It is argued that the traditional belief that the formal expression of the dual in Chamorro is restricted to intransitivity / low transitivity is inadequate since it precludes the possibility of accounting constructions in which the dual is also expressed in combination with transitive verbs. In… read more
This study aims at pinpointing certain properties of belong-constructions which might prove helpful for a future cross-linguistic inquiry into the grammar of those categories which associate with the notion belong in particular and with predicative possession in general. To this end, languages from… read more
This paper explores the diachronic behavior of the paradigms of the spatial interrogatives where, whither, and whence in forty-five contemporary Romance varieties by way of comparing them to the facts reported for their common ancestor: Latin. It is shown that the vast majority of the paradigms… read more
This paper examines some of the problems which arise in connection with the question of whether or not reduplication is a language universal. The point of departure of the study is Moravcsik’s (1978) seminal paper on reduplicative constructions in cross-linguistic perspective. In the main body of… read more
Lithuanian displays a variety of morphological phenomena which languageindependently pass as highly marked. This paper looks at one particularly intriguing feature, namely definiteness inflection in the guise of pleonastic morphology. The synchronic facts of modern standard Lithuanian are presented… read more
This article provides a new vista of an old problem, viz. the supposed counter-iconic nature of a variety of reduplicative patterns which encode categories such as diminution, attenuation, etc. It is argued that even these categories are iconically represented by reduplication because iconicity is… read more
The article addresses the issue of function-word borrowing from Italian into a number of languages spoken in Italy or neighbouring regions. Among the most frequently borrowed items, the discourse particle allora stands out as the most widespread Italian loan. The article explores the properties… read more
The paper seeks to demonstrate that grammatically relevant distinctions of alienable vs. inalienable possession are not completely uncommon in modern Indo-European languages of Europe. A detailed analysis of pronominal attributive possession in presentday Faroese shows that there is a clearly… read more
