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Historical Linguistics 2019: Selected papers from the 24th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Canberra, 1–5 July 2019
Edited by Bethwyn Evans, Maria Kristina Gallego and Luisa Miceli
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 367] 2024
► pp. 146–171

Chapter 6
Recurrent change in pronouns

The case of Western Oceanic subject markers

| Australian National University
The reconstruction of Western Oceanic subject markers points to a recurrent history of grammaticalisation and paradigm (re)formation. With the notable exception of Ross & Lithgow (1989), this topic has received little attention. Yet subject markers are relevant grammatical markers in Oceanic languages, in that they not only index the subject on the VP but may also carry the additional function of expressing TAM distinctions. Both the pronominal and TAM-marking formatives in Western Oceanic subject markers point to a variety of sources (e.g., free pronouns, possessive pronouns, etc.), and different processes of formation that often result in segmentation asymmetries. Despite hindering a sound reconstruction, these factors may tell us more about the dynamics of change reshaping such relevant functors in Western Oceanic languages.
Keywords: recurrent change, historical linguistics, grammaticalisation, morphology, Oceanic, pronouns, paradigm formation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Subject markers in Western Oceanic
    • 2.2The pronominal system of Proto-Oceanic
    • 2.3The incorporation of TAM-marking particles
    • 2.4A preliminary typology of subject-indexing systems in WOc
    • 2.5The genesis of the WOc subject marker systems
  • 3.Subject markers in the WOc languages of New Georgia
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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