In this paper,we discuss two case studies on how prosody has conditioned the evolution of morphology in Mandarin as well as in other Sinitic languages.After a concise overview of Feng’s(1997,1998,2001,2018,inter alia...In this paper,we discuss two case studies on how prosody has conditioned the evolution of morphology in Mandarin as well as in other Sinitic languages.After a concise overview of Feng’s(1997,1998,2001,2018,inter alia)application of the principles of Prosodic Morphology to Mandarin,we shall discuss two issues in the diachronic development of Chinese/Sinitic morphology:the creation and development of derivation-like elements;particularly prefixes/prefixoids(Arcodia,2012,2023);and phenomena of reduced/nonconcatenative morphology in Northern Chinese dialects(Arcodia,2013,2015,2021;Lamarre,2015;Lamarre&Ōta,2017).We shall argue that prefixlike items,despite being generally considered to be morphological constituents,actually seem to follow the prosodic pattern of phrases,i.e.right-to-left footing.We shall also show that grammatical morphemes may undergo strong reduction in a large number of Mandarin and Jin dialects(Arcodia,2021),and this may lead to cumulative,nonconcatenative exponence,thus constituting a possible counterexample to Feng’s(2018)‘Morphosyllabic Constraint’.We shall argue that this is made possible by some prosodic characteristics of Northern dialects which are not commonly found e.g.in Southern Sinitic:mostly,the presence of stress and of the neutral tone.展开更多
In his seminal works on prosodic morphology and syntax in Chinese,Feng(1996,2018,2019)proposed that the foot as a prosodic unit requires more than one syllable,the standard foot having two syllables.On the other hand,...In his seminal works on prosodic morphology and syntax in Chinese,Feng(1996,2018,2019)proposed that the foot as a prosodic unit requires more than one syllable,the standard foot having two syllables.On the other hand,the monosyllabic foot,also referred to as the“degenerate foot”,is considered an exception in Modern Standard Mandarin:in principle,monosyllabic utterances are unacceptable,though certain cases are attested.Interestingly,we demonstrate that,in lesserknown Hui dialects,the Foot Binarity Principle may take an alternative realisation,with the possibility of forming bimoraic monosyllabic feet.Due to the opposition between long and short vowels,and to their sensitivity to moras,many Hui dialects allow for greater flexibility in prosodic restrictions,both in morphology and in syntax.Morphologically,bimoraic monosyllabic words are widely attested;syntactically,the contrast between the strong disyllabic and the weak monosyllabic first-person pronoun conditions variation in the order of direct objects and complements,bound by the Foot Binarity Principle and by the Nuclear Stress Rule.We conclude that,compared with Modern Standard Mandarin,Chinese dialects show a broad degree of variation in prosodic features and constraints on morphology and syntax,some of which may undergo diffusion,thus becoming areal features.展开更多
文摘In this paper,we discuss two case studies on how prosody has conditioned the evolution of morphology in Mandarin as well as in other Sinitic languages.After a concise overview of Feng’s(1997,1998,2001,2018,inter alia)application of the principles of Prosodic Morphology to Mandarin,we shall discuss two issues in the diachronic development of Chinese/Sinitic morphology:the creation and development of derivation-like elements;particularly prefixes/prefixoids(Arcodia,2012,2023);and phenomena of reduced/nonconcatenative morphology in Northern Chinese dialects(Arcodia,2013,2015,2021;Lamarre,2015;Lamarre&Ōta,2017).We shall argue that prefixlike items,despite being generally considered to be morphological constituents,actually seem to follow the prosodic pattern of phrases,i.e.right-to-left footing.We shall also show that grammatical morphemes may undergo strong reduction in a large number of Mandarin and Jin dialects(Arcodia,2021),and this may lead to cumulative,nonconcatenative exponence,thus constituting a possible counterexample to Feng’s(2018)‘Morphosyllabic Constraint’.We shall argue that this is made possible by some prosodic characteristics of Northern dialects which are not commonly found e.g.in Southern Sinitic:mostly,the presence of stress and of the neutral tone.
文摘In his seminal works on prosodic morphology and syntax in Chinese,Feng(1996,2018,2019)proposed that the foot as a prosodic unit requires more than one syllable,the standard foot having two syllables.On the other hand,the monosyllabic foot,also referred to as the“degenerate foot”,is considered an exception in Modern Standard Mandarin:in principle,monosyllabic utterances are unacceptable,though certain cases are attested.Interestingly,we demonstrate that,in lesserknown Hui dialects,the Foot Binarity Principle may take an alternative realisation,with the possibility of forming bimoraic monosyllabic feet.Due to the opposition between long and short vowels,and to their sensitivity to moras,many Hui dialects allow for greater flexibility in prosodic restrictions,both in morphology and in syntax.Morphologically,bimoraic monosyllabic words are widely attested;syntactically,the contrast between the strong disyllabic and the weak monosyllabic first-person pronoun conditions variation in the order of direct objects and complements,bound by the Foot Binarity Principle and by the Nuclear Stress Rule.We conclude that,compared with Modern Standard Mandarin,Chinese dialects show a broad degree of variation in prosodic features and constraints on morphology and syntax,some of which may undergo diffusion,thus becoming areal features.
