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Article published In:
Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 8:3 (2018) ► pp.388–443

Swimming against the typological tide or paddling along with language change?

Dispreferred structures and diachronic biases in affix ordering

| Hebrew University of Jerusalem
| F.R.S.-FNRS | University of Liège
It has repeatedly been observed that there is a worldwide preference for suffixes over prefixes. In this article, we argue that universally dispreferred – or rare – structures can and do arise as the result of regular processes of language change, given the right background structures. Specifically, we show that Ancient Egyptian-Coptic undergoes a long-term diachronic macro-change from exhibiting mixed suffixing-prefixing to showing an overwhelming preference for prefixing. The empirical basis for this study is a comparison of ten typologically significant parameters in which prefixing or affixing is potentially at stake, based on Dryer’s (2013a) 969-language sample. With its extremely high prefixing preference, Coptic belongs to the rare 6% or so of languages that are predominantly prefixing. We argue that each of the micro-changes implicated in this macro-change are better understood in terms of changes at the level of individual constructions, rather than in terms of a broad structural “drift.” Crucially, there is nothing unusual about the actual processes of change themselves.
Keywords: universals, typological rara, Ancient Egyptian-Coptic, diachronic typology, affixation, linear order
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
  • 3.A predominantly prefixing language: Coptic
    • 3.1Ancient Egyptian-Coptic: Background information
    • 3.2The prefixing score of Coptic
    • 3.3Coptic morphology: Some basic facts
  • 4.The diachrony of affixing and affix ordering in Ancient Egyptian-Coptic
    • 4.1Case-marking
    • 4.2Subject person markers on verbs
    • 4.3Tense-aspect affixes on verbs
    • 4.4Plural affixes on nouns
    • 4.5Pronominal possessive affixes on nouns
    • 4.6Definite or indefinite affixes on nouns
    • 4.7Pronominal object affixes on verbs
    • 4.8Negative affixes on verbs
    • 4.9Interrogative affixes on verbs
    • 4.10Adverbial subordinator affixes on verbs
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • Sources
  • References
Published online: 13 March 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.17027.gro
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