Vol. 13:1 (2023) ► pp.115–172
The historical dialectology of stative morphology in Zapotecan
This paper updates the reconstruction of the stative aspect prefix in Proto-Zapotecan as *n- and tracks innovations in stative marking. An early change is proposed to have deleted preconsonantal nasals, rendering segmentally unmarked stative forms of consonant-initial verbs in varieties of Zapotec then spoken in and around the city of Monte Albán. Contact with Chatino may be a factor in the retention of preconsonantal *n in Zapotec varieties spoken to the south. A fuller stative prefix, usually *na-, arose later from a grammaticalized form of the stative-marked copula (Munro 2007; Uchihara 2021). *na- is more productive than *n- and provides the basis for a new proposed “Eastern Zapotec” genetic grouping. However, the isogloss for *na- crosscuts the earlier isogloss for preconsonantal nasal deletion, showing that any model of Zapotecan linguistic history needs to address not only divergence but also convergence. Ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence provide a social context to the linguistic changes discussed.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Usage of stative-marked forms
- 2.1Stative predicates
- 2.2Stative participles
- 3.The phonological form of the stative marker and its productivity
- 4.The loss of preconsonantal nasals
- 5.The development of *na-
- 5.1Conservative systems without stative 2
- 5.2The emergence of the stative 2 prefix
- 5.3The extension of Stative 2
- 5.4The reduction of stative 2
- 6.Divergence and convergence related to stative morphology
- 6.1Preconsonantal nasal deletion in Monte Albán Zapotec
- 6.2Inheritance and diffusion of stative 2
- 6.2.1Multiple waves of Sierra Norte migration
- 6.2.2Possible diffusion of stative 2 to Coyachilla from Central Zapotec
- 6.2.3Contact between Central and Southern Zapotec in the Sierra Sur
- 7.Problematic stative 2 data and their solutions
- 7.1n̆- in Cajonos
- 7.2/la-/ in Chatino
- 8.Conclusions and topics for future research
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Abbreviations
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References
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.21008.bea