Chapter 9
Incipient hierarchical alignment in four Central Salish languages
from the Proto-Salish middle
There are three distinct transitive constructions in four Coast
Salish languages, Squamish, Halkomelem, Klallam and Lushootseed. In
the V-tr construction, both A and P are unmarked for case;
in the V-mid construction (often considered antipassive), A
is unmarked and P marked; in the V-tr-mid construction
(often considered passive), P is unmarked and A marked.
Individually, none of these constructions is a hierarchical system,
but in combination, asymmetries in their distribution are well on
the way to creating a person-based hierarchical system. This paper
discusses the diachronic development of each of these constructions,
then describes their differential distribution into the four
functional domains: local (SAP A → SAP P), direct
(SAP → 3P), nonlocal (3A → 3P), and
inverse (3A → SAP P). While the distribution is not
identical in each of the languages, the trend is clear: the
etymologically passive V-tr-mid construction cannot occur
in the direct domain and has become the pragmatically
unmarked construction in the inverse domain, whereas the
etymologically antipassive V-mid construction cannot occur
in the inverse domain. While it only occurs in the
direct and nonlocal domains, even there it is
rare, giving the appearance that its function is still that of an
antipassive. In combination, the result is that whenever the two
core arguments of a clause are an SAP and a third person, regardless
of grammatical role the SAP participant is always an unmarked core
argument, whereas the third person is most often marked, leading to
a situation where the oblique case in these languages is beginning
to resemble the obviative case-marker of inverse languages.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Introducing and reconstructing the three distinct
constructions
- 2.1The transitive (tr) construction
- 2.2
The reflexive > middle > antipassive
construction
- 2.2.1Reflexive
- 2.2.2Middle
- 2.2.3Antipassive
- 2.3The transitive-reflexive > passive (-tr-mid) construction
- 3.Towards creating the hierarchy: The synchronic distribution of
the three constructions
- 3.1The local quadrant
- 3.2The inverse quadrant
- 3.3The direct quadrant
- 3.4The nonlocal quadrant
- 4.Discussion
-
Abbreviations
-
Notes
-
References
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