In recent years, the hypothesis that Tocharian was the second branch to separate from the Indo-European family tree has become very common in the literature. The position of Tocharian in the family... Show moreIn recent years, the hypothesis that Tocharian was the second branch to separate from the Indo-European family tree has become very common in the literature. The position of Tocharian in the family tree is important, not only for our diachronic understanding of the linguistic features of Tocharian, but also for our understanding of the prehistoric speakers of the Tocharian languages, as early linguistic separation may be used as evidence for early geographical separation. It is important to note, however, that there is very little agreement among scholars about which evidence to accept as decisive. This dissertation investigates the hypothesis that Tocharian was the second branch on the tree with a focus on the evidence from the realm of verbal morphology. Through Inner-Tocharian and comparative diachronic analyses, the thesis argues that most the proposed evidence cannot be upheld as decisive. While some Tocharian archaisms remain plausible, the status of the Tocharian Second hypothesis is more precarious than usually assumed. Show less
The reconstruction of the Proto-Berber light verbs (i.e. CCC, *ălməd ‘to learn’, VCC, *agəm ‘to draw water’, CC *ăǵən ‘to lie down’ and C̄C: *ăffəɣ ‘to go out’), has received considerable attention... Show moreThe reconstruction of the Proto-Berber light verbs (i.e. CCC, *ălməd ‘to learn’, VCC, *agəm ‘to draw water’, CC *ăǵən ‘to lie down’ and C̄C: *ăffəɣ ‘to go out’), has received considerable attention in Berber historical linguistics. But, verbs that have u in the second syllable such as Ghadamsi əmdu ‘to finish’ and əṭkur ‘to fill’ require further study. These verbs share several formal similarities with the regular light verb of the type *ălməd ‘to learn’, but they have not yet been integrated into a model of the Proto-Berber verbal system. This paper will propose a reconstruction of the Proto-Berber light verb, incorporating these verbs as a subclass of the light verb, whose difference in vocalisation is triggered by the presence of a plain vowel in the second syllable of the stem. Show less
This dissertation addresses the semantics of pluractional verbs in Hausa. The notion of pluractionality is discussed and delimited with respect to related phenomena such as aspect. A detailed... Show moreThis dissertation addresses the semantics of pluractional verbs in Hausa. The notion of pluractionality is discussed and delimited with respect to related phenomena such as aspect. A detailed description of pluractionality in Hausa is provided, presenting new data based on the author’s fieldwork. This description lays the empirical groundwork for a theoretical analysis of pluractionality. The interpretation of pluractional verbs in Hausa is viewed as the result of three semi-independent meaning components: event plurality, the non-equivalence condition constraining the process of event individuation, and additional conditions on use following from the fact that Hausa pluractionals are ‘special’ plurals. These three components do not all have the same status, both with respect to each other and across speakers. This accounts for some of the specific properties of Hausa pluractionals, as well as for much of the extensive variation in the use and interpretation of pluractionals among speakers of Hausa. This thesis is of interest to both descriptive and theoretical linguists working on Hausa, pluractionality, or plurality in general. Show less
The cochlear implant (CI) gives severely hearing impaired to profoundly deaf children access to auditory speech input and consequently stimulates their oral language development. However, speech... Show moreThe cochlear implant (CI) gives severely hearing impaired to profoundly deaf children access to auditory speech input and consequently stimulates their oral language development. However, speech perception with a CI is still not optimal. Therefore, these children develop oral language based on reduced auditory speech input. This dissertation aims at enhancing our knowledge of whether a CI provides sufficient access to auditory speech input to acquire verbal morphology. It takes a new perspective regarding the research on morphology acquisition in CI children. The outcomes of the children under investigation are not only compared to those of their normal hearing peers, but also to those of their specific language impaired (SLI) peers. The latter group is known to be particularly delayed in their acquisition of verbal morphology. One of the major findings of this dissertation is that CI children outperform their SLI peers in the production of verbal morphology. Remarkably, they are even able to catch up with their normal hearing peers. Nevertheless, their spontaneous speech samples contain more verb inflection errors as compared to similar samples from normal hearing peers. In this respect CI children compare to their SLI peers. The results of the CI children are further analyzed as a function of their age at implantation and hearing age. Additional emphasis is given to the role of perceptual salience in the acquisition of morphology. Show less
This dissertation provides a comprehensive overview of the grammar of Bantawa, a Kiranti (Rai) language spoken in Eastern Nepal. Bantawa is an SOV language featuring rich verbal morphology. In... Show moreThis dissertation provides a comprehensive overview of the grammar of Bantawa, a Kiranti (Rai) language spoken in Eastern Nepal. Bantawa is an SOV language featuring rich verbal morphology. In Bantawa we find both ergative and accusative alignment patterns in verbal affix agreement, and an ergative / absolutive pattern of case marking. The grammar treats the syntax of all major syntactical constructions, including the highly productive verb compounding process, embedding of converbial and finite clauses, nominalisations and evidentiality. The semantics of nominalisations and the aspectual nuances of verbal compounds are discussed in detail. An annotated text corpus, comprehensive paradigm tables and a glossary complete the grammar. Show less
