4. Paralexification in language intertwining

Mous, Maarten

doi:10.1075/cll.23.05mou

Cited by 44 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Paralexification is a process found in language intertwining (or mixing), where a language creates a second word form for an existing lexical entry, which copies the semantic and morphosyntactic properties of the existing word form (Mous 2001b). While Mous (2001a) describes paralexification in language intertwining, this is by no means limited to language mixing: "Paralexification is not another name for language intertwining" (Mous 2001b: 113).…”

Section: Paralexificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the vowel epenthesis that took place to break up the exogenous consonant cluster /br/, the initial syllable bu-was reanalysed as the singular class 14 prefix bu-, which commutes with the plural prefix of class 6, ma-. Otherwise, the addition of a noun class prefix to copied items is rather exceptional in Bantu languages (Mous 2001b).…”

Section: Paralexificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prehistoric language contact in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area: Khoisan influence on southwestern Bantu languages

Gunnink¹,

Sands²,

Pakendorf³

et al. 2015

Journal of African Languages and Linguistics

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Abstract:In this article, we show that the influence of Khoisan languages on five southwestern Bantu click languages spoken in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area is diverse and complex. These Bantu languages acquired clicks through contact with both Khwe and Ju languages. However, they did not simply copy these Khoisan clicks words. They adapted them phonologically, resulting in a reduction of the click inventory and also integrated them into Bantu morphosyntax through the unusual process of paralexification. What is more, clicks do not only occur in words of Khoisan origin, but also spread to native vocabulary as a language-internal change, among other things through sound symbolism. Finally, calques and head-final nominal compounds in a number of these Bantu languages point to structural influence, most likely from Khwe. We argue that the contact-induced changes observed in the southwestern Bantu languages can be partly accounted for by the language shift of native Khoisan speakers who imposed certain features from their native language on the Bantu language they acquired. In addition, Bantu speakers may have used clicks and other Khoisanderived elements as an emblem for marking a separate identity, as they were not only maintained, but extended to native structures as well.

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Section: Paralexificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Paralexificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric language contact in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area: Khoisan influence on southwestern Bantu languages

Gunnink¹,

Sands²,

Pakendorf³

et al. 2015

Journal of African Languages and Linguistics

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“…Seidel, 2009: 246). Furthermore, loanwords have been integrated not into the default noun class commonly used for copied items, but into semantically appropriate noun classes, a process called "paralexification" by Mous (2001). Both of these changes are indicative of conscious lan-Language Dynamics and Change 7 (2017) 1-46 guage manipulation not usually found in situations of casual contact (Mous, 2003: 223, 226-227).…”

Section: Contact In the History Of The Southwest Bantu Speech Communimentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric Bantu-Khoisan language contact

et al. 2017

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Click consonants are one of the hallmarks of "Khoisan" languages of southern Africa. They are also found in some Bantu languages, where they are usually assumed to have been copied from Khoisan languages. We review the southern African Bantu languages with clicks and discuss in what way they may have obtained these unusual consonants. We draw on both linguistic data and genetic results to gain insights into the sociocultural processes that may have played a role in the prehistoric contact. Our results show that the copying of clicks accompanied large-scale inmarriage of * BP is grateful to the labex aslan (anr-10-labx-0081) of Université de Lyon for its financial support within the program "Investissements d' Avenir" (anr-11-idex-0007) of the French government, operated by the National Research Agency (anr). HG acknowledges financial support from Ghent University that funds her PhD research. KB is grateful to the Special Research Fund (bof) of Ghent University for financing his research professorship. We furthermore thank Carina Schlebusch and two anonymous reviewers as well as Jeff Good for their insightful comments on a previous version of this manuscript.

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“…Finally, in considering the validity of theories such as relexifixation/relabeling (Muysken 1981;Lefebvre 1988;Wittman & Fournier 1996;Lefebvre 2014), paralexification (Mous 2001) and Full Transfer/Full Access (Schwartz & Sprouse 1996) to interpret lexically-manipulated language data, I asked how lexical features of the L 's verbal lexemes are copied into the lexically-manipulated language. Although the question of mapping is not addressed specifically in this article, there is a general tendency to assume that vocabulary replacement is equivalent to a one-to-one mapping of syntactic and semantic features plus relabeling (Lefebvre 2014: 10, but see Dixon 1971.…”

Section: (14)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such phenomena could be explained with relexification (Muysken 1981, Lefebvre 1988, Wittman & Fournier 1996, Lefebvre 2014, paralexification (Mous 2001), or Full Transfer/Full Access (Schwartz & Sprouse 1996), among others, that is, theories dealing with the representation of vocabulary alternation or replacement. If any of these hypotheses is correct -so that, roughly speaking, the grammar of Chakali is the grammar matrix of Sigu, plus relabeling 5 -then one question is: are the verbal lexemes of the matrix language copied into the alternate language one-to-one?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The multiple senses of sɔ in Sigu

Brindle¹

2016

Ghana J. Ling.

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In Sigu, a previously unrecorded non-natural, secret, and sacred language, the high frequency and meaning variation of the verb sɔ are among the notable aspects of the language. The paper outlines the nature and distribution of the phenomenon using a lexical-translational approach and presents the different usage values of the verb. It then investigates the meanings of sɔ, and how its usage values are related. The analysis proposes that sɔ is lexically underspecified and that linguistic and non-linguistic strategies work to narrow down the range of possible meanings.Key words: lexical manipulation, lexical semantics, underspecification, alternate language RésuméLa fréquence élevée et l'éventail des emplois du verbe sɔ sont parmi les aspects notables du Sigu, une pseudo-langue non-documentée jusqu'à présent. Cet article expose la nature et la distribution du verbe sɔ en utilisant une approche lexico-traductionnelle et présente les différents emplois de ce verbe. Ensuite, il examine les significations de sɔ et les liens entre ses valeurs d'emploi. L'article propose que sɔ est sous-spécifié dans sa représentation lexicale, et que des stratégies linguistiques et non-linguistiques ont pour rôle de limiter l'éventail de ses significations possibles.

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4. Paralexification in language intertwining

Cited by 44 publications

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Prehistoric language contact in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area: Khoisan influence on southwestern Bantu languages

Prehistoric language contact in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area: Khoisan influence on southwestern Bantu languages

Prehistoric Bantu-Khoisan language contact

The multiple senses of sɔ in Sigu

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