Abstract
This paper discusses Austro-Bavarian directionals, which adhere to the
following pattern: preposition plus suffix -a or -i, e.g. auffa (upwards-a) and
auffi (upwards-i). These directionals indicate that movement occurs either towards
the speaker’s location (-a) or towards a location crucially distinct from
the speakers location (-i). I propose that this alternation is an overt manifestation
of Hale’s (1986) semantic universal of central versus non-central
coincidence. I analyze them as fully fledged PathPs whose internal syntax is
based on Ritter and Wiltschko’s (2009) implementation of the coincidence
theme. These directionals show that dialectal data can confirm both semantic
and syntactic universals that have been argued for on the basis of entirely
unrelated domains and languages.
following pattern: preposition plus suffix -a or -i, e.g. auffa (upwards-a) and
auffi (upwards-i). These directionals indicate that movement occurs either towards
the speaker’s location (-a) or towards a location crucially distinct from
the speakers location (-i). I propose that this alternation is an overt manifestation
of Hale’s (1986) semantic universal of central versus non-central
coincidence. I analyze them as fully fledged PathPs whose internal syntax is
based on Ritter and Wiltschko’s (2009) implementation of the coincidence
theme. These directionals show that dialectal data can confirm both semantic
and syntactic universals that have been argued for on the basis of entirely
unrelated domains and languages.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Bavarian Syntax |
| Publisher | John Benjamins (Linguistik Aktuell) |
| Pages | 223 |
| Number of pages | 246 |
| Volume | 220 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |