Origins of Dogon NP tonosyntax

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20344809
AutoresJeffrey Heath (0000-0002-1918-2137, University of Michigan, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen39
Número5
Páginas707-741
Fecha de publicación2022-12-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDiachronica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0176-4225 • E-ISSN: 1569-9714
EditorialJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/dia.20071.hea
OpenAlexW4281776283
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas14

Like other complex morphosyntactic and morphophonological structures that are endemic to single language families, Dogon NP tonosyntax is the result of the fortuitous interlocking of diachronically unrelated processes and constructions. It arose due to the following combination: (a) right-headed prosodic pattern in noun-modifier sequences; (b) loss of numeral classifiers which had previously protected nouns from the right-headed prosodic pattern when followed by numerals; and (c) transfer of tones from possessors to following possessums. Although none of these phenomena were semantically driven, the resulting configuration could only be reinterpreted by native speakers in semantic terms, creating a completely new system unique to Dogon. In spite of having arisen accidentally, this tonosyntactic system is quite stable. One of its benefits is the unusual solution it provided (at no extra charge) to a perennial problem in the design of relative constructions

Linguistics · Natural language processing · Noun · Numeral system · Computer Science · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence