<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Consolas;
panose-1:2 11 6 9 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
pre
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Préformaté HTML Car";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";}
p.msonormal0, li.msonormal0, div.msonormal0
{mso-style-name:msonormal;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0cm;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0cm;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.PrformatHTMLCar
{mso-style-name:"Préformaté HTML Car";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Préformaté HTML";
font-family:Consolas;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="FR" link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Dear David,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I have recorded a cumulative tale in Mojeño Trinitario (not sung), an Arawak language of Bolivia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Best,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Françoise<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>De :</b> Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org>
<b>De la part de</b> David Gil<br>
<b>Envoyé :</b> dimanche 12 février 2023 08:13<br>
<b>À :</b> lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org<br>
<b>Objet :</b> [Lingtyp] query: cumulative songs<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p>Dear all,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>A cumulative song is one in which each unit, or stanza, introduces an additional layer of syntactic embedding, such as the following ...<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">This is the house that Jack built.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">This is the rat that ate the malt<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">That lay in the house that Jack built.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">This is the cat<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">That killed the rat that ate the malt<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">That lay in the house that Jack built.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">This is the dog that worried the cat<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">That killed the rat that ate the malt<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt">That lay in the house that Jack built.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>... and so forth. Perhaps the earliest example of a cumulative song is the Jewish Aramaic hymn
<i>Had Gadya</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>My query: Is anybody familiar with examples of cumulative songs from other non-WEIRD cultures and languages. While my main interest is in "indigenous" attestations, I would also be interested in successful adaptations and translations of western cumulative
songs into other languages.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>(Background to the query: I am interested in exploring variation in the propensity of different languages to make use of syntactic embedding. My focus is on languages such as Malay/Indonesian, which have various tools to construct embedded clauses but generally
choose not to make use of them in natural discourse. I would like to test the hypothesis that such cumulative songs are absent or otherwise less successful in such languages.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Thanks,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>David<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><o:p> </o:p></p>
<pre>-- <o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>David Gil<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Senior Scientist (Associate)<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Email: <a href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de">gil@shh.mpg.de</a><o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
</div>
</body>
</html>