On some endangered Sinitic languages spoken in Northwestern China

Bibliographic Data

ID12417026
AuthorsAlain Peyraube (Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume26
Issue1
Pages130-146
Publication date2017-12-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1062-7987 • E-ISSN: 1474-0575
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1062798717000394
OpenAlexW2773947647
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited17

This paper will examine one of the most characteristic syntactic properties of languages, namely the case system for the following three Sinitic languages spoken in Northwestern China: Línxià (or Hézhōu), Tāngwāng, Gāngōu, which have been sometimes viewed as ‘mixed languages’. An answer to the following main questions will be tentatively suggested in the conclusion: do we really have case suffixes in these languages (cases are a morphological notion) or simply thematic roles expressed by postpositions (thematic roles are a semantic notion)? Do we really have a Qinghai-Gansu linguistic area ( Sprachbund ), as has been suggested? Can these Sinitic languages be characterized as being mixed languages

Biology · China · East Asian languages · Endangered species · Geography · Language contact · Linguistics · Thematic map · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Ecology