Chapter 8
On habitual periphrasis in Cuzco Quechua
In Cuzco Quechua, a periphrastic construction composed of a lexical subject nominalization in conjunction with the copula is used to express habitual events anchored in the past, regardless of formal tense marking. The aim of this paper is to analyze the construction and evaluate its diachronic development with respect to established grammaticalization clines of past habitual. The variation appears to be the direct result of an on-going process which replicates, in part, an established grammaticalization pathway of past-habitual grams (Bybee et al. 1994). This process of language change sheds light both on the pathway mentioned and reasserts the claim that nominalizations serve source for main clause morphology (Gildea 2008).
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The aspectual selva oscura of habitual constructions
- 3.Past Habitual Periphrasis in Cuzco Quechua – Form and function(s)
- 4.The emergence and expansion of the construction
- 5.Concluding remarks
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Acknowledgments
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Abbreviations
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Notes
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References