The Crosslinguistics of Zero-Marking of Spatial Relations (Studia Typologica) (Studia Typologica, 15)

On the basis of a world-wide convenience sample of 116 languages, the distribution of zero-marking of spatial relations over the languages of the world is shown to largely escape any genetically, areally and/or typologically based constraints. The main goal of this book is to firmly establish the cross-linguistic occurrence of the zero-marking of spatial relations and to provide a framework for its study in terms of economy and predictability. Table of contents Preface and acknowledgments Abbreviations Part A: Introduction and theoretical framework 1 Introduction 1.1 Appetizer 1.2 First examples (of methodology and terminology) 1.3 Organization 2 Foundations 2.1 Generalities 2.2 Previous studies 2.3 (An excursus on) Asymmetries 2.3.1 Syncretism 2.3.2 More or less complex 2.3.3 Markedness – a difficult concept 2.4 On zeroes and related issues 2.4.1 Finding zeroes 2.4.2 Types of zeroes 2.4.2.1 Splits 2.4.2.2 Problematic toponyms 2.4.3 General case-drop – a false friend 2.5 Theoretical and methodological issues for future research 2.5.1 The development of zero-markers 2.5.2 A formal framework: Optimality Theory 2.6 The final touches Part B: The empirical side of zero-marking of spatial relations 3 Cross-linguistic objets trouvés 3.1 Indo-European 3.1.1 Hittite and sundry old Indo-European languages 3.1.2 (Insular) North Germanic 3.1.2.1 Icelandic 3.1.2.2 Faroese 3.1.2.3 Mainland Scandinavian 3.1.3 Aromunian 3.1.4 Southern Macedonian 3.1.5 Armenian 3.1.5.1 East Armenian 3.1.5.2 West Armenian 3.1.6 Indo-Iranian 3.1.6.1 Kurmancî and Zazakî 3.1.6.2 Gilaki 3.1.6.3 Sivandi 3.1.6.4 Sangesari 3.1.6.5 Persian 3.1.6.6 Kashmiri 3.1.6.7 Punjabi 3.1.6.8 Gujarati 3.1.6.9 Nepali 3.1.6.10 Hindi 3.2 Afro-Asiatic 3.2.1 Semitic 3.2.1.1 East Aramaic 3.2.1.2 Neo-Arabic 3.2.1.2.1 Cairene Arabic 3.2.1.2.2 Sudanese Arabic 3.2.1.2.3 Moroccan Arabic 3.2.1.2.4 Nigerian Arabic 3.2.1.2.5 Cypriot Arabic 3.2.2 Cushitic 3.2.2.1 Somali 3.2.2.2 Dahalo 3.3 Chadic 3.3.1 Miya 3.3.2 Kera 3.3.3 Pero 3.3.4 Mupun 3.3.5 Hausa 3.4 Nilo-Saharan 3.4.1 Lango 3.4.2 Maa 3.5 Fula 3.6 Vai 3.7 Igbo 3.8 Bantu 3.8.1 Yeyi 3.8.2 Kinyamwezi 3.9 Non-Indo-European languages in Asia 3.9.1 Bezhta 3.9.2 Burushaski 3.9.3 Malayalam 3.9.4 Kharia 3.9.5 Khmer 3.9.6 Hmong 3.10 Austronesian 3.10.1 Urak Lawoi’ 3.10.2 Malay 3.10.3 Kilivila 3.10.4 Longgu 3.10.5 Mono-Alu 3.10.6 Drehu 3.10.7 Nêlêmwa 3.10.8 Xârâcùu 3.11 Papua-Newguinea 3.11.1 Koiari 3.11.2 Kobon 3.11.3 Bukiyip 3.11.4 Yelî Dnye 3.12 Australia 3.12.1 Guugu Yimidhirr 3.12.2 Ngalakan 3.12.3 Jaminjung 3.13 The Americas 3.13.1 Inside (and on the borders of) the Mesoamerican Sprachbund 3.13.2 Zero-marking of Place and/or Goal in individual Mesoamerican languages 3.13.2.1 Zapoteco of the Isthmus (Oaxaca) 3.13.2.2 Tlapaneco of Malinaltepec (Guerrero) 3.13.2.3 Trique of San Juan Copala (Oaxaca) 3.13.2.4 Huichol of San Andrés Cohamiata (Jalisco) 3.13.2.5 Chinanteco of San Juan de Lealao (Oaxaca) 3.13.2.6 Zoque of Chimalapa (Oaxaca) 3.13.2.7 Huave of San Mateo del Mar (Oaxaca) 3.13.2.8 Náhuatl of Acaxochitlán (Hidalgo) 3.13.2.9 Yucateco of X-Hazil Sur (Quintana Roo) 3.13.2.10 Totonaco of Misantla (Veracruz) 3.13.2.11 Matlatzinca of San Francisco Oxtotilpan (Estado de México) 3.13.2.12 Mexicanero of la Sierra Madre Oriental 3.13.2.13 Guarijío of Arechuyvo (Chihuahua) 3.13.2.14 Seri of Sonora 3.13.2.15 Interlude 3.13.3 Further data from Mayan languages 3.13.3.1 Jacaltec 3.13.3.2 Kanjobal 3.13.3.3 Tojolabal 3.13.3.4 Mam 3.13.3.5 Itzá 3.14 Pidgin and Creole languages 3.14.1 Portuguese-based Creoles 3.14.1.1 Angolar 3.14.1.2 São Tomense 3.14.1.3 Principense 3.14.1.4 Fa d’Ambû 3.14.1.5 Creole of Batavia and Tugu 3.14.1.6 Papia Kristang 3.14.2 Spanish-based Creoles 3.14.2.1 Papiamentu 3.14.2.2 Palenquero 3.14.3 French-based Creoles 3.14.3.1 Haitian 3.14.3.2 Guyanais 3.14.3.3 Seselwa 3.14.4 Dutch-based Creoles 3.14.5 English-based Pidgins and Creoles 3.14.5.1 Pidgins 3.14.5.1.1 Nigerian Pidgin English 3.14.5.1.2 Japanese Pidgin English in Hawaii 3.14.5.1.3 Pidgin English in Nauru 3.14.5.2 Central American Creole English 3.14.6 On zero-marking in Pidgins and Creoles – in general 3.15 Esperanto 3.16 Bridge 4 Case studies 4.1 Zero-marking in contemporary literary French 4.1.1 Background 4.1.2 Something is absent 4.1.3 Privileged street names 4.1.4 Supposed counter-examples 4.1.5 Predicates 4.1.5.1 Verbs combining with Goals 4.1.5.2 Verbs combining with Places 4.1.6 Beyond the VP 4.1.6.1 Semantics and pragmatics 4.1.6.2 Appositions and related phenomena 4.1.6.3 Attributes and secondary predication 4.1.7 Verbs of communication 4.1.8 Where do you live? 4.1.9 Are there preferences for being zero-marked? 4.1.9.1 More data 4.1.9.2 Quantitative aspects 4.2 Zero-marking in contemporary literary Maltese 4.2.1 In medias res 4.2.2 On Maltese spatial prepositions 4.2.3 Where spatial prepositions fail to show up 4.2.4 Statistics 4.2.4.1 The first corpus text (RMT I) 4.2.4.1.1 On location-NPs 4.2.4.1.2 The verbal component of Maltese spatial constructions 4.2.4.2 The second corpus text (EWB) 4.2.4.2.1 Some properties of location-NPs 4.2.4.2.2 Zero-marking of spatial relations and verbs 4.2.4.3 Variation 4.2.4.3.1 Constraints on pluralization 4.2.4.3.2 Specificity and related issues 4.2.4.3.2.1 Definiteness and indefiniteness 4.2.4.3.2.2 Genericity 4.2.4.3.2.3 Demonstratives and location-NPs 4.2.4.3.2.4 Possessed location-NPs 4.2.4.3.2.5 Location-NPs with (and without) attributes 4.2.4.3.3 Individual place names with and without fi ‘in, at, on’ 4.2.4.3.3.1 Street names 4.2.4.3.3.2 Toponyms 4.2.4.3.4 Variation with verbs 4.2.5 A final word on the Maltese case 4.3 French and Maltese – similarities and dissimilarities Part C: Insights and outlook 5 Evaluation 5.1 Goal vs. Place 5.2 Toponyms vs. common nouns 5.3 Obligatory vs. optional 5.4 Interrelations 6 The end is near 6.1 Achievements (which pose questions) 6.2 Zero-marking in the making? 6.3 The OT-framework 6.4 Syntagmatic vs. paradigmatic types of zero 6.5 Complement vs. adverbial 6.6 The Goal bias and mode hierarchies 6.7 Revisiting the object dimension 6.8 A correspondence with noun incorporation 6.9 Conclusions Appendix A: Corpus Rajt Malta tinbidel B: Corpus Tout Maigret IV C: Corpus Nestor Burma D: Corpus L-ewwel weraq tal-bajtar E: Sample languages F: Maps Sources References Index of authors Index of languages Index of subjects Studia Typologica is the companion series of the journal Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung/Language Typology and Universals (STUF). Studia Typologica publishes scholarly studies of high quality dedicated to promising new topics in the realm of general-comparative linguistics. The series especially welcomes contributions which argue on a solid empirical foundation, have a cross-linguistic orientation and raise new issues which are addressed in innovative ways. The series encourages work on understudied languages and understudied phenomena. Studia Typologica is also interested in areal-typological studies and research on the interface of language contact and language typology. The series is meant as a forum for typologically minded investigations independent of the school of thought the authors adhere to. Monographs as well as collections of articles (sharing a common theme) are published in this series. All manuscripts are peer-reviewed (double blind). The language of publication is English. Biographical note: Thomas Stolz, University of Bremen; Sander Lestrade, Radboud University Nijmegen; Christel Stolz, University of Bremen