On the directionality of the Balkan Turkic verb phrase
- Balkan varieties of Turkic, particularly those on the periphery of the Turkic spread area in the region, such as Gagauz and West Rumelian Turkish, are commonly observed to have head-initial verb phrases. Based on a wide survey, this paper attempts a more precise description of the pattern of VP directionality across Balkan Turkic and shows that there is considerable variation in how prevalent VX order is, a pattern that turns out to be more complex than the previous descriptions suggest: Two spectrums of directionality can be discerned between XV and VX orders, contingent upon type of the dependent of the verb and dialect locale. The paper also explores the grammatical causes underlying this shift in constituent order. First, VX order seems to be dependent upon whether a clause is nominal or not. Nonfinite clauses of the nominal type have XV order across Balkan Turkic, while finite clauses and nonfinite clauses of the converbial type show differing degrees of VX order depending on type of dependent and geographical location. Second,Balkan varieties of Turkic, particularly those on the periphery of the Turkic spread area in the region, such as Gagauz and West Rumelian Turkish, are commonly observed to have head-initial verb phrases. Based on a wide survey, this paper attempts a more precise description of the pattern of VP directionality across Balkan Turkic and shows that there is considerable variation in how prevalent VX order is, a pattern that turns out to be more complex than the previous descriptions suggest: Two spectrums of directionality can be discerned between XV and VX orders, contingent upon type of the dependent of the verb and dialect locale. The paper also explores the grammatical causes underlying this shift in constituent order. First, VX order seems to be dependent upon whether a clause is nominal or not. Nonfinite clauses of the nominal type have XV order across Balkan Turkic, while finite clauses and nonfinite clauses of the converbial type show differing degrees of VX order depending on type of dependent and geographical location. Second, VX order appears to be an outcome of verb movement to the left of the dependent in finite clauses and nonfinite clauses of the converbial type, rather than head parameter shift.…
Author details: | Cem KeskinORCiDGND |
---|---|
URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-587532 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.25932/publishup-58753 |
ISSN: | 1866-8380 |
Title of parent work (German): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe |
Subtitle (English): | Variationist and theoretical perspectives |
Publication series (Volume number): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe (184) |
Publication type: | Postprint |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2022/12/21 |
Publication year: | 2022 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2023/04/12 |
Tag: | Balkan Turkic; OV–VO; Rumelian Turkic; head directionality; head parameter; microvariation; nominalization; verb movement; verb phrase; word order variation |
Issue: | 184 |
Number of pages: | 20 |
Source: | Languages 8 (2022) 1, Art. 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8010002 |
Organizational units: | Philosophische Fakultät / Institut für Germanistik |
DDC classification: | 4 Sprache / 40 Sprache / 400 Sprache |
4 Sprache / 41 Linguistik / 410 Linguistik | |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Green Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
External remark: | Bibliographieeintrag der Originalveröffentlichung |