Comparative and Historical Linguistics Commons^™

Paratum Fuit: Double Perfect Marking In Classical Latin Passives, James F. Epperson Ii

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

Despite thousands of years of study, certain constructions in Latin remain insufficiently described in modern Latin linguistics. One such construction is the double perfectum, an analytic verbal construction comprising the perfect passive participle and a perfectum forms of the auxiliary esse. These forms are rare, largely absent from educational Latin materials, and receive limited attention in scientific descriptions of Latin, often focusing on their evolution into the modern Romance verbal systems. Pinkster (2015) identifies them within a broader class of resultative constructions, but acknowledges their inconsistent usage. Earlier scholars, such as Riemann (1927), interpreted them as stative, while others, like …

A Computer-Assisted Approach To Lexical Borrowing In Northeast Caucasian Languages, Bonnie Eleanor Wren-Hardin

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

The disambiguation of loanwords and cognates can be a challenge, especially in areas where there has been intense language contact over an extended period of time, when the contact is between genetically related languages, and when the number of languages involved is large Over the past several decades, more and more computational approaches to automatic cognate and borrowing detection have been created in an attempt to ease the load of examining hundreds to thousands of individual lexemes, as well as determine language family relationships with allegedly greater accuracy. While these methods are not perfect and cannot replace the knowledge or …

Ambiguous Appalachianness: A Linguistic And Perceptual Investigation Into Arc-Labeled Pennsylvania Counties, Crissandra J. George

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

The Appalachian Regional Commission (2022) designates 52 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties as Appalachia, excluding only the southeast portion of the state. Matthew Ferrence, in Appalachia North, states that his "home is sometimes called Appalachia, sometimes Rust Belt, other times Midwest, even though very few who live there would accept any of those labels as correct" (xi). This ambiguous and fluid identity is due to the shaping, forming, and changing of Pennsylvania’s role within society from a founding colony to a thriving state with industry, unselfishly spoiling others, to the grounds of converging identities (Ferrence xi). This ambiguous identity makes …

Pmkns For Pie: Parsed Morphological Katr Networks Of Sanskrit For Proto-Indo-European, Ryan Mark Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

In this thesis, I construct two computational networks for Sanskrit to test theories of nominal accentuation as a way of examining the simplicity of each theory. I will be examining the Paradigmatic Approach and the Compositional Approach to nominal accentuation. For the Paradigmatic Approach, nominals are categorized into mobile and static categories based on how the accent appears in the paradigm (Fortson 2010). For the Compositional Approach, accent mobility is a result of the combination of morphemes and their inherent accent states (Kirparsky 2010). To construct these networks, I use the KATR extension to the DATR language for lexical knowledge …

A Markedly Different Approach: Investigating Pie Stops Using Modern Empirical Methods, Phillip Barnett

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

In this thesis, I investigate a decades-old problem found in the stop system of Proto-Indo-European (PIE). More specifically, I will be investigating the paucity of */b/ in the forms reconstructed for the ancient, hypothetical language. As cross-linguistic evidence and phonological theory alone have fallen short of providing a satisfactory answer, herein will I employ modern empirical methods of linguistic investigation, namely laboratory phonology experiments and computational database analysis. Following Byrd 2015, I advocate for an examination of synchronic phenomena and behavior as a method for investigating diachronic change.

In Chapter 1, I present an overview of the various proposed phonological …

The Origin Of The Gilaki Causative Suffix -Be(ː)-, Zia Khoshsirat

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

The Proto-Indo-European causative/iterative suffix *-ei̯e- was inherited by Old Iranian and persists in almost all Middle and Modern Iranian languages as -aya- and -ēn- (-Vn-) respectively. Comparably, in the Indic branch -aya- functions as a causative suffix in Sanskrit beside another suffix -āpaya which became the productive causative suffix -āvē- in Middle Indic and still used in Modern Indic today. Evidence shows eight Eastern Iranian languages- †Khotanese, †Khwarazmian, Parachi, Wakhi, Munji, Pashto, Ormuri, and Yidgha- using the morphological causative suffix in addition to the expected Iranian one -aya- or -Vn-. This alternative causative suffix is …

Urdu Resultive Constructions (A Comparative Analysis Of Syntacto-Semantic And Pragmatic Properties Of The Compound Verbs In Hindi-Urdu)‎, Razia A. Husain

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

Among Urdu’s many verb+verb constructions, this thesis focuses on those constructions, which combine the stem of a main content verb with another inflected verb which is used in a semantically bleached sense. Prior work on these constructions has been focused on their structural make-up and syntactic behavior in various environments. While there is consensus among scholars (Butt 1995, Hook 1977, Carnikova 1989, Porizka 2000 et al.) that these stem+verb constructions encode aspectual information, to date no clear theory has been put forward to explain the nature of their aspectual contribution. In short, we do not have a clear idea why …

Pronominal Complex Predicates In Colloquial Persian, Ghazaleh Kazeminejad

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

Pronominal complex predicates in colloquial Persian are periphrastic constructions with an idiosyncratic syntactic pattern. They show a peculiar behavior compared to the regular agreement system in Persian, and they are the only construction in Persian which requires the obligatory presence of a pronominal enclitic. This work is an attempt to analyze this construction in order to find its function. For this purpose, a lexical semantic classification of them was proposed, which helped in presenting a new analysis. It was found out that this construction is used to express a particular diathesis in which the topic of the sentence (determined according …

Protestant Language Use In 17th Century Slovakia In A Diglossia Framework, Mark Richard Lauersdorf

Linguistics Faculty Publications

This article presents a discussion of several issues that are central to the ongoing, larger sociolinguistic investigation of the history of standard language development in pre-codification (15th-18th century) Slovakia. It is, in a sense, a position paper, laying out a basic theoretical framework and methodology for historical sociolinguistic research on Slovak standard language development and outlining an investigation of the 17th century linguistic situation among the Slovak Protestants within this framework and methodology.

Slovak Standard Language Development In The 15th–18th Centuries: A Diglossia Approach, Mark Richard Lauersdorf

Linguistics Faculty Publications

This study provides a sketch of Slovak standard language development during the pre-codification period (15th-18th centuries) within a diglossia framework.  The focus is on the earlier periods of the 15th and 16th centuries – the earliest time from which there is significant direct documentation of patterns of indigenous language use in Slovakia in the form of a larger corpus of texts written in a Slavic language (be it Czech or mixed Czech-Slovak).  The investigation indicates a 15th-16th century situation of Czech-Slovak diglossia that is gradually resolved in the course of the 17th-18th centuries through increasing development and use of a …

Kultúrna Slovenčina Administratívno-Právnych Textov Zo 16. Storočia „Čo S Fonológiou A Morfológiou?“, Mark Richard Lauersdorf

Linguistics Faculty Publications

It is generally accepted that the present-day Slovak standard language was codified in its basic form in the mid 19th century by the Slovak scholar Ľudovít Štúr. A similar, but unsuccessful, attempt to create a standard Slovak language was made by Anton Bernolák in the late 18th century. There is not general agreement, however, on the degree or type of standardization, or better, normalization, exhibited by Slovak texts in the pre-codification period (15th-18th centuries). The present study outlines a new methodological framework for the investigation of the issue of standard language development in early pre-codification Slovak texts, providing selected phonological …

The Question Of 'Cultural Language' And Interdialectal Norm In 16th Century Slovakia: A Phonological Analysis Of 16th Century Slovak Administrative-Legal Texts, Mark Richard Lauersdorf

Linguistics Faculty Book Gallery

There is not general agreement among scholars on the degree or type of standardization, or better, normalization, exhibited by Slovak texts before the 18th-19th century codifying efforts of Anton Bernolák, Ľudovít Štúr and their followers. Indeed, disagreement on this issue is greater the earlier the time period under consideration. The present study focuses on the 16th century and the degree and type of standardization/normalization exhibited in a corpus of 152 administrative-legal texts (judicial and municipal records, official correspondence, account books, etc.) from all four major Slovak dialect regions – Moravian, West, Central and East Slovak. The author examines the textual …