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Double Case: Agreement by Suffixaufnahme
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Double Case: Agreement by Suffixaufnahme 1995 OUP

Anthony Aristar
E-mail: aristar@linguistlist.org
Department of English
Wayne State University
Detroit

Double Case: Agreement by Suffixaufnahme
ed. Franz Plank. 1995, 431-451. 1995 Oxford University Press

Short Abstract


In certain languages case-marking which properly belongs to the head noun of an NP, and defines the case-relation which that head noun has in a higher phrase or clause, appears affixed to the modifying noun or noun phrase. Thus, all case-marking for the entire NP appears on the modifying noun. This occurs in languages such as Kanuri and Sumerian, e.g.:

e shesh lugal-ak-ak-a

house brother king-GEN-GEN-LOC

`In the house of the brother of the king'

Such constructions are difficult to explain, for they entail a degree of center-embedding which is theoretically problematic. This paper suggests that, despite the apparent idiosyncrasy of these constructions, they derive from a commonplace source: the use of either head-referent or dependent-referent pronouns to bind one noun to another. Binder-pronoun are capable of being either 'head-referent' or 'dependent-referent.' In a genitive with `John' as dependent and `hat' as head, `head-referent' anaphors will refer to `hat', e.g. `the hat, John's one.' `Dependent-referent' pronominals, on the other hand, will refer to `John', e.g. `John his hat.' This paper argues that it is the first construction, that containing a head-referent pronominal, which gives rise to case-displacement. The second construction, that containing a dependent- referent pronominal, gives rise to either head-marked genitives or pronominal-marked genitives, both of which are fairly common in language. The paper argues there is a reason case-displacement is rare, despite its commonplace origin. Only under certain specific circumstances can head- referent pronominal marking be be grammaticalized so as to produce case- displacement. There exists, however, a much larger set of circumstances under which dependent-referent pronominals can be grammaticalized. Thus case-displacement is a relatively rare phenomenon, not because it entails complex center-embedding, but because of the diachronic proceses by which it arises.