Cliticization in the evolution of bound morphology

• Applicant: Dr. Michael Frotscher
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: from 2021 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 463114957

It is a well-known phenomenon that prosodically independent words may lose their prosodic independence and become clitics, which then, eventually, merge with their host resulting in derivational or inflectional morphology. In this project, we plan to investigate the different paths of development that lead to bound morphology, and to develop a typology of potential directions of grammaticalization involving earlier clitic stages. The network will also take into consideration the directionality of the prosodic changes at work and try to provide a more advanced understanding of this important source of bound morphology in the history and prehistory of several Indo-European and Australian languages.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Eugen Hill