Instability of interactives: The case of interjections in Gorwaa
This article studies the morpho-phonetic instability of interactives through the example of Gorwaa interjections. The analysis of 91 constructions demonstrates that, in Gorwaa, interjections are highly unstable: the number of idiolectal interjections is much larger than that of shared interjections,...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Open Linguistics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2024-0033 |
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| Summary: | This article studies the morpho-phonetic instability of interactives through the example of Gorwaa interjections. The analysis of 91 constructions demonstrates that, in Gorwaa, interjections are highly unstable: the number of idiolectal interjections is much larger than that of shared interjections, and the interjections of both sets form clusters – spaces composed of constructions connected through the family resemblance of a formal and functional type. The formal modifications are achieved through prolongation, replication, alternation (of phones/features), and concatenation, and are related to changes in meaning and the polysemy inherent to interjections. Overall, the interjective category is modeled as a dynamic/fuzzy network of related (formally/functionally) constructions. The grammatical profiles of shared and idiolectal interjections are identical and corroborate the validity of the prototype of interjections. The refinements proposed include a preference for [j] over [w], a tendency toward (extra-)high tones and decreasing tonal patterns, the use of gutturals and clicks as the most common extra-systematic sounds and that of clicks as genuine consonants in non-click languages, the iconic foundation of some interjections and their relationship to babytalk, as well as the close relationship of interjections with the |A| place of articulation. |
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| ISSN: | 2300-9969 |