Complexity of NC systems and language contact - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Complexity of NC systems and language contact

Workshop on morphological complexity and noun classification, SOAS, 21 June 2017

Alexander

Cobbinah

Crossroads

Di Garbo’s (2016) criteria for complexity

Number of prefixesComplexity and pervasiveness of assignment rulesNumber of types of agreeing targetsNumber

manipulable

Size

manipulableNumber expressed by gender morphology

Principle of fewer distinctions

Principle of one-form-one-meaning

Principle of independence

Complexity measure

B

Gubëeher

J

Kujireray

J BanjalB

Gujaher

Prefix

nr.1111Paradigm number1111Assignment rule1111Targets0.75110.5Number/ gender merge1111Maniplation size1111Manipulation number1111

B

Gubëeher

J

Kujireray

J Banjal

B GujaherPrefix nr

.

31

152324Paradigm numberCa 6029??Assignment ruleSemantic/formal(part. human)Semantic/formal(human)Semantic/formal(human)Semantic/formal(human/part. animal)Target34 4 2 Number/ gender mergePartlyYesYesPartlyManipulation sizeYesYesYesYesManipulation numberYes (6pref/9par)Yes (2pref/6par)Yes(6 pref/6 par

)

Yes(3pref/7par)

Complexity measure

Evaluative morphology in

Gubëeher

NC Paradigm

NC semantics

Productivity

Example and gloss

ko-/ño-

diminutive

fully productive, contains some non-diminutive items bu-gof/igof ko-gof/ño-gof‘head’‘little head’da-/din- -ŋaugmentativeFully productive, exclusively augmentativeda-gof/din-gof-oŋ

‘

big head’

ho

-diminutive massproductive for massesba-ruxho-rux‘water’‘some water’

Evaluative morphology in Banjal

(Sagna 2008)

NC Paradigm

NC semantics

Productivity

Example and gloss

ji-/mu-

diminutive

fully productive, contains some non-diminutive items e-siho/si-siho ji-siho/mu-siho‘cat’‘little cat’bu-/u-augmentative/enormous sizeconventionalisede-ñunduba-ñundu‘nose’‘big nose’ga-/u-augmentative/derogatorylimited productivity

fu-xow

ga-xow

‘head’‘big head

’fu-/gu-augmentative/ round shapeconventionalised, used mostly for class ga- nounsa-ññilfi-ññil‘child’‘fat child’

Collective morphology in Gubëeher

NC Paradigm

NC semantics

Frequency

of paradigm

Example and gloss

a-/a-ŋ/bi-

insects

35bi-meh‘termites’bu-/i-/di-fruits26di-aba‘guava fruits’bu-/i-/ja-

animals

12

ja-sulut

‘snakes’bu-/i-/ba-tubers/ground plants6ba-taata‘sweet

potatos

’

ran-/

ñan

-/

ja

-

amphibians

5ñën-jém‘frogs’gu-/ha-/ja-grasses, plant parts, body parts26ja-fosjë-ndëbjë-jënd‘grass’‘roots’‘hair’

Collective morphology in Banjal

(Sagna 2008:277)

NC

NC Paradigm

NC semantics

Example and gloss

ba

-

various, productivediminutive collectiveba-ñil‘bunch of children’si-various, non-productivecollective of different varietiessi-jaorasi-mmano‘guests from different origin’

‘varieties of rice’

fa-

e-/

su-/fa-collective of insects and small thingsfa-abut‘colony of ants’e-fu-/gu-/e-ga

-/u-/e-

colony of tubers, collective of grasses

e-ex

e-

fos

‘plantation of cassava’

‘colony of grass’

More complex

Less complex

Gubëeher

Banjal

Kujireray

Gujaher

Bainounk

language

Jóola languageWhy is Kujireray the least complex of these languages?Why is Gujaher less complex or in different ways than Gubëeher?Complexity ranked

The role of contact

Hypothesis:

Language contact

leads to diminishing complexity?

11

Other

Jóola

Mandinka

Kreol

Other

Jóola

Main contact languages

Hypothesis:

Language contact leads to diminishing complexity

Close knit, concentrated community helps to maintain complexity?

Contact with noun class languages has a different effect than that with non-class languages?

Frequency effect:

Maintain complex structures through frequent reiteration

+NC

Borrow NC

Semantic parallelsBorrow mechanisms (collective)-NCReduce prefixesReduce complexity in assignmentOpt for semantic assignmentFavouring Banjal and Gubëeher

Animacy

in the Crossroads area

Animacy in

Baïnounk Gubëeher

Gloss

Singular

Agreement

Plural

Agreement

‘woman’

u-dikaam u-in-dikaam in-‘hunter’u-sawñan-saw GlossSingularAgreementPluralAgreement‘mother’nuuna-nuun-oŋ a- -ŋ‘old person’ji-defji-def-eŋ ‘girl’bë-jid ba-bë-jid-ëŋ ba

- -ŋ

H

uman agreement u-/in- accomodates

many human nounsBut: prefixless and some other human nouns do not conform to the scheme Animacy agreement subject prefixes on the verb, 3rd person plural only for animates. Frequent elision of inanimate direct objects, which cannot be expressed through affixes.

Human agreement a-/

gu- for many nouns denoting humans, no matter what the shape of the prefixes on the noun (Bassene 2006):

Gloss

Singular

Agreement

Plural

Agreement

‘person’

ana-bug-angu-‘king’a-vviu-vvi ‘aunt’jaaysi-jaay‘child’a-ññilgu-ññil‘Toubab’a-lullume-lullum

Animacy

in

Jóola

Banjal/Eegimaa (also applies to Kujireray)

Animacy in

Baïnounk Gujaher

Gloss

Singular noun

Agr

‘one’

Plural noun

Agr

‘short’Agr ‘two’‘woman’u-dikaamu-duka(i)n-dikaam(i)n-doxi-nak‘person’u-raagofu-dukaña’-raagof(i)n-doxi-nakGlossSingular nounAgr ‘one’Plural nounAgr ‘short’Agr ‘two’‘hen’gu-yongu-dukaha-yonha-doxha-nak‘oyster’gu-yoxgu-dukaha-yox

ha-

doxha-nak

‘lizard’bu-latrabu-duka

i-latrai-doxi-nak‘chicken’bë-kërba-dukabë-kër-ëŋba-dox-ëŋba-nak-aŋAlpha Mane, July 2014GlossSingular nounAgr ‘one’Plural nounAgr ‘short’

Agr

‘two’

‘goat’

feebi

a-

duka

feebi

-

ëŋ(i)n-doxa-nak-ëŋ/ i- nak‘bee’ayoma-dukaayom-ëŋ(i)n-doxa-nak-ëŋ/ i- nak‘viper’fuduxa-dukafudux-ëŋi-doxa-nak-ëŋ/ i- nakhuman agreementoptional animal agreementalliterative agreementAnimacy agreement does only affect a subclass of nouns: those which pluralise by suffixation!

Points for discussion

Is community size and type relevant for the effects of language contact on morphological complexity?Which characteristics of a language influence the impact on the complexity of a language it is in contact with?How fine-grained of a measure of complexity is feasible and necessary?