where > relativizer?

[vfriedm at UCHICAGO.EDU]

Macedonian /deka/, colloquial English 'where' (as in Did yoiu
hear where the mayor said ...

---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:55:46 +0100
>From: Yaron Matras <yaron.matras at MANCHESTER.AC.UK>  
>Subject: Re: where > relativizer?  
>To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>
>oh yes !!
>
>Greek /pu/, Romani /kaj/, and southern dialectal German /wo/
are just  
>a couple of examples out of many.
>
>Quoting peterarkadiev <peterarkadiev at YANDEX.RU>:
>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> According to the dictionary of Lithuanian language  
>> (http://www.lkz.lt/startas.htm), the wh-word *kur*, whose
basic  
>> meaning is 'where', can in some dialects be used as a general  
>> relativizer similar to English *that*. Cf. a nice example
where this  
>> word is used both to form a question about location, and to  
>> relativize the subject:
>>
>> Kur tas piemuo, kur gano šitas kiaules?
>> where that(NOM.SG) shepherd(NOM.SG) who pasture(PRS.3)
pig(ACC.PL)
>> 'Where is that shepherd, who (lit. where) pastures pigs?'
>>
>> I wonder whether this or similar kinds of polysemy are
attested  
>> cross-linguistically.
>>
>> Thanks a lot!
>>
>> With best wishes,
>>
>> Peter Arkadiev
>> Institute of Slavic Studies
>> Moscow
>>
>
>
>
>-- 
>Yaron Matras
>Professor in Linguistics
>School of Languages, Linguistics & Cultures
>University of Manchester
>Manchester M13 9PL, UK
>
>Phone (direct): (00)44 (0)161 275 3975
>Romani project: (00)44 (0)161 275 5999
>http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk
>http://romani.languagecontact.manchester.ac.uk