Chapter 5
Diachrony and the referential hierarchy in Old Irish
A set of Old Irish clitic person markers may co-index subject or
object markers on the verb. Only one clitic of this set may appear
at a time, however. The clitic, if present, indexes the verbal
argument highest on the scale 1st person > 2nd person > 3rd
person animate > inanimate. The restriction of one clitic per
verb, a prerequisite for the hierarchy, is explained here as a
result of the deictic origin of the clitic set. The deictic origin
further favors the marking of local persons over non-local persons.
For the upper and lower end of the hierarchy, however, the ranking
appears to be determined rather by considerations of function. Since
the clitics can mark topics, they favor 1st persons over 2nd and
animates over inanimates.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.One nota per verb
- 2.1The prehistory of the paradigm of the notae
augentes
- 2.2The function of the notae augentes
- 2.3The origin of the restriction of one nota
per verb
- 3.The referential hierarchy
- 3.1General background
- 3.2Ranking local above non-local
- 3.3
Differentiating the local persons
- 4.
Conclusions
-
Acknowledgments
-
Appendix
-
Notes
-
References
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