Katarzyna Janic | Universität Leipzig (original) (raw)
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Papers by Katarzyna Janic
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Apr 25, 2023
Le terme d’antipassif, qui s’inscrit depuis quarante ans dans le système des langues ergatives, d... more Le terme d’antipassif, qui s’inscrit depuis quarante ans dans le système des langues ergatives, désigne une construction intransitive ayant pour caractéristique générale la destitution du patient. Cette thèse remet en question l’opinion traditionnelle selon laquelle les constructions antipassives sont identifiées exclusivement dans les langues à alignement ergatif, et non dans les langues à alignement accusatif. Étant donné qu’une certaine proportion de langues ergatives utilise pour dériver l’antipassif le morphème polysémique réfléchie et/ou réciproque, dans cette étude nous nous sommes intéressée aux langues accusatives dont la marque antipassive présente la même caractéristique, d’où l’intérêt porté aux langues austronésiennes, Niger-Congo et Nilo-sahariennes, turciques, slaves et romanes. Dans la mesure où nous avons décidé de travailler sur les constructions antipassives dérivées par une marque étant à l’origine polysémique, l’impact sémantique de cette dernière sur l’ensemble...
Journal of Historical Linguistics
In this paper, we propose treating alignment shift as a process of functional markedness reversal... more In this paper, we propose treating alignment shift as a process of functional markedness reversal in the domain of semantically transitive constructions. We illustrate how this approach allows us to capture similarities between the alignment shifts in Eskimo-Aleut and Western Austronesian languages, despite morphosyntactic differences in their voice systems. Using three diagnostics of functional markedness (semantic transitivity, topic continuity of P, and discourse frequency), we compare antipassive and ergative constructions in Eskimo-Aleut varieties and actor voice (av) and undergoer voice (uv) constructions in Western Austronesian varieties. We argue that ergative alignment is equivalent to a functionally unmarked P-prominent construction (e.g., ergative, uv), whilst accusative alignment is equivalent to a functionally unmarked A-prominent construction (e.g., antipassive, av). On this basis, we claim that both language groups are undergoing a parallel shift from ergative to accu...
This landmark publication brings together 26 papers on reflexive constructions in languages from ... more This landmark publication brings together 26 papers on reflexive constructions in languages from around the world, covering all continents and diverse language types. Even though reflexive constructions have often been discussed from a variety of angles, this is the first edited volume of its kind. All the chapters are based on original data collected by the authors, and they are broadly comparable through careful terminological usage, even though each paper is primarily based on language-internal evidence. The volume also contains two introductory chapters by the editors that set the stage and lay out the main comparative concepts, as well as one concluding chapter that presents generalizations
Basic information about antipassives in languages with at least some ergative patterns
L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives
L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives
L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives
P demotion is an umbrella term which refers to an operation performed on verbal valency. This mec... more P demotion is an umbrella term which refers to an operation performed on verbal valency. This mechanism results in a range of different constructions sharing two characteristics: the P argument loses the properties of a core argument without affecting the semantic role of the A argument. This study examines a particular case of P demotion operation called antipassive. Until recently, the antipassive construction was regarded as the particularity of a morphologically ergative type of alignment, which, triggered by an explicit verbal marker, stands in a symmetrical relationship to the passive construction. These false beliefs blindly repeated for decades were, however, at the time well-justified. They resulted from the misinterpretation of the definition proposed by Silverstein (1972, 1976) and more importantly from the lack of adequate crosslinguistic data. However, a growing body of recent studies enables the questioning of the traditional view of the antipassive. It also provides n...
Studies in Language, 2021
Frequency asymmetries within a minimal grammatical domain create offline associations that langua... more Frequency asymmetries within a minimal grammatical domain create offline associations that languages tend to exploit for a more efficient encoding. We explore cross-linguistic coding patterns of antipassives. We first argue that antipassive markers tend to have properties of derivational markers. Secondly, we show that antipassives are considerably rarer than the basic transitive constructions. The lower frequency correlates with the length of coding: antipassives tend to be coded with longer forms than basic transitive verbs. Thirdly, we explore frequency associations of different lexical input types and find that it is the rare input types that tend to select the antipassive, if the marking is differential, while the frequent ones correlate with the unmarked verb (A-lability). We, furthermore, show that the rarer argument types and argument scenarios correlate stronger with antipassives than the more frequent argument types and scenarios.
Workshop description Most definitions share the idea that the term reflexive refers to events whe... more Workshop description Most definitions share the idea that the term reflexive refers to events wherein the patient object co-refers with the agent subject as in Mary saw herself in the mirror. In contrast, the coding of reflexive interpretation demonstrates remarkable variation across languages (König & Siemund 2000). It extends from nominals (Acholi body), through dedicated reflexive pronouns that in some languages grammaticalized into verbal affixes and derive reflexive verbs (Russian sebja > -sja) to verbal strategies, including a change in a verbal paradigm. The reflexive interpretation can also be available with possessive pronouns or as in Oceanic with personal pronouns.
New Insights into Slavic Linguistics
Langages, 2019
Dans la tradition scolaire du francais, le classement des differentes formes ‹se-verbe› est centr... more Dans la tradition scolaire du francais, le classement des differentes formes ‹se-verbe› est centre sur quatre prototypes : reflechi, reciproque, passif et lexicalise (Creissels 2006). Dans cette etude, nous examinons le cas peu documente de l’antipassif. L’interet particulier se porte sur les formes de l’antipassif accompagnees d’un argument oblique. L’analyse proposee cherche a explorer ce phenomene, en le distinguant d’autres ‹se-verbes› qui sont comparables dans une analyse de surface, mais qui relevent en realite de l’emploi reflechi ou de l’emploi lexicalise. A cette fin, nous approfondissons l’etude de l’aspect semantique des formes ‹se-verbe› a argument oblique.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Apr 25, 2023
Le terme d’antipassif, qui s’inscrit depuis quarante ans dans le système des langues ergatives, d... more Le terme d’antipassif, qui s’inscrit depuis quarante ans dans le système des langues ergatives, désigne une construction intransitive ayant pour caractéristique générale la destitution du patient. Cette thèse remet en question l’opinion traditionnelle selon laquelle les constructions antipassives sont identifiées exclusivement dans les langues à alignement ergatif, et non dans les langues à alignement accusatif. Étant donné qu’une certaine proportion de langues ergatives utilise pour dériver l’antipassif le morphème polysémique réfléchie et/ou réciproque, dans cette étude nous nous sommes intéressée aux langues accusatives dont la marque antipassive présente la même caractéristique, d’où l’intérêt porté aux langues austronésiennes, Niger-Congo et Nilo-sahariennes, turciques, slaves et romanes. Dans la mesure où nous avons décidé de travailler sur les constructions antipassives dérivées par une marque étant à l’origine polysémique, l’impact sémantique de cette dernière sur l’ensemble...
Journal of Historical Linguistics
In this paper, we propose treating alignment shift as a process of functional markedness reversal... more In this paper, we propose treating alignment shift as a process of functional markedness reversal in the domain of semantically transitive constructions. We illustrate how this approach allows us to capture similarities between the alignment shifts in Eskimo-Aleut and Western Austronesian languages, despite morphosyntactic differences in their voice systems. Using three diagnostics of functional markedness (semantic transitivity, topic continuity of P, and discourse frequency), we compare antipassive and ergative constructions in Eskimo-Aleut varieties and actor voice (av) and undergoer voice (uv) constructions in Western Austronesian varieties. We argue that ergative alignment is equivalent to a functionally unmarked P-prominent construction (e.g., ergative, uv), whilst accusative alignment is equivalent to a functionally unmarked A-prominent construction (e.g., antipassive, av). On this basis, we claim that both language groups are undergoing a parallel shift from ergative to accu...
This landmark publication brings together 26 papers on reflexive constructions in languages from ... more This landmark publication brings together 26 papers on reflexive constructions in languages from around the world, covering all continents and diverse language types. Even though reflexive constructions have often been discussed from a variety of angles, this is the first edited volume of its kind. All the chapters are based on original data collected by the authors, and they are broadly comparable through careful terminological usage, even though each paper is primarily based on language-internal evidence. The volume also contains two introductory chapters by the editors that set the stage and lay out the main comparative concepts, as well as one concluding chapter that presents generalizations
Basic information about antipassives in languages with at least some ergative patterns
L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives
L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives
L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives
P demotion is an umbrella term which refers to an operation performed on verbal valency. This mec... more P demotion is an umbrella term which refers to an operation performed on verbal valency. This mechanism results in a range of different constructions sharing two characteristics: the P argument loses the properties of a core argument without affecting the semantic role of the A argument. This study examines a particular case of P demotion operation called antipassive. Until recently, the antipassive construction was regarded as the particularity of a morphologically ergative type of alignment, which, triggered by an explicit verbal marker, stands in a symmetrical relationship to the passive construction. These false beliefs blindly repeated for decades were, however, at the time well-justified. They resulted from the misinterpretation of the definition proposed by Silverstein (1972, 1976) and more importantly from the lack of adequate crosslinguistic data. However, a growing body of recent studies enables the questioning of the traditional view of the antipassive. It also provides n...
Studies in Language, 2021
Frequency asymmetries within a minimal grammatical domain create offline associations that langua... more Frequency asymmetries within a minimal grammatical domain create offline associations that languages tend to exploit for a more efficient encoding. We explore cross-linguistic coding patterns of antipassives. We first argue that antipassive markers tend to have properties of derivational markers. Secondly, we show that antipassives are considerably rarer than the basic transitive constructions. The lower frequency correlates with the length of coding: antipassives tend to be coded with longer forms than basic transitive verbs. Thirdly, we explore frequency associations of different lexical input types and find that it is the rare input types that tend to select the antipassive, if the marking is differential, while the frequent ones correlate with the unmarked verb (A-lability). We, furthermore, show that the rarer argument types and argument scenarios correlate stronger with antipassives than the more frequent argument types and scenarios.
Workshop description Most definitions share the idea that the term reflexive refers to events whe... more Workshop description Most definitions share the idea that the term reflexive refers to events wherein the patient object co-refers with the agent subject as in Mary saw herself in the mirror. In contrast, the coding of reflexive interpretation demonstrates remarkable variation across languages (König & Siemund 2000). It extends from nominals (Acholi body), through dedicated reflexive pronouns that in some languages grammaticalized into verbal affixes and derive reflexive verbs (Russian sebja > -sja) to verbal strategies, including a change in a verbal paradigm. The reflexive interpretation can also be available with possessive pronouns or as in Oceanic with personal pronouns.
New Insights into Slavic Linguistics
Langages, 2019
Dans la tradition scolaire du francais, le classement des differentes formes ‹se-verbe› est centr... more Dans la tradition scolaire du francais, le classement des differentes formes ‹se-verbe› est centre sur quatre prototypes : reflechi, reciproque, passif et lexicalise (Creissels 2006). Dans cette etude, nous examinons le cas peu documente de l’antipassif. L’interet particulier se porte sur les formes de l’antipassif accompagnees d’un argument oblique. L’analyse proposee cherche a explorer ce phenomene, en le distinguant d’autres ‹se-verbes› qui sont comparables dans une analyse de surface, mais qui relevent en realite de l’emploi reflechi ou de l’emploi lexicalise. A cette fin, nous approfondissons l’etude de l’aspect semantique des formes ‹se-verbe› a argument oblique.
Studies in Language, 2021
Frequency asymmetries within a minimal grammatical domain create offline associations that langua... more Frequency asymmetries within a minimal grammatical domain create offline associations that languages tend to exploit for more efficient encoding, i.e., encoding with less articulatory effort: the more frequent combinations create default associations and may be left unmarked. In this paper, we explore cross-linguistic coding patterns of antipassive constructions. We first argue that antipassive markers tend to have the properties of derivational markers. Secondly, we show that the antipassive construction is considerably rarer than the basic transitive construction. Its low frequency correlates with the length of coding: the antipassive construction tends to be coded with longer forms than transitive verbs in the basic transitive construction. Thirdly, we explore frequency associations of different lexical input types with object demotion. We find that the rare input types tend to select the marked antipassive for object demotion while the frequent types tend to rely on A-lability. For example, we find that those transitive verbs that often occur in A-preserving (A > S) intransitive constructions often lack any overt marking in these constructions (A-lability). By contrast, verbs that are most frequently found in the transitive use tend to select the antipassive (and thus overt marking) for the A-preserving intransitive use. We show furthermore that the rarer argument types and argument scenarios correlate more strongly with antipassives than the more frequent argument types and scenarios. The latter tend to co-occur with an unmarked verb or with a verb that bears a shorter (antipassive) marker. Finally, we argue that semantic explanations for these coding asymmetries – although they make accurate predictions in many respects – are still less advantageous than the frequency-based account that we offer in this paper.