LINGUIST List 23.1264: Qs: Case Marking in Verbless Exclamations

LINGUIST List 23.1264
Tue Mar 13 2012 Qs: Case Marking in Verbless Exclamations Editor for this issue: Zac Smith <zaclinguistlist.org>
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Date: 13-Mar-2012 From: Ante Aikio <ante.aikiooulu.fi> Subject: Case Marking in Verbless Exclamations E-mail this message to a friend We are planning a paper on the syntax of verbless exclamations, in particular on case marking patterns in such exclamations. Our starting point is the observation that in certain Finno-Ugric languages (such as Saami and Finnish) the presence of an interjection may trigger case marking in a verbless exclamation, for example: (North Saami:) Máhtte riehpu! Matthew poor-SG.NOM ‘Poor Matthew!’ Vuoi Máhtte riebu! Oh Matthew poor-SG.ACC ‘Oh, poor Matthew!’ (Finnish:) Matti parka! Matthew poor-SG.NOM ’Poor Matthew!’ Voi Matti parkaa! Oh Matthew poor-SG.PART ’Oh, poor Matthew!’ The literature addressing verbless exclamations from a morphosyntactic point of view (rather than a semantic or pragmatic point of view) seems to be scarce. We have two questions for which we would be very glad to receive data and/or references: 1) Are there any general studies on the (morpho)syntax or typology of verbless exclamations? We are aware of references dealing with exclamations from the point of view of speech act theory, but we have not found any studies that focus on the grammatical features of such expressions. 2) Are you aware of any languages (other than Saami and Finnic languages) that show case marking patterns in exclamations lacking a verb? Are these patterns systematic and productive (i.e., not found in fossilized phrases only), and not easily explicable as results of verb ellipsis? We will post a summary to the list, and we are also glad to provide more information on the phenomenon in Finnish and Saami to those interested. best regards, Ante Aikio Giellagas institute of Saami Studies / University of Oulu, Finland Department of Modern Languages / University of Helsinki, Finland Katja Västi Department of Finnish Language / University of Oulu, Finland Department of Modern Languages / University of Helsinki, Finland Linguistic Field(s): Morphology Syntax This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $67,000. This money will go to help keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the coming year. See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out Fund Drive 2012 site! http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2012/ There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST! You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so, go to: https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how to donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit: http://linguistlist.org/donation/ The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered 501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These donations can be offset against your federal and sometimes your state tax return (U.S. tax payers only). For more information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact your financial advisor. Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your contacting your human resources department and sending us a form that the EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is generally a simple administrative procedure that doubles the value of your gift to LINGUIST, without costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment to check if your company operates such a program. Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST! Read more issues\|LINGUIST home page\|Top of issue

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