清華語言所新030次專題演講公告
講者：陳燕欣 女士(University of Hawaii at Manoa)
題目：Comparative Formosan morphosyntax and its implications for Austronesian primary-level subgrouping
日期：2017年3月31日 (星期五)
時間：中午12:30開始
地點：人社院會議室B305
摘要：In this talk, I discuss how comparative data from Formosan languages contributes to three outstanding questions in Austronesian linguistics: (1) whether higher-level Austronesian languages exhibit an ergative-absolutive case system, similar to Inuit and Mayan languages, or a nominative-accusative case system, akin to English and Turkish, (2) the nature of an unexpected conflict in Austronesian primary-level subgrouping between proposals drawn on phonological evidence and those based on several mor-phosyntactic discrepancies among higher-order languages, and 3) the directionality of change of the Philippine-type voice morphology.
Formosan languages occupy the majority of Austronesian primary branches and preserve elaborate morphosyntax unattested in languages spoken outside Taiwan. The core syntax of these languages therefore provides rich implications for reconstructing the grammatical system of Proto-Austronesian, the ancestral language of all modern Austronesian languages found in Madagascar and throughout the islands of the Pacific. Using comparative data from Puyuma, Amis, and Seediq as an empirical starting point, I investigate the shared structures and case patterns in several constructions across Formosan languages, and demonstrate how they shed new light on nature of the Austronesian-type voice system. Finally, I discuss how the present analysis of the voice system helps resolve the conflict between phonology-based and morphosyntax-based proposals for Austronesian primary-level subgrouping. (Tsuchida 1976; Ho 1998; Blust 1999) (Starosta, Pawley, & Reid 1981; Starosta 1995; Ross 2009; Aldridge 2016).
Selected references:
Aldridge, E. 2004. Ergativity and word order in Austronesian languages. Ph.D dissertation: Cornell University.
Blust, R. 1999a. Subgrouping, circularity and extinction: some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics. In Zeitoun, E. and P. Li (eds.), Selected Papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguis-tics, 31–94. Taipei: Academia Sinica.
Pearson, M. 2005. The Malagasy subject/topic as an A’-element. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 23: 381–457.
Rackowski, A. and N. Richards. 2005. Phase Edge and Extraction: A Tagalog Case Study. Linguistic Inquiry 36(4):565–599.
Ross, M. 2012. In Defense of Nuclear Austronesian (and Against Tsouic). Language and Linguistics 13(6):1253–1330.
Starosta, S., A. Pawley, and L. Reid. 1982. The evolution of focus in Austronesian. In Halim A. et al. (eds.), Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 2, 145–170. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
題目：Comparative Formosan morphosyntax and its implications for Austronesian primary-level subgrouping
日期：2017年3月31日 (星期五)
時間：中午12:30開始
地點：人社院會議室B305
摘要：In this talk, I discuss how comparative data from Formosan languages contributes to three outstanding questions in Austronesian linguistics: (1) whether higher-level Austronesian languages exhibit an ergative-absolutive case system, similar to Inuit and Mayan languages, or a nominative-accusative case system, akin to English and Turkish, (2) the nature of an unexpected conflict in Austronesian primary-level subgrouping between proposals drawn on phonological evidence and those based on several mor-phosyntactic discrepancies among higher-order languages, and 3) the directionality of change of the Philippine-type voice morphology.
Formosan languages occupy the majority of Austronesian primary branches and preserve elaborate morphosyntax unattested in languages spoken outside Taiwan. The core syntax of these languages therefore provides rich implications for reconstructing the grammatical system of Proto-Austronesian, the ancestral language of all modern Austronesian languages found in Madagascar and throughout the islands of the Pacific. Using comparative data from Puyuma, Amis, and Seediq as an empirical starting point, I investigate the shared structures and case patterns in several constructions across Formosan languages, and demonstrate how they shed new light on nature of the Austronesian-type voice system. Finally, I discuss how the present analysis of the voice system helps resolve the conflict between phonology-based and morphosyntax-based proposals for Austronesian primary-level subgrouping. (Tsuchida 1976; Ho 1998; Blust 1999) (Starosta, Pawley, & Reid 1981; Starosta 1995; Ross 2009; Aldridge 2016).
Selected references:
Aldridge, E. 2004. Ergativity and word order in Austronesian languages. Ph.D dissertation: Cornell University.
Blust, R. 1999a. Subgrouping, circularity and extinction: some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics. In Zeitoun, E. and P. Li (eds.), Selected Papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguis-tics, 31–94. Taipei: Academia Sinica.
Pearson, M. 2005. The Malagasy subject/topic as an A’-element. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 23: 381–457.
Rackowski, A. and N. Richards. 2005. Phase Edge and Extraction: A Tagalog Case Study. Linguistic Inquiry 36(4):565–599.
Ross, M. 2012. In Defense of Nuclear Austronesian (and Against Tsouic). Language and Linguistics 13(6):1253–1330.
Starosta, S., A. Pawley, and L. Reid. 1982. The evolution of focus in Austronesian. In Halim A. et al. (eds.), Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 2, 145–170. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.