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In order to "evaluate whether an element is a clitic in the first
place", one needs a way to recognize clitics uniformly: a
definition.<br>
<br>
Here's a proposal for a definition of "clitic": <br>
A clitic is a bound morph that is not an affix ("affix" is defined
in Haspelmath 2021).<br>
<br>
On this definition, most Indo-European prepositions and particles
would be clitics, which perhaps does not correspond to our
intuitions. But a short term like "clitic" should probably have a
short definition, so I kind of like this proposal.<br>
<br>
Clitics are often said to be "phonologically dependent" on their
host, but the notion of "phonologically dependence" is notoriously
vague, so it can hardly serve as a basis of a clear definition. <br>
<br>
At the end of their 2012 book on clitics, Spencer & Luís say:
"while the category of clitic may not exist, some sort of concept of
clitic remains ubiquitous [...] as an umbrella term. [...] the term
usefully points to elements which cannot easily be classified as
normal affixes or normal function words."<br>
<br>
This quotation shows how little basis there is for any "natural"
definition of "clitic". This leads me to propose the novel
definition as a non-affix bound morph (where "bound" is meant in the
Bloomfieldian sense, not in some vague phonological sense). The
crucial difference between affixes and clitics is thus that clitics
are promiscuous, but affixes always occur on forms of the same class
(noun, verb, or adjective).<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Martin<br>
<br>
<font size="2">Reference:<br>
<br>
Haspelmath, Martin. 2021. Bound forms, welded forms, and affixes:
Basic concepts for morphological comparison. <i>Voprosy
Jazykoznanija</i> 2021(1). 7-28
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://zenodo.org/record/4628279">https://zenodo.org/record/4628279</a>)</font><br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Am 06.12.21 um 07:09 schrieb Alexander
Rice:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CA+-hgYtNRiajH+CFCUOAPiTEa4GGuW=_m+8+5K+=_qPEMTqZbw@mail.gmail.com">
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<div>thanks to all for the comments, they are well taken, I'm
going through them and I may follow up later with some replies</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>for now though, as some have pointed out, it's worth
reevaluating whether these clitics are even clitics in the
first place, I'll have to look into that<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 11:49
PM Alexander Rice <<a href="mailto:ax.h.rice@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">ax.h.rice@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
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0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<div>Dear typologists</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I'm working with a variety of Quechua, I have a set of
three morphemes. They and their equivalents in related
varieties are traditionally analyzed as evidential
enclitcs or suffixes.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>However in some data that I've been working with
recently I've noticed a couple of interesting behaviours
of these enclitics:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>1) They sometimes manifest as pro-clitics but only on
the copular verb and in a much more phonologically reduced
from</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>2) At least one of the three appears to manifest as a
phonologically independent "word'. A native speaker with
whom I work sometimes transcribes the clitic as a separate
word, and upon my review of the recordings, many of these
do appear to be phonologically independent from what would
usually be the phonological host, and in some instances,
they occur at the beginning of an intonational unit.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I wonder if any of you have encountered or know of
similar phenomena, any references would be most
appreciated.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Best,</div>
<div>Alex<br>
</div>
</div>
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</div>
<br>
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<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Martin Haspelmath
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/linguistic-and-cultural-evolution/staff/martin-haspelmath/">https://www.eva.mpg.de/linguistic-and-cultural-evolution/staff/martin-haspelmath/</a></pre>
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