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Article published In:
Language and Linguistics
Vol. 22:2 (2021) ► pp.338–375

Come is the new go

The evolution of stem alternation of basic motion verbs in Khroskyabs

| Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
In this paper, I describe the morphology as well as the uses of the basic motion verbs, ‘to come’ and ‘to go’, in Khroskyabs based on two of its varieties, Siyuewu and Wobzi, before analyzing the evolutionary pathways of their stem alternation patterns. The meanings of the basic motion verbs in Khroskyabs originally were not ‘to come’ or ‘to go’; instead, these verbs denoted Goal-oriented motion and Source-oriented motion. The choice of the deictic center is the key to the semantic change toward ‘to come’ and ‘to go’ in the modern language.
Keywords: motion verbs, orientation, stem alternation, Khroskyabs, Rgyalrongic
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Dialects under investigation
  • 3.Basic grammatical features
    • 3.1Phonological sketch
    • 3.2The verb
      • 3.2.1Orientational prefixes
      • 3.2.2Intransitive argument indexation
      • 3.2.3Stem alternation and tense-aspect-modality categories
  • 4.The morphology of basic motion verbs
    • 4.1The verb forms in question
    • 4.2Compatibility with orientational prefixes
    • 4.3Stem alternation of Khroskyabs basic motion verbs
  • 5.Semantic distribution of Khroskyabs basic motion verbs
    • 5.1Terms used
    • 5.2The cislocative verbs
      • 5.2.1The Ground argument of cislocative verbs
      • 5.2.2Choice of the deictic center
      • 5.2.3Deictic center unreached
    • 5.3The translocative verbs
      • 5.3.1 o-u translocative verb
      • 5.3.2 o-e translocative verb
    • 5.4Summary of motion verb uses
    • 5.5Conveyance verbs
  • 6.Cross-Rgyalrongic comparison
    • 6.1Forms of motion verbs
    • 6.2Stem alternation
  • 7.Historical development of Khroskyabs motion verb stem alternation
    • 7.1Origin of (rə-)tô ‘to come’
    • 7.2 o-u/o-e verbs in the proto-language
      • 7.2.1√və̂: Goal-oriented motion
      • 7.2.2√ɕd: Source-oriented motion
      • 7.2.3Typological evidence
    • 7.3Emergence of new stem alternation patterns
      • 7.3.1Pattern merging
      • 7.3.2Which form for which stem?
  • 8.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 17 April 2021
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00085.lai
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Cited by two other publications

Lai, Yunfan
2021. The complexity and history of verb-stem ablauting patterns in Siyuewu Khroskyabs. Folia Linguistica 55:1 ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo
Lai, Yunfan
2021. The complexity and history of verb-stem ablauting patterns in Siyuewu Khroskyabs. Folia Linguistica 55:1 ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo

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