On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languages
The present paper investigates existential and locative clauses in fourteen Siberian languages. It is shown that all of them exhibit patterns of so-called “existential takeover”, i.e. originally existential items occurring in locative predication. Starting from the observation that locative predicat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Bologna
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Linguistic Typology at the Crossroads |
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| Online Access: | https://typologyatcrossroads.unibo.it/article/view/18005 |
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| author | Chris Lasse Däbritz |
| author_facet | Chris Lasse Däbritz |
| author_sort | Chris Lasse Däbritz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present paper investigates existential and locative clauses in fourteen Siberian languages. It is shown that all of them exhibit patterns of so-called “existential takeover”, i.e. originally existential items occurring in locative predication. Starting from the observation that locative predication is frequently viewed as ontologically primary and unmarked against existential predication, these existential takeover patterns are unexpected. Considering the text frequency and pragmatics of locative and existential predication, the paper argues that a markedness-based approach to these domains is unfeasible and leads to false predictions and generalisations. Following from this, it argues that a general typology of locative and existential predication must not contain any a priori restrictions regarding the observed linguistic realisations. Moreover, it proposes a two-layered design of such a typology which considers both the domains themselves as well as possible co-expression patterns. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-88b3c8f7557f42b48ddb6f04b7599d5f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2785-0943 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Bologna |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Linguistic Typology at the Crossroads |
| spelling | doaj-art-88b3c8f7557f42b48ddb6f04b7599d5f2025-01-31T10:34:04ZengUniversity of BolognaLinguistic Typology at the Crossroads2785-09432025-01-01427212410.6092/issn.2785-0943/1800516364On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languagesChris Lasse Däbritz0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7555-4620Universität HamburgThe present paper investigates existential and locative clauses in fourteen Siberian languages. It is shown that all of them exhibit patterns of so-called “existential takeover”, i.e. originally existential items occurring in locative predication. Starting from the observation that locative predication is frequently viewed as ontologically primary and unmarked against existential predication, these existential takeover patterns are unexpected. Considering the text frequency and pragmatics of locative and existential predication, the paper argues that a markedness-based approach to these domains is unfeasible and leads to false predictions and generalisations. Following from this, it argues that a general typology of locative and existential predication must not contain any a priori restrictions regarding the observed linguistic realisations. Moreover, it proposes a two-layered design of such a typology which considers both the domains themselves as well as possible co-expression patterns.https://typologyatcrossroads.unibo.it/article/view/18005non-verbal predicationlocative predicationexistential predicationmarkednesssiberian languagescorpus linguisticsinformation structure |
| spellingShingle | Chris Lasse Däbritz On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languages Linguistic Typology at the Crossroads non-verbal predication locative predication existential predication markedness siberian languages corpus linguistics information structure |
| title | On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languages |
| title_full | On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languages |
| title_fullStr | On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languages |
| title_full_unstemmed | On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languages |
| title_short | On markedness in locative and existential predication: “Existential takeover”, frequency and complexity in Siberian languages |
| title_sort | on markedness in locative and existential predication existential takeover frequency and complexity in siberian languages |
| topic | non-verbal predication locative predication existential predication markedness siberian languages corpus linguistics information structure |
| url | https://typologyatcrossroads.unibo.it/article/view/18005 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chrislassedabritz onmarkednessinlocativeandexistentialpredicationexistentialtakeoverfrequencyandcomplexityinsiberianlanguages |