Chapter 2
The loss of affixation in Cham
Contact, internal drift and the limits of linguistic history
Chamic languages have been spoken in Central Vietnam since about
600 AD. While Classical Cham (9th–15th centuries), had already lost a significant
proportion of its Austronesian affixation, it also borrowed new affixes from Mon-Khmer.
Modern Cham (16th–19th centuries) underwent another wave of reduction that led to a
largely monosyllabic and affixless Colloquial Eastern Cham (20th–21st centuries).
In this paper I first look at representative Classical Cham
inscriptions, establishing the extent to which they exhibit a reduction of affixation,
and discussing possible contact scenarios that may have led to this reduction. I then
assess the prevalence of affixation in Modern Cham manuscripts and in Colloquial Eastern
Cham, and argue that the role Vietnamese played in Cham monosyllabisation must have been
more indirect than previously assumed.
Article outline
- 1.The loss of affixation in Cham languages: Overview and previous proposals
- 2.Affixation in Cham inscriptions and
manuscripts
- 3.Contact, learnability and the initial reduction of affixation
- 4.Iambicity, monosyllabisation and the loss of affixation
- 5.The loss of affixation: Contact versus internal restructuring
- 6.Conclusion: Revisiting contact and learnability
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Acknowledgements
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Notes
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References