A word order typology of adnominal person
This paper investigates cross-linguistic variation in the expression of adnominal person (persn; cf. English “we linguists”) based on a survey of 114 languages, focusing on word order. Two subtypes are distinguished according to whether persn is expressed by an independent pronoun as in English or b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Linguistic Typology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2023-0080 |
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| author | Höhn Georg F.K. |
| author_facet | Höhn Georg F.K. |
| author_sort | Höhn Georg F.K. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper investigates cross-linguistic variation in the expression of adnominal person (persn; cf. English “we linguists”) based on a survey of 114 languages, focusing on word order. Two subtypes are distinguished according to whether persn is expressed by an independent pronoun as in English or by a morphologically dependent marker. Prenominal adnominal pronouns are the most common type of persn marking overall, while the morphologically dependent markers are predominantly postnominal (or phrase-final). The order of persn marking relative to its accompanying noun is shown to interact with head-directionality (VO/OV-order, position of dependent genitives, adpositions) and with the position of demonstrative modifiers (prenominal/postnominal) using generalised linear mixed-effects models. Theoretical implications and possible explanations for deviations are discussed concerning variation in the encoding of persn as head or phrasal modifier and its (lack of) co-categoriality with demonstratives. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e86f6434430841dba11b430a981db0d4 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1430-0532 1613-415X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Linguistic Typology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e86f6434430841dba11b430a981db0d42025-08-20T02:15:38ZengDe GruyterLinguistic Typology1430-05321613-415X2025-05-01291358010.1515/lingty-2023-0080A word order typology of adnominal personHöhn Georg F.K.0Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, GermanyThis paper investigates cross-linguistic variation in the expression of adnominal person (persn; cf. English “we linguists”) based on a survey of 114 languages, focusing on word order. Two subtypes are distinguished according to whether persn is expressed by an independent pronoun as in English or by a morphologically dependent marker. Prenominal adnominal pronouns are the most common type of persn marking overall, while the morphologically dependent markers are predominantly postnominal (or phrase-final). The order of persn marking relative to its accompanying noun is shown to interact with head-directionality (VO/OV-order, position of dependent genitives, adpositions) and with the position of demonstrative modifiers (prenominal/postnominal) using generalised linear mixed-effects models. Theoretical implications and possible explanations for deviations are discussed concerning variation in the encoding of persn as head or phrasal modifier and its (lack of) co-categoriality with demonstratives.https://doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2023-0080adnominal pronoun constructionspronominal determinersheadednessdemonstratives |
| spellingShingle | Höhn Georg F.K. A word order typology of adnominal person Linguistic Typology adnominal pronoun constructions pronominal determiners headedness demonstratives |
| title | A word order typology of adnominal person |
| title_full | A word order typology of adnominal person |
| title_fullStr | A word order typology of adnominal person |
| title_full_unstemmed | A word order typology of adnominal person |
| title_short | A word order typology of adnominal person |
| title_sort | word order typology of adnominal person |
| topic | adnominal pronoun constructions pronominal determiners headedness demonstratives |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2023-0080 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hohngeorgfk awordordertypologyofadnominalperson AT hohngeorgfk wordordertypologyofadnominalperson |