphor forces argument overtness
This paper uncovers how metaphor forces argument overtness – across languages and parts of speech. It addresses the relationship between semantically unsaturated terms, functors, and the argument terms that complete them. When the component terms’ default senses clash semantically, a metaphor arises. In such cases, the argument must be overt, in contrast to literal uses. It is possible to say Everyone was waiting at the hotel. Finally, Kim arrive…
A sketch grammar of Igu, the Shamanic language of the Kera’a
This paper offers the first linguistic description of Igu, the shamanic language of the Kera’a (also 'Idu (Mishmi)'), and thus presents one of the first linguistic descriptions of an Eastern Himalayan ritual language. The Kera’a are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking society of ca. 10 000-16 000 members, based in and around the very northeastern Himalayan river valley of India, in the Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Th…
Diachrony and Diachronica
How much is too much
The one-new-idea constraint (ONICON) is a classic of functionalist literature.This hypothesis, proposing that no more than one new idea can be realised in a single intonation unit, plays a central role in Wallace Chafe's work (e.g
The one–new–idea constraint, functor–argument metaphors, and holistic speech processing
The one-new-idea constraint (ONICON) is a hypothesis about how much information we can package in one intonation unit ( Chafe 1982 , 1992 , 1994 ). Chafe (1994) suggests that constructions containing multiple new content words do not necessarily violate the ONICON. Examples include prefabs as well as constructions consisting mostly of low-content elements, and no more than one high-content word (as in, e.g. light verb constructions). We argue in …
The ‘idea’ in the one-new-idea constraint
This paper offers a conceptual clarification and an operationalization of a classic functionalist generalization: the one-new-idea constraint ( Chafe 1982 , 1987, 1994). While often referenced, this constraint has not, to date, been sufficiently spelled-out or made sufficiently precise to become testable. This paper aims to fill this gap by, first, differentiating the concept of idea into discourse-level and lexical-semantic ideahood. Secondly, w…
Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (11 works) · Linguistics (9 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (6 works) · History (4 works) · Language and cultural evolution (4 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (4 works) · Artificial Intelligence (3 works) · Artificial Intelligence (3 works)