Edited by Ferenc Kiefer †, Mária Ladányi and Péter Siptár
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 322] 2012
► pp. 1–22
This paper attempts to provide evidence that analogy-based approaches make language change, as well as unstable and variegated forms and word classes, easier to understand and grasp than they would be in a traditional synchronic framework or through a diachronic analysis. The example cited is taken from the Lovari dialect of the Romani language, which frequently borrows lexical items, leading to substantial diversity within the verbal system of each dialect. The phenomena and the ongoing processes in the verbal paradigms in relation to the adaptation of loan verbs seem to be of particular interest. If we look at the analogy-based processes which have taken place and are taking place, the bimorphemic or monomorphemic nature of the derivational markers employed in loan-verb adaptation loses its significance, and language change, as well as the possible emergence of new inflexion classes, can easily be made part of the model.