Guillaume Jacques
Biographic Data
| ID | 125920 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Guillaume Jacques |
| GIVEN NAMES | Guillaume |
| FAMILY NAME | Jacques |
| SIGNATURE | JACQUES G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1220-2323 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 73 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 65 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 73 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Harvesting knives in Neolithic East Asia
Typologie linguistique
Programme de l’année 2024-2025 : I. Les langues kra-dai : phonologie, étymologie et archéolinguistique. — II. Introduction à la phonologie historique du chinois
Verb Stem Alternations in Gzitsha 1
This article analyzes verb stem alternations in Gzitsha, a Tibetic language, based on first‐hand data. We first outline the synchronic predicate structure in which stem alternation operates alongside auxiliaries to express TAM categories. Gzitsha verbs may exhibit up to three stems, though most display a two‐stem system; only four verbs retain a full three‐stem paradigm. Primary alternation strategies include vowel alternation, onset alternation,…
Typologie linguistique
Programme de l’année 2023-2024 : I. Typologie linguistique. — II. Phonologie historique du chinois
Weaving and loom terminology in Japhug
We describe the yarn preparation and weaving tradition of the Japhug people of Sichuan Province, China, speakers of a Rgyalrongic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family. We discuss the practical aspects of the loom and its operation, as well as the terms used to describe it. Our analysis shows that the terms are mostly a mixture of autochthonous Rgyalrongic and borrowings from Tibetan. The loom is a version of the frameless body-tensioned …
Contrasting modes of cultural evolution: Kra-Dai languages and weaving technologies
We investigate and compare the evolution of two aspects of culture, languages and weaving technologies, amongst the Kra-Dai (Tai-Kadai) peoples of southwest China and Southeast Asia, using Bayesian Markov-Chain Monte Carlo methods to uncover phylogenies. The results show that languages and looms evolved in related but different ways and bring some new insights into the spread of the Kra-Dai speakers across Southeast Asia. We found that the langua…
Typologie linguistique
Programme de l’année 2022-2023 : Simulatif, temps périodique et célératif
Celerative: The encoding of speed in verbal morphology
While speed is a secondary parameter in some associated motion systems, some languages have verbal affixes dedicated to the encoding of speed – celerative markers. Celeratives can encode both quick and slow speed and are in some languages even the main or the sole way of expressing this meaning. However, some morphemes not only encode speed, but also other types of action manner , in particular hurry or suddenness, following colexification patter…
Linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence suggests multiple agriculture-driven migrations of Sino-Tibetan speakers from Northern China to the Indian subcontinent
The spread of language families is hypothesized to have occurred via agricultural and demographic transitions that drove populations outwards from agricultural centres of origin, “demic diffusion”. However, the geographical origins of language families are often tied to where greatest linguistic diversity is seen. For the Sino-Tibetan language family this creates a conflict, as maximal linguistic diversity lies in North-Eastern India and Nepal, w…
Typologie linguistique
Programme de l’année 2021-2022 : I. La catégorie du tropatif / estimatif. — II. Introduction à la phonologie historique du chinois (cours de master)
Periodic tense markers in the world’s languages and their sources
This paper is the first survey of verbal affixes encoding the day period (‘at night’,‘in the morning’ etc.) or the yearly seasons (‘in winter’ etc.) when the action takes place. It introduces the term ‘periodic tense’ to refer to this comparative concept, explores the attested paradigms, their interactions with other verbal categories (including the more usual deictic tense), and investigates their diachronic origins. It shows that periodic tense…
Elevational deixis in the Kiranti verb
This article deals with elevational deixis in Kiranti languages, a feature which is pervasive in these languages in both the verbal and nominal domains. The system of elevation is described in most grammars of these languages as tripartite, following the typologically common system comprising up(wards), same level/across, down(wards) elevations. This work reviews the available data on elevational deixis in the verbal system, and has two main cont…
Simulative derivations in crosslinguistic perspective and their diachronic sources
This article deals with simulative derivations, meaning ‘pretend (to be) X ’, where X stands for a verb or a noun. It shows that these derivations have three main origins: incorporation, denominal derivation and combination of reflexive and causative. It also systematically discusses the corresponding analytic constructions
Sichuan Peppercorn and the Birth of Numbing Spices in East Asia
Sichuan peppercorn Zanthoxylum sp. is an important food condiment, currently used in East Asia and South Asia. In this paper, we review genetic, archaeological, and linguistic evidence regarding the use of Zanthoxylum by ancient human populations. The evidence from these three disciplines converge to suggest that its earliest attested use dates from the mid-fourth millennium BCE, in Western Sichuan, making it one of the oldest spices in East Asia…
Estimative constructions in cross-linguistic perspective
This article deals with estimative (also called ‘tropative’) constructions meaning ‘find/consider X to be Y ’, where Y stands for a noun or an adjective. It systematically investigates morphological estimatives and their relationship to causative, applicative and denominal derivations from synchronic and diachronic perspectives. In addition, the article presents a survey of periphrastic estimative strategies in the world’s languages
On the nature of morphological alternations in Archaic Chinese and their relevance to morphosyntax
While sound glosses from the Six Dynasties and early Tang provide direct evidence for morphological alternations in Archaic Chinese, studies on the syntax of this language generally disregard these data. This neglect is due in part to perceived unreliability of these sound glosses. In this paper, I first argue that the arguments against their reliability do not stand scrutiny, and that they are not a simple philological curiosity, but have the po…
Antipassive derivations in Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan and their sources
This paper presents an overview of antipassive constructions in the Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan family. It shows that all of these constructions are relatively recent developments, and originate from three distinct historical sources, including the incorporation of generic nouns, the verbalization of action nominalizations and reflexive/middle markers. All productive antipassive constructions in the family are found in languages with polypersona…
The lateralization of labio-dorsals in Hmongic
This paper provides support for Ratliff’s hypothesis of a highly unusual shift from labio-dorsal to lateral affricates in some Hmongic languages. It proposes that this shift, which results from a series of sound changes, constitutes evidence for positing a ‘Tlowic’ subgroup within Hmongic. In addition, it disproves attempts to use correspondences between Chinese labiovelars and Hmongic lateral affricates in borrowings as evidence to revise Chines…
Yak Domestication: A Review of Linguistic, Archaeological, and Genetic Evidence
Yak, a species of bovid uniquely adapted to high-altitude environments, plays a critical role in the life of the inhabitants of the Tibetan Plateau and neighboring areas. There is currently no consensus on when these animals may have been domesticated. In this paper, we review the archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence relevant to this question, and suggest that the domestication took place following hybridization with taurine cattle fr…
Phylogenies based on lexical innovations refute the Rung hypothesis
Sino-Tibetan (Trans-Himalayan) is one of the typologically most diverse language families in the world, one of the few comprising all gradients of morphological complexity, from isolating to polysynthetic. No consensus exists as yet on whether the rich morphology found in some languages, in particular person indexation, should be reconstructed in the common Sino-Tibetan ancestor or whether it is a later innovation confined to and defining a parti…
Chield: The causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database
Language is one of the most complex of human traits. There are many hypotheses about how it originated, what factors shaped its diversity, and what ongoing processes drive how it changes. We present the Causal Hypotheses in Evolutionary Linguistics Database (CHIELD, https://chield.excd.org/), a tool for expressing, exploring, and evaluating hypotheses. It allows researchers to integrate multiple theories into a coherent narrative, helping to desi…
Tangut as a West Gyalrongic language
This paper proposes that Tangut should be classified as a West Gyalrongic language in the Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan family. We examine lexical commonalities, case marking, partial reduplication, and verbal morphology in Tangut and in modern West Gyalrongic languages, and point out nontrivial shared innovations between Tangut and modern West Gyalrongic languages. The analysis suggests a closer genetic relationship between Tangut and Modern West…
Voicing alternation and sigmatic causative prefixation in Tibetan
The present paper discusses the hypothesis according to which a devoicing sound shift*sb->sp-,*sd->st-,*sg->sk-took place in pre-Tibetan. I show that all examples supporting this putative sound shift have better explanations, and that this hypothesis creates more problems than it solves. In addition, I discuss data from modern Tibetic varieties, showing that no typological parallel for such a sound shift is attested
Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan
Significance Given its size and geographical extension, Sino-Tibetan is of the highest importance for understanding the prehistory of East Asia, and of neighboring language families. Based on a dataset of 50 Sino-Tibetan languages, we infer phylogenies that date the origin of the language family to around 7200 B.P., linking the origin of the language family with the late Cishan and the early Yangshao cultures.
Save the trees: Why we need tree models in linguistic reconstruction (and when we should apply them)
Skepticism regarding the tree model has a long tradition in historical linguistics. Although scholars have emphasized that the tree model and its long-standing counterpart, the wave theory, are not necessarily incompatible, the opinion that family trees are unrealistic and should be completely abandoned in the field of historical linguistics has always enjoyed a certain popularity. This skepticism has further increased with the advent of recently…
Wild food plants and fungi used in the mycophilous Tibetan community of Zhagana (Tewo County, Gansu, China)
The number of wild taxa eaten in the studied valley is similar to that of other Tibetan areas. The structure of wild food plant taxa is also very typical for Tibetan speaking areas (e.g., the use of rhubarb shoots, Potentilla anserina, Persicaria vivipara). The studied community show a high level of mycophilia
Harmonization and disharmonization of affix ordering and basic word order
Cross-category harmony (correlations between basic word order and preference for suffixes or prefixes) has been proposed by several typologists and psycholinguists as a principle to explain some apparent crosslinguistic tendencies. This article attempts to test whether cross-category harmony has an observable influence on morphosyntactic change, and reviews cases of harmonization and disharmonization of affix order. The grammaticalization of asso…
Direct/Inverse Systems
This article proposes an idealized model of direct-inverse systems inspired by canonical morphology, against which attested systems are then evaluated in terms of their deviation from it. A language-independent definition of obviation is provided, and then applied to language families other than Algonquian. Referential hierarchies are shown not to be the only way of accounting for direct-inverse systems. Finally, the article surveys the attested …
From denominal derivation to incorporation
A panchronic study of aspirated fricatives, with new evidence from Pumi
Denominal affixes as sources of antipassive markers in Japhug Rgyalrong
A new transcription system for old and classical Tibetan
This paper proposes a new transcription for classical and old Tibetan based on IPA. This new system presents the advantage of being directly readable by non-specialists, without prior acquaintance with the Tibetan script
Sichuan Peppercorn and the Birth of Numbing Spices in East Asia
Sichuan peppercorn Zanthoxylum sp. is an important food condiment, currently used in East Asia and South Asia. In this paper, we review genetic, archaeological, and linguistic evidence regarding the use of Zanthoxylum by ancient human populations. The evidence from these three disciplines converge to suggest that its earliest attested use dates from the mid-fourth millennium BCE, in Western Sichuan, making it one of the oldest spices in East Asia…
On the nature of morphological alternations in Archaic Chinese and their relevance to morphosyntax
While sound glosses from the Six Dynasties and early Tang provide direct evidence for morphological alternations in Archaic Chinese, studies on the syntax of this language generally disregard these data. This neglect is due in part to perceived unreliability of these sound glosses. In this paper, I first argue that the arguments against their reliability do not stand scrutiny, and that they are not a simple philological curiosity, but have the po…
Voicing alternation and sigmatic causative prefixation in Tibetan
The present paper discusses the hypothesis according to which a devoicing sound shift*sb->sp-,*sd->st-,*sg->sk-took place in pre-Tibetan. I show that all examples supporting this putative sound shift have better explanations, and that this hypothesis creates more problems than it solves. In addition, I discuss data from modern Tibetic varieties, showing that no typological parallel for such a sound shift is attested
Verbal Valency and Japhug / Tibetan Language Contact
This paper presents the case of a language with rich indexation and limited case marking (Japhug) extensively borrowing verbs from a language without indexation but with case marking (an unattested Tibetic language close to the ancestor of Amdo Tibetan). It provides a comprehensive survey of the argument structure and transitivity categories of Japhug verbs of Tibetic origin in comparison with those of the corresponding verbs in Amdo Tibetan, the…
The origin of the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages
In the Sino-Tibetan family, reflexivity is either not expressed in the verb, as in Chinese or Tibetan, or expressed by means of a "middle" marker, as in Dulong or Kiranti languages. Among the morphologically rich languages of this family, only Rgyalrong languages have distinct and unambiguous reflexive and reciprocal markers on the verb. This paper shows that the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages has two possible origins. It could come from…
The character 維, 惟, 唯 ywij and the reconstruction of the 脂 Zhi and 微 Wei rhymes
Cet article propose une nouvelle reconstruction de deux rimes du chinois archaïque. Une série de dissimilations ont causé la perte des distinctions *-uj / *-ij / et *-uj / *-ij devant les initiales labiovélaires et labiales dès l'époque du Shijing. Ces changements ont opacifié la relation qui existe entre |f, ^et jlfÉ, trois mots grammaticaux importants du chinois archaïque. Grâce à notre nouvelle reconstruction, nous sommes en mesure d'expliquer…
Un Cas De Dissimilation Labiale En Chinois Archaïque: La Racine 'couvrir, Renverser' Et Son équivalent En Tibétain
This article shows that the rule of Labial Dissimilation in the Qin category (with a final nasal) also exists in the Qi category. In order to prove this, comparison is made between a Chinese word family 'to cover, to turn upside down' with a velar final and a Tibetan word family having the same two meanings but a labial final. The hypothesis describes labial to velar dissimilation in rusheng (entering tone) words, parallel to the dissimilation in…
A Shared Suppletive Pattern in the Pronominal Systems of Chang Naga and Southern Qiang
This article shows the existence of a similar irregular alternation in the pronominal morphology of Chang Naga and Southem Qiang, two distantly related Sino-Tibetan languages. This pattern is argued to be the trace of an older case marking system. On the basis of this hypothesis, a new analysis of pronominal systems in various languages of the family is presented
Le développement du tibétain ancien -e- dans les dialectes occidentaux
Cet article montre que la double correspondance e :: e et e :: ja entre le tibétain ancien et les dialectes occidentaux (ladakhi, balti, purik) ne reflète pas une distinction phonologique ancienne du proto-tibétain qui aurait été perdue en tibétain ancien et conservée dans ces dialectes
Tibetan wa-zur and Laufer’s law
Laufer's law, according to which proto-Tibetan *-wa monophthongized to -o in Old Tibetan, is almost universally accepted. However, Hill (2006) pointed out that this law seems to be contradicted by the existence of a genuine –wa rhyme in Old Tibetan: unless Old Tibetan -wa has a distinct origin, the sound law *-wa > -o cannot be valid. The present article proposes a simple solution to Hill's counterargument: Old Tibetan -wa comes from the fusion o…
Hla Genetic Diversity and Linguistic Variation in East Asia
INTRODUCTION Molecular anthropology - the study of human genetic polymorphisms - is now often used to investigate the accuracy of archaeological and/or linguistic hypotheses. One of the classic examples is the use of genetics in an attempt to discriminate between two alternative models for the spread of agriculture in Europe - the demic and the cultural diffusion models - which finally led to a general approval of the former by geneticists, who r…
Insights into Naxi and Pumi at the end of the 19 th century: Evidence on sound changes from the word lists by Charles-Eudes Bonin
The word lists published in 1903 by C.-E. Bonin for several languages of East Asia are highly rudimentary; the transcription is based on French spelling conventions. These lists nonetheless provide hints about the pronunciation of these languages at the end of the 19 century. We examine two of Bonin's lists in light of more recent and more systematic descriptions of the same languages, looking for evidence about phonetic evolutions. The Naxi word…
A possible trace of verb agreement in Tibetan
In the Sino-Tibetan family, some languages have complex verbal agreement systems (Rgyalrong, Kiranti), while others (such as Chinese, Lolo-Burmese and Tibetan) seem to show no trace of any relational morphology on the verb. No consensus has yet emerged concerning the antiquity of agreement morphology in Sino-Tibetan: some scholars view it as retention, while others argue it to be the result of independent innovations. In this article, we propose …
The origin of the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages
In the Sino-Tibetan family, reflexivity is either not expressed in the verb, as in Chinese or Tibetan, or expressed by means of a "middle" marker, as in Dulong or Kiranti languages. Among the morphologically rich languages of this family, only Rgyalrong languages have distinct and unambiguous reflexive and reciprocal markers on the verb. This paper shows that the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages has two possible origins. It could come from…
Appendix to Approaching the historical phonology of three highly eroded Sino-Tibetan languages: Naxi, Na and Laze
Naxi, Na and Laze are three languages whose position within Sino-Tibetan is controversial. We propose that they are descended from a common ancestor (‘Proto-Naish’). Unlike conservative languages of the family, such as Rgyalrong and Tibetan, which have consonant clusters and final consonants, Naxi, Na and Laze share a simple syllabic structure (consonant+glide+vowel+tone) due to phonological erosion. This raises the issue of how the regular phono…
Approaching the historical phonology of three highly eroded Sino-Tibetan languages: Naxi, Na and Laze
Naxi, Na and Laze are three languages whose position within Sino-Tibetan is controversial. We propose that they are descended from a common ancestor (‘Proto-Naish’). Unlike conservative languages of the family, such as Rgyalrong and Tibetan, which have consonant clusters and final consonants, Naxi, Na and Laze share a simple syllabic structure (consonant+glide+vowel+tone) due to phonological erosion. This raises the issue of how the regular phono…
A panchronic study of aspirated fricatives, with new evidence from Pumi
Appendix to Historical transfer of nasality between consonantal onset and vowel
Comparative data from several language families show that nasality can be transferred between a syllable-initial consonant cluster and the following vowel. The cases reported to date are summarized, and a new analysis is proposed for a set of Sino-Tibetan data. The evolution appears to go in both directions: from the consonantal onset to the following vowel in Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Niger-Congo (Kwa) and Indo-European (Celtic), a…
Historical transfer of nasality between consonantal onset and vowel: From C to V or from V to C
Comparative data from several language families show that nasality can be transferred between a syllable-initial consonant cluster and the following vowel. The cases reported to date are summarized, and a new analysis is proposed for a set of Sino-Tibetan data. The evolution appears to go in both directions: from the consonantal onset to the following vowel in Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Niger-Congo (Kwa) and Indo-European (Celtic), a…
Argument demotion in Japhug Rgyalrong
Japhug (Chabao in Chinese), a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in China (Mbarkhams county, Rngaba autonomous region, Sichuan Province), is unusual among the languages of this family in displaying complex verbal
An Internal Reconstruction of Tibetan Stem Alternations 1
Tibetan verbal morphology differs considerably from that of other Sino‐Tibetan languages. Most of the vocalic and consonantal alternations observed in the verbal paradigms remain unexplained after more than a hundred years of investigation: the study of historical Tibetan morphology would seem to have reached an aporia. This paper proposes a new model, explaining the origin of the alternations in the Tibetan verb as the remnant of a former system…
A new transcription system for old and classical Tibetan
This paper proposes a new transcription for classical and old Tibetan based on IPA. This new system presents the advantage of being directly readable by non-specialists, without prior acquaintance with the Tibetan script
From denominal derivation to incorporation
A neglected phonetic law: The assimilation of pretonic yod to a following coronal in North-West Semitic
This paper shows the existence of a pretonic assimilation of *y to a following coronal consonant (including *y from proto-Semitic *y and *w) in North-West Semitic languages. This rule, which has been obscured by analogy in each of the North-West Semitic languages, explains three independent sets of facts: the formation of irregular maqtal-s in Hebrew, Phoenician and Aramaic; the irregular conjugations of several verbs in Hebrew; and the plural fo…
Les noms du cochon domestique en celtique
The sound change *s- > n- in Arapaho
The sound change *s > n in initial position in Arapaho is unparalleled in the world’s languages, and previous attempts at explaining it have failed to produce a convincing account of its intermediate stages. This article presents two hypotheses to account for the correspondence between PA *s- and Arapaho n-, taking into account not only the individual steps of this particular proto-phoneme, but the evolution of the whole consonant system. It show…
Harmonization and disharmonization of affix ordering and basic word order
Cross-category harmony (correlations between basic word order and preference for suffixes or prefixes) has been proposed by several typologists and psycholinguists as a principle to explain some apparent crosslinguistic tendencies. This article attempts to test whether cross-category harmony has an observable influence on morphosyntactic change, and reviews cases of harmonization and disharmonization of affix order. The grammaticalization of asso…
Ideophones in Japhug (Rgyalrong)
This article provides a description of the main phonological and morphosyntactic features that characterize ideophones in Japhug (Rgyalrong, Sino-Tibetan). Ideophones are among the few words that can occur postverbally, even in relative clauses. Also discussed are the morphological patterns of ideophones, verbs derived from ideophones and their relationship to denominal verbs, and other phonologically marked parts of speech such as interjections …
On pre-Tibetan semi-vowels
The present paper discusses the synchronic status and the origin of the semi-vowels /j/ and /w/ in Old Tibetan on the basis of modern Tibetan languages and other Sino-Tibetan languages, in particular Rgyalrong and Lolo-Burmese
A New Grammaticalisation Pathway: From Non-Finite Verb to Ergative Marker
Studies on the diachronic origin of ergative and agentive markers (Palancar 2002, Heine and Kuteva 2002) have focused on the development of ergative from other case markers, in particular spatial cases (ablative, locative, allocative, perlative) as well as genitive and instrumental. These diachronic pathways are indeed widespread. For instance, the ergative -s, -kjis in Tibetan is obviously related to the -s in other cases such as the ablative -l…
Linguistics (60 works) · Philosophy (59 works) · History (34 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (32 works) · Computer Science (29 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (22 works) · Mathematics (19 works) · Verb (19 works) · Biology (12 works) · Geography (12 works)