30.3506, Review: Popoluca, Highland; Language Documentation; Typology: Boudreault (2018)

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Subject: 30.3506, Review: Popoluca, Highland; Language Documentation; Typology: Boudreault (2018)

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Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 19:54:18
From: Carmen Jany [cjany at csusb.edu]
Subject: A Grammar of Sierra Popoluca

 
Discuss this message:
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/29/29-3519.html

AUTHOR: Lynda  Boudreault
TITLE: A Grammar of Sierra Popoluca
SERIES TITLE: Mouton Grammar Library [MGL]
PUBLISHER: De Gruyter Mouton
YEAR: 2018

REVIEWER: Carmen Jany, California State University, San Bernardino

SUMMARY

This is a comprehensive grammatical description of Sierra Popoluca published
in the Mouton grammar series, a collection of high quality grammars in which
each volume represents a detailed grammatical treatment of a single language
along with fully analyzed texts. While no theoretical model is imposed on
authors for the series, volumes tend to follow predetermined formats and
practices in grammar writing (Ameka et al. 2008). As a result, the volume
under review adheres to a standard format for descriptive grammars and one of
two main macrostructures: the ascending model (Mosel 2008:48). In the
ascending model, smaller units of language are covered before larger ones, and
the grammar begins with a description of the sound system of the language, and
then moves to morphology followed by syntax. An introduction provides the
genetic, areal, and socio-linguistic background for the language, as well as a
discussion of the sources of data used, among other things; the last part of
the grammar presents a collection of analyzed texts. Even though there are
many different types of grammars, all the volumes in the Mouton series are
bilingual descriptive grammars of spoken vernaculars designed for academic
specialists. Frequently, the languages covered in the series are endangered
and have not been extensively described. This is also the case with Sierra
Popoluca.

Sierra Popoluca, also known as Soteapanec, is a Mixe-Zoquean language of the
Zoquean branch, spoken in Veracruz, Mexico.. The Zoquean branch discerns Gulf
Zoquean, Chimalapa (Oaxacan) Zoque, and Chiapas Zoque. Sierra Popoluca belongs
to the Gulf Zoquean subgroup. As the author points out, Sierra Popoluca is
also classified as Highland Zoque in Glottolog (https://glottolog.org/) and as
Highland Popoluca in WALS (https://wals.info/) (p. 4). While many indigenous
languages in the area are endangered, it seems that Sierra Popoluca is still
spoken by a relatively large number of people, namely 28,194 as of 2008 (p.
3). Nevertheless, the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
(http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php) lists the linguistic
vitality of Sierra Popoluca as ''vulnerable''. Since there is no discussion of
linguistic vitality in the volume, the level of endangerment for the language,
if any, remains unclear.

The data on which the grammatical description is based stems primarily from
personal fieldwork by the author (p. 8). . This corpus was then complemented
by direct elicitation of paradigms (p. 12). In addition, the author relied on
materials provided by the PDLMA project (https://www.albany.edu/pdlma/). There
is no mention in the grammar of community goals or participatory research,
both topics that have received more attention recently in documentary
linguistics. As Pérez Báez (2018) points out, while there has been “increasing
advocacy for community-based research in linguistics” (p. 334) including
training efforts for community members in Mexico, the dependency on English
for many efforts outside of Mexico “stands as a solid barrier for many in
Mexico and Central America” (p. 336). Unfortunately, the present grammar has
been published only in English.

The volume begins with an introduction that includes a brief description of
the genetic affiliation and geographic distribution of the language, a summary
of previous research , a brief discussion of field work methodology and
orthographic issues, a typological profile, and a look at the objectives and
organization of the grammar. Boudreault sets two main goals: to document the
language and to provide a broad description for use in linguistic research.
Additionally, Boudreault outlines five specific goals : (1) provide a detailed
description of the sound system, (2) present a thorough treatment of the
lesser studied non-verbal elements, (3) add to the knowledge of the complex
verb system, (4) complement research on sentence structure including
information structure, and (5) “present a more complete picture of the complex
predicate formation strategies” (p.16).

The volume is divided into six parts.

Part I comprises three chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction. Chapter 2
presents a complete phoneme inventory with some phonetic detail, the syllable
structure and stress, and phonological processes considering both affixes and
clitics. This is the only chapter in which Boudreault presents examples
phonetically, phonemically, and using a practical orthography. Unfortunately,
the complete consonant inventory is presented in two different tables, one
with native phonemes and one with marginal phonemes that occur only in
ideophones and/or Spanish loans. There is some inconsistency regarding the
labeling of phonemes as native or marginal. For instance, the voiced stop /g/
is listed as a native phoneme on page19, but then not included in table 2.1
with the native phonemes; it is then listed in table 2.2 alongside the other
voiced stops that stem from Spanish loans. A brief summary of the vowel system
follows. Boudreault lists twelve vowel phonemes representing six vowel
qualities, each in short and long form, since vowel length is phonemic.
Interestingly, some minimal pairs that illustrate vowel length exhibit
semantic similarities. However, “vowel length is not used to alter the meaning
of a root productively” (p. 22). The next section, rather than being a
treatment of allophonic variations of the previously presented phonemes, as
may be expected, contains a selective presentation of a number of phonemes,
their position within syllables and words, and a discussion of associated
phonological processes. Boudreault provides relevant evidence for each of
these processes, including two spectrograms. Next, Boudreault describes the
syllable structure and stress. Sierra Popoluca has primary, secondary, and
tertiary stress. The next section covers assimilation, metathesis, vowel
lengthening, and the effects of laryngealization. Most interesting is the
assimilation of voiceless stops preceding homorganic nasals. Several processes
were mentioned earlier in the chapter with some of the same examples listed
(e.g. 2.8 and 2.160; 2.15 and 2.162), but there is no cross-referencing. The
last part of this chapter covers morphophonemics and presents an abundance of
examples. Most intriguing are three suffixes that show an underlying
representation labeled as –W with three different surface forms. The last
chapter in Part I provides an overview of words with their formatives, i.e.
suffixes and clitics, and their distinguishing features. This chapter features
nice tables and is easy to read, but some cross-referencing is missing. 

Part II entitled Nouns and Their Projections focuses on non-verbal elements.
It spans five chapters. Chapter 4 defines different types of nouns. Pronouns
are treated as a subcategory of nouns and distinguished from lexical nouns.
Sierra Popoluca lexical nouns can be inflected for plurality and possession.
Unusual is a list of approximately 120 lexical nouns that are obligatorily
possessed but are not necessarily semantically predictable. For instance,
while some kinship and body part terms fall into that category, others do not,
as shown in examples 4.1 and 4.2. Next, Boudreault covers pronouns, which
include personal, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, and indefinite
pronouns. Personal pronouns are used only for emphasis and not obligatory.
Following is a discussion of demonstratives. The terminology used, however, is
confusing. Boudreault states that ‘demonstrative pronouns modify nouns’ (p.
108); however, in this function, demonstratives would be considered adjectives
and not pronouns. The next section covers nominal inflection and presents some
of the same examples used before without proper cross-referencing (e.g.
examples 4.29 and 4.30). Kinship terms exhibit special behavior as they can
take each of the sets of person markers: Set A for possession, Set B as
non-verbal predicates, and Set C for local relationships (i.e. clauses
involving only first and second person). Plural marking is marginal in Sierra
Popoluca. Next, the section on nominal derivation discusses nominalizations
from nouns and verbs and nominal compounding. While Boudreault notes that
compounding is a ‘highly productive word formation strategy’ (p. 140), only
little space is dedicated to it. Verbal compounding, however, is taken up in a
later section. Chapter 5 covers word classes and clause types that modify
nouns. Each type is well exemplified and discussed. Chapter 6 zeroes in on
postpositions and lexical nouns, an areal feature of Mesoamerica. They are
used to convey locative, instrumental, partitive, and privative meanings in
obliques. Relational nouns are different from postpositions because they may
inflect for possession. Boudreault lists the forms in table 6.1 (p. 200) and
discusses their composition and diachronic developments in what follows. The
small word class of adverbs is covered in Chapter 7, which concludes Part II.

Part III covers verbs and verbal elements. It spans over two hundred pages and
includes eight chapters. There are four main verb classes based on the number
of arguments they can take without any morphological adjustment: intransitive,
transitive, ambitransitive, and ditransitive, and three minor verb class
roots: positionals, affectives, both defined through semantics, and auxiliary
verbs based on their syntax. In Sierra Popoluca verbs are morphologically
complex and do not surface as bare stems, except for the imperative. The
verbal template is shown in figure 8.1 (p. 242). The author states that a
“small set of prefixes, which are for the most part clitics, precede the stem”
(p. 242). The distinction between affixes and clitics merits a more in-depth
discussion given that markers in many categories throughout the grammar
surface as either affixes or clitics, and the author does not always make the
distinction clear. There are about a dozen auxiliary verbs in Sierra Popoluca
that can be categorized in three subclasses based on person marking and their
position in the clause. Auxiliary verbs occur in multi-verb constructions and
take non-finite dependent verbs. The constructions in which they appear are
treated in later chapters. The following chapter covers non-verbal predicates
that function as statives. Stative predicates are inflected for person and
number but do not take inflection for aspect and mood. Chapter 10 deals with
verbal derivation. Verbs can be derived from other verb stems or other word
classes via several verbalizing suffixes, such as the versive -ɁaH or the
provisory -ɁüɁy, both illustrated via several well-discussed examples. There
is some overlap with Chapter 5, but there is no cross-referencing. The
following chapter discusses the alignment system. As Boudreault notes, “Sierra
Popoluca is an ergative/absolutive, head-marking language with a hierarchical
system” (p. 289). Person-marking proclitics are listed in table 11.1 (p. 289),
and the three sets of person markers are thoroughly exemplified in the
following pages. The last part of chapter 11 covers number marking in verbal
agreement. Number does not have to be marked on the verb; it can be inferred
from context. Chapter 12 exposes aspect, mood, and modality. There are seven
aspect and mood markers. Verbs are obligatorily marked as completive,
incompletive, imperative, or optative. Unlike in other Mixe-Zoquean languages,
Sierra Popoluca shows dependent marking that is independent of aspect. Aspect
and modality can also be conveyed lexically. The progressive is lexically
expressed with the auxiliary süɁ. Boudreault provides ample examples and
detailed explanations for the different aspect categories, as well as
appropriate cross-referencing. The reference listed on p. 337 (López Márquez
2018) is missing or incorrect in the bibliography on p. 706. Mood is encoded
via four different suffixes for imperative, optative, desiderative, and
frustrative. The latter must co-occur with an aspect suffix. In the section on
modality, Boudreault highlights an auxiliary verb wüH-ɁaH that marks ability
and willingness, conditional sentences, and evidential enclitics. Evidential
marking is not obligatory in Sierra Popoluca, but there are two enclitics
expressing evidential meanings: +Ɂun ‘it is said’ and +wey ‘it is true’, as
illustrated via a number of examples. Chapter 13 presents voice alterations,
indefinite subjects, and reflexives and reciprocals. Boudreault discusses the
pragmatics of passives and passive constructions in dependent clauses, both
further treated in chapters 19 and 22 and cross-referenced. The next chapter
covers valency-increasing processes. Boudreault discusses four functions of
the applicative -ɁaɁy, each exemplified in its own sub-section. Interesting is
the observed possessor ascension (p. 386-387), a common feature in
Mesoamerica. The last chapter in Part V discusses affix ordering and presents
a verbal template. The derivational suffixes show some variability with
respect to their ordering. There is ample cross-referencing to chapters where
the functions of these formatives are discussed. 

Part IV of the grammar is relatively small and treats simple clause structure
and types of clauses. This first chapter covers basic clause structure and
word order. Sierra Popoluca is a verb-initial language, but word order is
largely pragmatically motivated. Therefore, Boudreault evaluates word order
based on word order correlates, frequency, and ambiguity tests (p. 435).
Sierra Popoluca displays four correlates associated with OV languages and
three related to VO languages. The next chapter is relatively short and
exposes negative clauses and negation strategies. Sierra Popoluca has two
negative particles: dya, which is the main negator, and ɁotɁoy used in
prohibitives and optatives. For the negative particle ni ‘neither’ Boudreault
notes that Wichmann has traced it back to proto-Mixe, while Kaufman believes
it to be a Spanish borrowing. The chapter on interrogative clauses is equally
short. Content questions and polar questions are covered. The last chapter 
covers topic and focus. Topic can be expressed via three different strategies:
a) overt lexical expression of the argument, b) using a passive, and c)
placing the argument in a topicalized clause-initial position.

Part V includes eight chapters and is one of the most extensive parts of the
grammar. It zeroes in on a number of complex structures, including clause
combining. The first three chapters discuss complex predicates beginning with
noun incorporation. Noun incorporation is a highly productive process in
Sierra Popluca. Typologically, Sierra Popoluca exhibits noun incorporation
types I and II. In type I, the noun loses its syntactic status as an argument
and the valency of the verb is affected. In type II an agent or object is
incorporated, and an oblique argument takes the place as core argument.
Chapter 21 covers verb serialization, another highly productive process in
Sierra Popoluca. The verbs share aspect/mood marking and core arguments, but
there is no marking for subordination. The different types of serial verbs are
presented in table 21.1 (p. 505). . The next and probably most extensive
chapter covers dependent verb constructions across about seventy pages. Sierra
Popoluca has five types of multi-verb constructions where two syntactically 
integrated verbs co-occur and “share information about person, aspect/mood,
and number” (p. 525). In addition to sharing arguments and aspect/mood
inflection, the dependent verbs take dependent morphology and share negation.
Boudreault discusses the properties of both, V1 and V2, in these
constructions. The type of auxiliary or subordinator defines the different
types of constructions. There are six different dependent verb constructions
(one of which does not share arguments). The following three chapters cover
clause-combining strategies: complement clauses (chapter 23), relative clauses
(chapter 24), adverbial clauses (chapter 25). The last two chapters of part V
cover secondary predication and coordination. 

Lastly, part VI concludes the volume. Chapter 28 summarizes the special
features of Sierra Popoluca and highlights of the grammar in eight pages.
Boudreault describes the language as “agglutinating, polysynthetic,
head-marking” with a “rich and complex verbal system” (p. 677). Special
features include the saliency and animacy hierarchy, extensive verb formation
strategies such as verb serialization, among others, and “a range of
morphological and syntactic resources to contextualize events with respect to
time and space and to convey speakers’ attitudes about situations” (p. 682).
Chapter 29 presents a fully glossed text, and chapter 30 lists the recorded
texts that form the studied corpus. 

EVALUATION

As Evans and Dench (2006) note, an important rule in grammar writing is to
respect the “distinctive genius“ of the language and to treat the grammar as a
system where the consequences of interactions between categories, rules, etc.
are examined. Boudreault has certainly accomplished these goals in this
detailed and thorough yet accessible grammar. Due to previous research on the
language and specific interests of the author, the grammar is more heavily
centered on morphosyntactic and syntactic aspects of the language.

In what follows I present the major highlights of the grammar and note a few
minor shortcomings. Overall, the volume is very reader-friendly, given that
the author thoroughly explains linguistic terminology and concepts used in the
grammar. Cristofaro (2006:138) posits that grammatical categories should be
postulated for each language independently because they are language-specific,
and Boudreault accomplishes just that by introducing specific sets of criteria
for each grammatical concept. She also mentions relevant literature on each
grammar topic. In general, Boudreault provides many examples from naturally
occurring discourse to illustrate every grammar point made; other grammars
often rely more heavily on elicitation for that purpose. Other highlights
include diachronic explanations and a discussion of topic and focus; such
features are often lacking in grammars. In a concluding chapter, Boudreault
summarizes the high points of the grammar more generally. This is a nice
addition as it reiterates the main points that determine the “distinctive
genius” of the language. A fully glossed sample text is also included, and
there is an itemized appendix of the complete corpus consulted for the
grammar. 

The fact that a number of topics are treated with less detail in the grammar
represents some limitations of Boudreault’s work. For instance, the section on
nominal compounding seems short, and the treatment of negation is missing a
discussion of non-verbal clauses (e.g. existentials) that often employ
negation strategies distinct from verbal clauses. Most unfortunately, the
sound system receives much less attention when compared to other sections of
the grammar, even though it represents one of the additional five goals the
author has set for the grammar. Overall, there is no systematic treatment of
phonetics in the grammar. Lastly, Boudreault mentions the PDLMA project
throughout the volume and lists it as a major source of data, but a detailed
description of the project, such as its timeframe, purpose, extent, etc., is
missing. Other shortcomings include a few missed opportunities for
cross-referencing throughout the volume. In general, however, the author
provides adequate cross-referencing.

In addition to the general objectives of a reference grammar, Boudreault has
outlined five additional goals for Sierra Popoluca. With the exception of the
first goal, Boudreault successfully accomplishes this plan. Moreover, the
Mouton Grammar Library seeks to provide high-quality grammatical descriptions
for linguistic research and for linguistic typology. Cristofaro (2006:140)
discusses three issues relating to the standards of reference grammars for
typological comparison. They include (1) the distribution of information
across different parts of the grammar (form-to-function and function-to-form),
(2) the parameters considered when describing the categories, and (3) the
criteria used when determining the categories treated in the grammar. While
the main organization of the Sierra Popoluca grammar follows an
onomasiological approach (function-to-form), there are also sections that
cover a particular form and present its range of functions. As a result, the
grammar is very useful for typologists, and it creates a path for future
similar work on Mixe-Zoquean languages. It should be noted that Sierra
Popoluca is the only Mixe-Zoquean language represented in the Mouton Grammar
Series.

CONCLUSION

A challenge in grammar writing has always lain in presenting a coherent and
reasonably comprehensive description of a complex linguistic system within the
limitations of a published volume (Evans and Dench 2006:23). Boudreault has
mastered this task in this massive and very detailed grammar. The few
shortcomings mentioned throughout this review should not distract the reader
from the excellent analyses and abundance of relevant information. The Sierra
Popoluca grammar is comprehensive yet reader-friendly, and Boudreault is to be
commended for her attention to detail, wealth of tables and illustrations, and
her determination to rely on data from naturally occurring discourse. It is
thus no surprise that she was awarded the Mary R. Haas Book Award in 2010 for
her dissertation work on which this volume is built. 

REFERENCES

Ameka, Felix, Alan Dench & Nicholas Evans (eds.). 2006. Catching language: the
standing challenge of grammar-writing. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Cristofaro, Sonia. 2006. The organization of reference grammars: A typologist
user’s point of view. In Felix Ameka, Alan Dench & Nicholas Evans (eds.)
Catching language: the standing challenge of grammar-writing. Berlin: Mouton
de Gruyter. Pp. 137-170.

Evans, Nicholas and Alan Dench. 2006. Introduction: Catching languages. In
Felix Ameka, Alan Dench & Nicholas Evans (eds.) Catching language: the
standing challenge of grammar-writing. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Pp. 1-39.

Mosel, Ulrike. 2006. Grammaticography : The art and craft of writing grammars.
In : Felix K. Ameka et al. (eds). Catching Language : The Standing Challenge
of Grammar Writing. 41-68.

Pérez Báez, Gabriela. 2018. Reflections on linguistic fieldwork in Mexico and
Central America. In Bradley McDonnell, Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, and Gary
Holton (eds.). Reflections on Language Documentation 20 Years after Himmelmann
1998. Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication No. 15.
330-339.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Carmen Jany received her PhD in Linguistics from UC Santa Barbara in 2007. She
currently holds a position as Professor of Linguistics and Spanish at
California State University, San Bernardino. Her main research interests
include linguistic typology, Native American and other endangered languages,
language documentation, and language contact. Over the past decade, she has
been working on the documentation of Chuxnabán Mixe, a Mexican indigenous
language. Her dissertation was a typologically-framed grammatical description
and analysis of Chimariko, a dormant Northern California language.





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