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Lexical polyfunctionality in discourse: A quantitative corpus-based approach
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Abstract:
This dissertation is a qualitative corpus-based study of lexical polyfunctionality (also known as lexical flexibility or polycategoriality) in English (Indo-European) and Nuuchahnulth (Wakashan). Polyfunctional lexical items are those which appear in more than one discourse function—reference, predication, or modification (traditionally noun, verb, or adjective)—with zero coding for that function (often referred to as conversion or zero derivation).Polyfunctional words pose a problem for many theories of parts of speech because they cross-cut traditional part-of-speech boundaries, resisting clear classification. In response to this problem, many researchers have proposed new part-of-speech schemes with a greater or fewer number of lexical categories. More recently, however, many researchers have come to treat lexical polyfunctionality as an object of study in its own right. However, our understanding of how polyfunctionality operates, how it emerges diachronically, how prevalent it is, and how much it varies across the world’s languages, is still nascent.This study contributes new empirical data to the study of lexical polyfunctionality. I analyze approximately 380,000 tokens of English and 8,300 tokens of Nuuchahnulth for their discourse function (reference, predication, or modification) in order to determine the overall prevalence of lexical polyfunctionality in each language. I present a metric for quantitatively measuring the functional diversity of each stem in a corpus which can be applied consistently across lexemes and languages for crosslinguistic comparison. I then apply this technique to English and Nuuchahnulth.The data suggest that English and Nuuchahnulth differ significantly not just in their overall functional diversity / degree of polyfunctionality, but also in the way that polyfunctionality is realized. Most English stems exhibit lexical polyfunctionality to a small degree, but otherwise center around a clear prototype. By contrast, most Nuuchahnulth stems exhibit a high degree of lexical polyfunctionality, but primarily between reference and predication. Nuuchahnulth stems show very few uses of modification in discourse. I also show that the functional diversity for each lexical item is synchronically fixed, suggesting that lexemes have a conventionalized set of discourse uses rather than productively appearing in whatever context is appropriate. I also investigate the relationship between lexical polyfunctionality, relative frequency, and corpus dispersion, but find no clear correlations.In both English and Nuuchahnulth, human animates are consistently low in functional diversity, in line with the status of human animates as prototypical referents in discourse crosslinguistically. English and Nuuchahnulth display opposite tendencies for property words, however. In English, property words are among the least polyfunctional items, whereas inNuuchahnulth quantifiers and property words are consistently among the most polyfunctional items. I suggest that this difference is due to a lack of a dedicated morphological strategy for indicating modification in Nuuchahnulth.The findings in this dissertation present a strong case for reversing the traditional perspective on lexical polyfunctionality: rather than treating lexical polyfunctionality as a relatively exceptional problem to be solved, I argue that lexical polyfunctionality is a central and prevalent feature of the world’s languages. Lexical polyfunctionality exists anywhere a language has yet to develop dedicated morphological strategies for distinct discourse functions, or where those constructions have been diachronically leveled.
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Keyword:
Cognitive psychology; Language; lexical flexibility; linguistic typology; Linguistics; Nuuchahnulth; parts of speech; polycategoriality; polyfunctionality
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URL: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0x36d15m
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| 2 |
The control marker na᷆ ~ na᷄w in Samba Leko, a language spoken in Cameroon – Nigeria
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In: ISSN: 2686-8946 ; Language in Africa ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03147257 ; Language in Africa, Russian Academy of Science, 2020, Special issue on the Adamawa languages, 1 (3), pp.244-265. ⟨10.37892/2686-8946-2020-1-3-244-265⟩ ; https://iling-ran.ru/web/ru/publications/journals/languageinafrica/1-3 (2020)
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Grammatical polysemy and grammaticalization in cognitive and generative perspectives: finding common ground in inter-generational corpora of ancient languages
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In: Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics, Vol 48, Iss 0, Pp 239-253 (2017) (2017)
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Polyfunctional pronominal markers in South-Western Mande
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In: 16th International Morphology Meeting (IMM 16) ; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01001704 ; 16th International Morphology Meeting (IMM 16), May 2014, Budapest, Hungary (2014)
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Polyfunctional pronominal markers in South-Western Mande
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In: 16th International Morphology Meeting (IMM 16) ; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01001704 ; 16th International Morphology Meeting (IMM 16), May 2014, Budapest, Hungary (2014)
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The polyfunctionality of the enclitic particle =e:t in Beja (North-Cushitic)
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In: 46th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01486220 ; 46th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea, Sep 2013, Split, Croatia (2013)
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The polyfunctionality of the enclitic particle =e:t in Beja (North-Cushitic)
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In: 46th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01486220 ; 46th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea, Sep 2013, Split, Croatia (2013)
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La polyfonctionnalité et la transcatégorialité : exemple du marqueur mà en vietnamien
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In: Langages, n 190, 2, 2013-06-01, pp.101-118 (2013)
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Comparison, similarity and simulation in Zaar, a Chadic language of Nigeria
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In: Expressions de similarité dans une perspective africaniste et typologique ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00770842 ; Expressions de similarité dans une perspective africaniste et typologique, Jul 2012, Villejuif, France (2012)
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Comparison, similarity and simulation in Zaar, a Chadic language of Nigeria
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In: Expressions de similarité dans une perspective africaniste et typologique ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00770842 ; Expressions de similarité dans une perspective africaniste et typologique, Jul 2012, Villejuif, France (2012)
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| 12 |
The nominal quantifier xi in Maltese
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In: Maltese Linguistics: A Snapshot. In Memory of Joseph A. Cremona. Special Issue of Il-Lingwa taghna - Our Language - vol. 1 ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00526081 ; Ray Fabri. Maltese Linguistics: A Snapshot. In Memory of Joseph A. Cremona. Special Issue of Il-Lingwa taghna - Our Language - vol. 1, Brockmeyer, pp.17-33, 2009 (2009)
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| 13 |
The nominal quantifier xi in Maltese
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In: Maltese Linguistics: A Snapshot. In Memory of Joseph A. Cremona. Special Issue of Il-Lingwa taghna - Our Language - vol. 1 ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00526081 ; Ray Fabri. Maltese Linguistics: A Snapshot. In Memory of Joseph A. Cremona. Special Issue of Il-Lingwa taghna - Our Language - vol. 1, Brockmeyer, pp.17-33, 2009 (2009)
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| 14 |
Hysteron-proteron: A Polyfunctional Rhetorical Device – with Reference to Arabic-English Translation
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Ali, Salah Salim. - : Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 2007. : Érudit, 2007
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Italian allora, French alors: Functions, convergences and divergences
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In: Catalan Journal of Linguistics, Vol 6, Iss 1 (2007) (2007)
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Le syncrétisme adpositions/subordonnants. ; Le syncrétisme adpositions/subordonnants.: Proposition de typologie syntaxique
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In: ISSN: 1244-5460 ; Faits de langues ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00453573 ; Faits de langues, Brill, 2006, 28, pp.205-216 (2006)
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Le syncrétisme adpositions/subordonnants. ; Le syncrétisme adpositions/subordonnants.: Proposition de typologie syntaxique
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In: ISSN: 1244-5460 ; Faits de langues ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00453573 ; Faits de langues, Brill, 2006, 28, pp.205-216 (2006)
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| 18 |
Semantic and functional diversification of reciprocal and middle prefixes in New Caledonian and other Austronesian languages
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In: ISSN: 1430-0532 ; EISSN: 1613-415X ; Linguistic Typology ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00006059 ; Linguistic Typology, De Gruyter, 2005, 9 (1), pp.25-75. ⟨10.1515/lity.2005.9.1.25⟩ (2005)
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Semantic and functional diversification of reciprocal and middle prefixes in New Caledonian and other Austronesian languages
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In: ISSN: 1430-0532 ; EISSN: 1613-415X ; Linguistic Typology ; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00006059 ; Linguistic Typology, De Gruyter, 2005, 9 (1), pp.25-75. ⟨10.1515/lity.2005.9.1.25⟩ (2005)
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