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Auteur: Angela RALLI

Titre:
On borrowing verbs: evidence from Greek dialectal variation


Abstract/Résumé: In this presentation, I investigate verb borrowing in a language-contact situation involving dialectal variation. I argue that the accommodation of non-native verbs in a recipient language is not only the product of extra-linguistic factors (e.g. degree of bilingualism, Thomason 2001) but follows specific linguistic constraints. By examining the integration of Turkish and Romance verbs in a number of Modern Greek dialects, I deal with the following issues: (a) the notion of productivity. Verbal loans are integrated in the recipient language with the use of some of the most productive derivational suffixes, the form of which varies from one dialect to another, depending on several factors, both linguistic and extra-linguistic; (b) the property of Greek word-formation to be stem-based. Dialects borrow Turkish and/or Romance items which are analyzed and reanalyzed, leading to the development of new stems and affixes; (c) the important role of allomorphy in word formation. The incorporation of borrowed items is constrained by the existence of stem allomorphy, which determines the borrowing strategy, that is, with or without the presence of a verbal suffix. I draw evidence from three Asia Minor dialects, Aivaliot, Pontic and Cappadocian (Sakkaris 1940, Ralli 2012, Oikonomides 1958, Dawkins 1916, Janse forthcoming), Grekanico (Griko and Bovese in South Italy, Rohlfs 1933), Heptanesian (in the Ionian islands) and Cypriot (Dendias 1923). Asia Minor Greek has been affected by Turkish, Heptanesian and Grekanico have been influenced by Romance, while Cypriot displays Turkish and Romance loans, depending on the period of contact. Consider the following examples: borrowed verbs are loanblends consisting of a borrowed and a native part: the stem comes from Turkish or Romance, the inflectional ending is Greek and the verbal suffix (between hyphens) is native or the product of a reanalysis procedure: (i)a.Turkish -> Aivaliot Cappadocian Pontic b. Turkish -> Cypriot kazanmak kazad-iz-u, γazand-iz-o γazan-ev-o yoklamak joklat-iz-o ‘to profit’ ‘to search/survey’ (ii)a. Salentino -> Griko b. Venetian -> Heptanesian c. Venetian -> Cypriot kuntare kunt-e(v)-o imitar imit-ar-o arrestar, avisar arest-iaz-o, aviz-ar-o ‘to narrate’ ‘to imitate’ ‘to arrest’ ‘to warn’ On the basis of Greek dialectal evidence, I conclude that it is possible for a language (in this case, the Indo-European fusional Greek) to be affected by a linguistic system of distinct typology (agglutinative or analytical) provided that certain morphological conditions are met.