Change in Root Conditions in Basque Allocutivity

Bill Haddican , Irantzu Epelde (1) , Urtzi Etxeberria (1) , Ricardo Etxepare (1)

1 IKER - Centre de recherche sur la langue et les textes basques

This paper examines variation and change in embedding restrictions on Basque allocutive morphemes-person clitics marking non-thematic addressees. Recent work has described cross-speaker variation in whether allocutive morphemes are restricted to root clauses or may appear in embeddings. This paper reports on a recent survey that suggests change in progress toward loss of the root restriction. The results, moreover, indicate no cross-speaker correlation in acceptance of embedded vocatives with acceptance or use of embedded allocutives. We take the different cross-speaker distribution of allocutive morphemes and vocatives to reflect partially different representations for these forms, with vocative morphemes bearing richer functional structure and different licensing conditions.

Mots clés: Allocutivity; Syntax; Semantics

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Sciences cognitives

Bill Haddican, Irantzu Epelde, Urtzi Etxeberria, Ricardo Etxepare. Change in Root Conditions in Basque Allocutivity. Journal of Historical Syntax, In press. ⟨hal-04380269⟩