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Andrej A. Kibrik(Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences)

aakibrik@gmail.com

Basics of referential systems: Sorting things out

DAARC2009 ConferenceGoa, India, 2009

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Familiar facts: ‘he plays/played’

Zero Japanese Ø asonda

Free pronoun English he played

Free pronoun ~ zero

Mandarin tā~Ø zà wánshuă ne

Bound pronoun

Spoken French

i-žu (graphic il joue)

Agreement Latin lūd-it

Free pronoun plus agreement

English (present)

he play-s

Free pronoun ~ zero plus agreement

Russian on~Ø igra-et

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Relevant questions What performs the discourse act of reference in each

case? What kinds of referential devices are found across

languages? What typological parameters are necessary and

sufficient to account for the observed diversity? How can one put languages’ referential systems on

equal footing? Is agreement really different from reference? How many times can one referent be referred to in

one clause? (in particular, when there is a full NP and a reduced (pronominal) device in the same clause)

What shall we do about differences between various clause participant positions?

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How can one approach these questions?

There are many contradictory and partial accounts of referential phenomena (cf. notions such as “argument type parameter”, “pro-drop”, etc.), and there is a need for a general, integrated account

This observed mosaic picture calls for organization and systematization

One should always bear in mind that all referential devices only exist for actual reference in discourse, performed in real time

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Plan of talk

This paper is a part of a typological study based on the material of 200 languages

I outline three main parameters of this typology

Then I provide characterization of some of the world’s major languages in terms of this typology

This is useful for cross-linguistic comparison, but it is also essential for understanding individual languages: one can appreciate the peculiarities of a given system only through knowing its position in a typological space

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Parameter 1: Basic types of referential devices

Full vs. reduced Three basic types of reduced

referential devices (refs) Free pronouns Bound pronouns Zero refs

This talk: mostly third person reference

Overt refs

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Zero refs Yidiny (Australia; Dixon 1977: 514) Ø gali:ɲ/ Ø wawa:liɲu/ bama ŋabi ɲinaɲunda/

go.past look.going.past person.abs many.abs sit.dat.subord

<...>

Ø Ø wawa:liɲu/look.going.past

bama:l Ø wawa:l/person.erg see.past

‘They went, went and saw lots of people sitting there <…> They went up and looked at them. The people saw them.’

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Free pronouns

Lyélé (Burkina Faso; Showalter 1986: 211) e zɛ�y e k’ e kwè e la

he arisehe again he take heleave

e vò e pyà gɔ libi jaa-esho

he go he search bushpeople place ‘He went back and looked for the place where

the bush people lived’

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Bound (affixal) pronouns

Abkhaz (South-Western Caucasus) i-rə-l-tejt’

it-them-she-gave‘She gave it to them’

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Three basic refs

Bound pronouns are by far the most frequent ref cross-linguistically

Free pronouns are the least frequent ref

Some languages are firmly committed to one type of ref, while other are less consistent

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WALS composer: Dryer and Siewierska

Consistent languages: free, bound, zero

Gur Abkhaz Yidiny

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Parameter 2: Tenacious vs. recessive pronouns

Abkhaz (South-Western Caucasus) i-rə-l-tejt’

it-them-she-gave‘She gave it to them’

i-č’kº’əncºa d-rə-pxyan

his-sons he-them-called‘He called his sons’

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Tenacious vs. recessive pronouns

Recessive pronouns: a complementary distribution with coreferential NPs in the same clause Example: English

Tenacious pronouns: cooccur with coreferential NPs in the same clause Example: Abkhaz

Recessiveness correlates with freeness Tenacity correlates with boundness However…

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Free tenacious pronouns

Spanish “clitic doubling” Comajoan 2006:73

y la chica pues le da-ø le quita-øand the girl then 3sg.dathit-pres.3sg 3sg.datseize-

pres.3sg

al chico al niño el sombreroto.the boy to.the boy the hat

‘And the girl then takes the hat from the boy …’

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Free tenacious pronouns

Bilua (a Papuan language of Solomon islands; Obata 2003:115, 30)

Omadeu taku sike tamania ke=beta e=ke.one time five brother&sister 3pl.nom=cont stay-hist‘Once upon a time, there were five brothers and sisters living.

Sai vo=a ziolothere 3sg.m.nom=lig devil

ke=papue=v=e jari topi.3pl.nom=sit=3sg.m.acc=rmp copra.house on.top‘There, they sat the devil on the copra house.’

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Bound recessive pronouns

Upper Kuskokwim (Alaska)

yi-ne-łŒanh3.acc-pref-(3.nom)look‘S/he is looking at it/him/her’

gugaŒ ne-łŒanhbaby pref-(3.nom)look‘S/he is looking at the baby’

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Both free tenacious and bound recessive pronouns

South Efate (Austronesian, Vanuatu; Thieberger 2006: 269, 113-114)

Ra=pitlak tesa nmatu iskei.3du.real.nom=have child girl one‘They had a daughter.’

I=skot-i-r to.3sg.real.nom=be.with-trans-3pl.acc stay ‘She stayed with them.’

Ale, ntuam i=na i=to <…>then devil 3sg.real.nom=want 3sg.real.nom=stay‘Then the devil stayed <…>’

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Boundness and tenacity The parameters “free vs. bound” and

“recessive vs. tenacious” are in fact independent

Frequency cline: bound tenacious

V free recessive

V free tenacious

V bound recessive

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Tenacity and argumenthood

i-č’kº’əncºa d-rə-pxyan

his-sons he-them-called‘He called his sons’

Kibrik 1988 Mithun 2003 Siewierska

2004 Corbett 2006 Distributed

argumenthood

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Parameter 3: Sensitivities

Consistent languages Zero reference - Yidiny Free recessive pronouns - Lyélé Bound tenacious pronouns – Abkhaz

Inconsistencies/sensitivities: Clause participant position Construction type Referent’s level of activation Referent’s definiteness, specificity, etc.

various degrees of consistency in a language’s commitment to a certain referential device – some languages use a variety of devices whose heterogeneity may be very high

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Sensitivity A: Clause participant position

Latin Subject: bound tenacious pronouns Object: free recessive pronouns

Gela (Oceanic Austronesian, Solomon Islands, Crowley 2002) Subject: free tenacious Object: bound tenacious

…most other combinations attested as well…

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Latin “agreement”

Bound tenacious pronouns (just as in Abkhaz), but only in the subject position

Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Satires, Book 1, Chapter 5c = Cicirrus, s = Sarmentus

rogaba-t denique cur umquamfugisse-t,ask.impf-3sg finally why sometime flee.plpf.conj-3sg

cui satis una farr-is libra fore-t,who.dat enough one grain-gen.sg poundbe.impf.conj-3sg

‘Finally he (Cicirrus) asked why he (Sormentus) had ever fled,

he to whom one pound of grain would have been enough ’

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Abkhaz vs. Latin

How are the Abkhaz and the Latin patterns different?

Both use bound pronouns The only difference is in sensitivity:

Abkhaz: all pronouns are bound and tenacious pronouns are insensitive

Latin: pronouns are bound and tenacious only in the subject pronouns there is an important sensitivity along the lines of clause participant position

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Sensitivity B: Referent’s level of activation

In Mandarin, zero and free pronoun tā occur with comparable frequency

Interpreting available analyses (Hedberg 1996, Li and Thompson 1979, Giora 1996, Chu 1998, Pu 2001, inter alia) it appears that zero is used at the highest level of referent activation, while the third person pronouns at a somewhat lowered level.

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What all this is good for?

For profiling individual languages’ referential systems

After profiles of a significant number of languages is available, for the construction of a fully-fledged typology of referential systems

For an individual language, details of its referential system must be assessed against the background of the basic characterization

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Profiles of several of the world’s major languages

Language Primary ref Presence and kind of sensitivity

English FRP –

Spanish BTP; FTP Clause participant position: subject; object

French BTP; BRP Referential properties: definite; indefinite

Russian BTP;FRP+BTP;FRP

Clause participant position and degree of activation: maximally activated subject; activated subject; object

Japanese Zero –

Mandarin Zero; FRP Degree of activation: higher; lower

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Focus on English

Primary ref: free pronoun Free pronouns are recessive Are agreement markers refs?

No They are cross-linguistically highly exotic They very rarely appear as the sole bearers of

referents’ properties in a clause They must be recognized as truly automatic,

non-referential agreement affixes

Sensitivities

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Clause participant position + construction type

English: High degree of propensity to free

pronouns However, free pronouns yield to zero

reference in some special contexts, in particular:

subject position of non-first coordinate clauses

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English zero subject

Al Gore is truth. Think about it. He says what needs to be said without fear, without posturing. He leads. (paragraph) He succeeds in the worlds of politics, business, and diplomacy. He reads and Ø writes history. He has access to the smartest people on the planet.

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Focus on Hindi

A highly complex system All major types of refs are found: free pronouns,

bound pronouns (agreement), and zero Primary ref: free pronouns Secondary ref: bound pronouns (agreement)

operating on the ergative basis Bound pronouns are tenacious: they cooccur

with additional referential devices, either free pronouns or full NPs

Sensitivity: free pronouns yield to zero under certain discourse circumstances

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Hindi free pronouns and agreement (= bound pronouns?)

vah jaa rahaahai3Sg(Nom) go be.Prog.3SgM‘He is going’

us-ne kitaab paRhii3Sg-Erg book(NomF)read.Perf.3SgF‘She read the book’

(Prasad 2003: 75-76)

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Hindi zero reference

fanTuush-ne aadmiyoN-kaa gussaa saaman-par utaaraaFantush-Erg men-of anger furniture-on took.down‘Fantush took out his anger with the men on the furniture’

Ø vahaaN kii sab kursiyaaN toR daaliiNthere of all chairs(NomF) break.Inf put.Perf.3PlF

‘He broke all the chairs there’

(Prasad 2003: 92)

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Hindi sensitivity

Prasad (2003: 101) formulates the basis for the choice of zero over a third person pronoun in terms of Centering Theory, and her formulation can be reinterpreted as follows:

Zero is used under highest referent activation, third person pronoun is used under intermediate activation

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On a sad note

In this domain – one of the worst misnomers in linguistics,

picked up by linguists of various theoretical views with a surprising ease

Pro-drop

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Which languages are pro-drop?

Those that use zero reference, such as Yidiny or Japanese

Those that use insensitive bound pronouns, such as Abkhaz

Those that use bound pronouns, sensitive to clause participant position, such as Latin

Those that use sensitive free pronouns, such as Mandarin or Russian

In other words, all unEnglish languages

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The parameter of Englishness

Siewierska and Bakker 2005 A sample of 428 languages 96.2% of languages are “pro-drop”

This “parameter” completely fails to account for the diversity of unEnglish languages

Plea: DROP PRO-DROP!

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Conclusion: framework for a description of a language’s referential system

Preferred type of ref: zero vs. free pronoun vs. bound pronoun

Pronouns: recessive vs. tenacious Sensitivities:

Whether the language is consistent or not

What bases for sensitivities are attested What options are used depending on

sensitivities