Academic Paper |
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| Title: | The synchrony and diachrony of differential object marking in Paraguayan Guaraní |
| Author: | Cory Shain |
| Institution: | Ohio State University |
| Author: | Judith Tonhauser |
| Email: | click here to access email |
| Homepage: | http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~judith |
| Institution: | Ohio State University |
| Linguistic Field: | Historical Linguistics; Syntax |
| Subject Language: |
Guaraní, Paraguayan
Spanish |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the synchrony and diachrony of differential object marking in Paraguayan Guaraní on the basis of a quantitative study of a corpus of naturally occurring data of the modern language and an investigation of object marking in a 17th-century catechism. We show that both animacy and topicality, but not definiteness, affect whether a direct object is marked in modern Guaraní , a finding that has implications for cross-linguistic theories of differential object marking, not all of which recognize topicality as a factor. We also find no categorical constraints on differential object marking in Guaraní , contrary to Bossong (1985b). Our study of the 17th-century catechism provides further support for Bossong's (1985b, 2009) claim that Guaraní did not have differential object marking when it came into contact with Spanish. The paper concludes with a discussion of the hypothesis that differential object marking in Guaraní resulted from contact with Spanish. |
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This article appears in Language Variation and Change Vol. 22, Issue 3, which you can read on Cambridge's site or on LINGUIST . |
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