Do contact languages influence the distribution of prepositions in Estonian dialects

Bibliographic Data

ID20377824
AuthorsMirjam Ruutma (Institute of the Estonian Language, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume42
Issue3
Pages365-384
Publication date2019-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNordic Journal of Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0332-5865 • E-ISSN: 1502-4717
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s033258651900009x
OpenAlexW2961094128
LanguageEN
References cited25

The origins of prepositional phrase structure in Finnic languages shows little evidence of being contact-induced. However, whether language contact has influenced the structure at a later stage is debatable. The current paper provides new findings on the topic of contact-induced change by comparing the distribution of prepositions in Estonian dialects with the respective contact languages. The purpose is to determine whether the usage frequency of prepositions is higher in areas mainly in contact with prepositional Indo-European languages. The topic is approached from a corpus-based, frequency-driven viewpoint. The results show a small, gradual decrease in the use of prepositions from the northeastern to the western dialect areas. Thus, the uneven but regular distribution of prepositions in Estonian dialects cannot be explained with language contact. This evidence supports the general understanding that adpositions are an unlikely class to be influenced by contact

Estonian · Language contact · Linguistics · Phrase · Computer Science · Linguistics and language evolution · Mathematics · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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