Non-singular pronouns in Tibeto-Burman (Trans-Himalayan)
This paper surveys the forms of dual and plural pronouns across the Tibeto-Burman languages, and offers a
reconstruction of the non-singular pronouns, and a general account of how various branches and languages have diverged from this
original system. We can certainly reconstruct two, perhaps three, person-number portmanteaus: #i 1pl, or
perhaps 1pl.inc, #ni 2pl, and, less certainly, #ka 1pl.exc. We also
reconstruct #tsi
dual which combined with singular pronouns to make dual forms. This construction was the model on which most daughter
languages have innovated an analytic system of person and number marking, with distinct person and dual and/or plural morphemes
combining to make the morphologically complex but semantically transparent compositional forms found in the majority of
languages.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Plural pronouns
- 2.1Simple and compositional pronoun forms
- 2.2#i and #ni
- 2.3Extension of #i or #ni as a general plural morpheme
- 2.4The history of plural pronouns in Tibeto-Burman languages
- 3.Inclusive/Exclusive
- 3.1Patterns of clusivity marking
- 3.2Corresponding clusivity oppositions
- 3.2.1#i and #ka
- 3.2.2#a and #ŋa
- 3.3Clusivity in the ancestral paradigm?
- 4.The dual category
- 4.1The ancient dual #tsi
- 4.1.1Phonological variation in the initial: #(n)tsi
- 4.1.2Phonological variation in the coda: #tsi(ŋ)
- 4.2The innovative dual #ni
- 4.3#tsi and #ni
- 4.4Markedness relations between the non-singular categories
- 4.5Distribution and historical status of #tsi
- 5.Summary and conclusions
- Notes
-
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Cited by (2)
Cited by two other publications
DeLancey, Scott
2021.
Differential innovation in 2nd person pronouns and agreement indexation in Trans-Himalayan languages.
Folia Linguistica 55:s42-s1
► pp. 155 ff.
DeLancey, Scott
2023.
The antiquity of verb agreement in Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan).
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 86:1
► pp. 101 ff.
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