Grammaticalization and phonological reidentification in White Hmong

White, Nathan (2021) Grammaticalization and phonological reidentification in White Hmong. Studies in Language, 46 (1). pp. 258-284.

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Abstract

The “dynamic coevolution of meaning and form” of Bybee et al. ( 1994 : 20) has been the subject of significant discussion as regards the languages of Mainland Southeast Asia. However, little work has focused on the mechanisms through which this coevolution occurs when it does surface in these languages. The current work considers phonological reidentification resulting from phonetic reduction in White Hmong (Hmong-Mien, Laos) involving four morphemes, ntshai/ntshe ‘maybe’, saib/seb ‘see if/whether; COMP.CFACT’, puag/pug ‘LOCL;INTS’, and niaj/nej ‘each, every’. These morphemes exhibit an alternation where a rime is phonologically reidentified in a manner consistent with typical phonetic underarticulation patterns, such that an exemplar-model approach (Pierrehumbert 2001 , inter alia) provides a straightforward explanation. Furthermore, the data show that the phonological reidentification patterns found in White Hmong exhibit parallels in other languages in the region, confirming that an areal approach to grammaticalization provides greater descriptive adequacy cross-linguistically as regards this phenomenon.

Item ID: 69317
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1569-9978
Keywords: phonological reanalysis; verbal modification; linguistic area; grammaticalization; Hmong; coevolution of meaning and form; Southeast Asia
Copyright Information: Published Version: © John Benjamins Publishing Company. Accepted Version may be made open access under in an Institutional Repository without emabargo.
Date Deposited: 28 Sep 2021 04:17
FoR Codes: 47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4704 Linguistics > 470409 Linguistic structures (incl. phonology, morphology and syntax) @ 75%
47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4704 Linguistics > 470406 Historical, comparative and typological linguistics @ 25%
SEO Codes: 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280116 Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture @ 100%
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