E Pluribus Unum – Emergent, Convergent Paradigms

• Applicants: Dr. Laura Becker; Professorin Dr. Uta Reinöhl; Privatdozentin Dr. Lotte Sommerer
• Subject Area: Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics ; General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 541384514

This project investigates the emergence of convergent paradigms in diverse languages. Convergent paradigms consist of grammatical forms ("grams") deriving from heterogeneous original word classes, which over time developed (more) paradigmatic relations to each other. The grams in question are known to derive from a variety of source categories and they are also known to have distributionally converged in some way. One example comes from New Indo-Aryan languages, in which postpositions descend not from one word class, but from e.g. nouns, adverbs, and participles. Thus, the Hindi postpositional paradigm includes mê 'in' (< madhye 'in the middle'), par 'on' (< upari 'above') and kâ/-e/-î indicating possession (< krta(ka)-, perfective participle of kr 'to do'). These heterogeneous sources notwithstanding, we are dealing with an integrated paradigm that on the whole shows a far-reaching overlap between the grams’ immediate and wider morpho-syntactic environments. We will investigate convergent paradigm formation cross-linguistically and in three grammatical categories, focusing on determiners in the nominal domain, on person markers in the verbal domain, and on converb markers in the domain of clause linkage. While ubiquitous, the phenomenon of convergent paradigmatization has hardly been addressed explicitly despite its considerable potential to elucidate fundamental questions of language change. This project seeks to fill this research gap by bringing together broad and substantial typological expertise with advanced theorizing in grammatical change. Our investigation of convergent paradigmatization promises insights into one of the most essential questions in grammaticalization research with implications for understanding language change more broadly: Are grammaticalizational pathways solely or primarily explained by the semantic, pragmatic and formal properties of their source grams and constructions, or are they often or always impacted in significant ways by other grams, other constructions or constructional families, or by yet other structures or factors? We argue that the latter standpoint is more realistic and requires investigation. We will conduct case studies in languages and language families that show evidence of convergent paradigm formation with well attested data. In some of our selected case studies, convergence can be traced through a long history (in particular, Mayan languages, Indo-Aryan languages and English), and in others, through shallow-depth comparisons of closely related languages (e.g. Oceanic languages and Kera'a in ist Tibeto-Burman comparative context). In yet other cases, we are dealing with young creoles and contact varieties whose source languages are well-known and continue to be spoken, thus yielding prime points of comparison (Light Warlpiri, Tok Pisin, Kriol). We work with existing descriptive studies and with existing corpus data, as well as with new fieldwork data which will be collected for this project.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Australia, Belgium, India
• Cooperation Partners: Carmel O' Shannessy, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Hendrik De Smet; Professor Dr. Freek van de Velde
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Razzeko Dele