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"Hittite language Syntax."
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IE -KWE ‘AND; IF’ IN SLAVIC LANGUAGES
The article examines the origin and functional development of the Slavic conjunction ače ‘if; although’ (OPol. acz). The marker of the protasis in conditional clauses was the enclitic *-če, which continues the function of IE *-kwe ‘and; if’. Thus, Sl. *-če ‘if’ is an archaism and may be compared with corresponding forms in Indo-Iranian, Hittite, and Latin. The concessive ače ‘although’ evolved from conditional concessive clauses. TheproposedinterpretationalsoshedslightonthegenesisofOCz.leč‘ifonly’.
Journal Article
Hittite correlatives are paratactic
This paper argues that correlative constructions in Hittite are paratactically structured. The relative clause is essentially a clausal hanging topic, sitting at the left edge of the main clause in linear juxtaposition without actually being an integrated part of it, syntactically speaking. I defend this claim in two stages. First, I argue that correlatives in Hittite are base-generated in their left-edge position rather than derived through movement (as advocated for Hindi by, e.g., Bhatt 2003). I adduce as evidence the fact that the main clause correlate appears to be simply a discourse anaphor and need not even be present in the construction; these observations are incompatible with a movement-based derivation that generates the relative clause as a modifier of the correlate. There is also evidence for a lack of locality effects. The second part of my claim, that Hittite correlatives are not syntactically integrated, differs from most base-generation accounts of correlatives, which take correlatives to be clausal adjuncts. I support my position with parallels to hanging topics and peripheral adverbials (Haegeman 2012) and with examples of intervening non-subordinate clauses, and I offer some comments on why syntactic adjunction is less well suited to the Hittite situation. I also show that Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (Asher & Lascarides 2003) accommodates these structures, including some notably non- canonical ones, in a simple and principled way.
Journal Article
Deponency in finite and nonfinite contexts
This article investigates the syntactic properties of deponents in finite and nonfinite contexts in several Indo-European languages (Vedic Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, Latin, Hittite, Modern Greek) and proposes a novel definition of deponency: deponents are morphologically nonactive verbs with noncanonical agent arguments that are merged below VoiceP. Since VoiceP is spelled out with nonactive morphology in those languages if it does not introduce an external argument itself, the result is a surface mismatch between morphological form and syntactic function. This proposal predicts that only certain nonfinite forms of deponents will surface with the syntax/morphology mismatch, namely, those that include VoiceP. Nominalizations without VoiceP will appear to suspend the voice mismatch. These predictions are shown to be correct with respect to the behavior of deponent participles in the languages under study.
Journal Article
On Ancient Greek φράσσω
Originally, φράσσω ‘enclose, fence in, secure, fortify, block’ was a three-place verb meaning ‘to enclose, cover something with something’, as shown not only by the syntax and semantics of its Homeric and post-Homeric occurrences, but also by its lexical family within Ancient Greek, which includes the Hesychian glosses φαρκ-άζω* ‘conceal’ and φόρξ* ‘fence’. These considerations allow for a new analysis, supported by exact matches in Germanic languages and in Hittite, of φράσσω and φόρξ* as two inherited formations reflecting Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥gʰ-i̯ó/é- ‘enclose’ and *bʰr̥gʰ-s ‘enclosing’, respectively. The study further discusses the development of a Proto-Greek ‘neo-root’ *√pʰr̥k ‘enclose, fence in’, which was re-analyzed and extracted from these inherited terms and from which new words were derived, including the Hesychian gloss φύρκος ‘wall’ (whose problematic root vowel may be explained in various ways) and the name of the sea-god Φόρκῡς/Φόρκος, whose characterization was probably a reflex of the Ancient Greek (and apparently already Indo-European) mythological motif of the ‘serpent-like world-enclosing water-deity’.
Journal Article
Syntax of Hittite imma
Imma is attested in Hittite lexis as an adverb, a focus particle, and a part of free choice pronouns kui- imma (kui-) \"whatever.\" Whereas it is obvious that imma as purl of kui-imma {kui-) should nol be directly equated with the focus particle or adverb imma, it is also obvious that in its origin it is clearly the same as focusing imma. As for the synchronic semantic identity of imma as part of free choice pronouns and the focus particle, naturally this cannot be clearly demonstrated for Hittite, but it should be seen in the cross-linguistic context where additive focus panicles frequently and synchronically productively combine with interrogative pronouns lo form indefinite pronouns of various types, including free choice pronouns. Here, Sideltsev examines both imma in free choice pronouns and imma as a particle/adverb, keeping them distinct but systematically confronting their syntax.
Journal Article
Deriving preverbal position in a verb-final language: the case of Hittite
The paper presents an analysis of clause structure in Hittite, a coherently head-final language with SOV word order and an elaborated preverbal position hosting various functional elements of the clause. We argue that the best approach to capturing these phenomena is to assume a universally right-branching structure coupled with phrasal movement driven by selectional feature checking under adjacency of relevant heads.
Journal Article
Voice Reversals and Syntactic Structure: Evidence from Hittite
We address the relationship between syntactic valency and voice morphology in Hittite (Anatolian, Indo-European), focusing on cases where active syntax is expressed using non-active morphology, and vice versa. We argue that apparent “mismatches” between syntax and morphology are strictly a morphological rather than a syntactic phenomenon (contra Alexiadou et al. 2015; Grestenberger 2018). Our study highlights voice “reversals” — i.e., cases in which the expected mismatch disappears and morphological and syntactic valency match. We determine that such reversals correlate with morphological locality, and cannot be derived by hierarchical factors. Our findings provide a novel argument for a uniform syntactic structure of voice (Wood 2015; Wood & Marantz 2018).
Journal Article
Syntax of the Hittite focus particle -pat
In the paper I review the evidence for the distribution of the Hittite focus particle -pat in the phrase it modifies (= has scope over) and in the clause. Traditionally -pat is considered to have a free distribution within the clause. As I will show, the particle does not simply attest a second position constraint within the phrase (i. e. it always occurs after the first stressed word). In the absolute majority of cases (94 %), -pat is in the second position within the clause.
The second position is achieved in two ways – at the left edge of the clause and within the immediately preverbal position. This was first formulated by Molina (2018) and is confirmed in this paper by the larger dataset. This fits perfectly well into the broader picture of other Hittite words with the a second position constraint as sketched in the paper.
Rare deviations from the second position are explained by independent factors, mostly having to do with the information structure status of -pat.
Journal Article
Disnarrating Lucretia: Leonor de la Cueva’s Treatment of a Cultural Masterplot in La firmeza en la ausencia
On an intertextual level, Leonor de la Cueva’s only extant comedia has often been to compared to the biblical story of King David, Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, since her king, Filiberto, sends the beloved of Armesinda, Don Juan, to war in order to remove him as a rival. However, because of the threats of both rape and suicide as integral to the plot of Cueva’s work, La firmeza en la ausencia can also be read intertextually as incorporating elements from the story of the rape of Lucretia, widely known, represented and reinterpreted by writers and painters from the early modern period. There is ample precedence for combining themes from these biblical and classical stories in other comedias that served as models for Leonor de la Cueva. Lope de Vega did so most notably in Peribáñez y el Comendador de Ocaña, to mention one of several examples. Additionally, these comedias often include as part of the trial of virtue the betrayal of other female characters who attempt to persuade the protagonist to surrender herself sexually to an aggressor of superior social status. This article studies this tradition and how Leonor de la Cueva has adapted these themes to present a dramatic presentation of unwavering female virtue.
Journal Article