[Lingtyp] languages where 'able, can' and 'until, up to' are polysemous/homophonous

[David Gil]

Dear Ellen.


A possible diachronic case of what you're looking foris provided by the 
biconsonantal Semitic root morpheme /k-l/.

Appended below is a passage from an encyclopaedia article on quantifiers 
about the realizations and functions of /k-l/ in Hebrew.Among these 
functions you can find 'be able to' and 'ability'.As for 'until', you 
can express that periphrastically by means of the /k-l-y/ root meaning 
'finish', though it's not the most common way of expressing that meaning.

So Hebrew gives you the coexpression you're looking for, with the 
provisos that the relationship between the two is indirect, being 
mediated by several additional functions, and also synchronically 
opaque, reflecting word-formation processes some of which may date back 
to proto-Semitic or even earlier.


Speculating, the range of functions of Semitic/k-l /might be consistent 
withpaths of grammaticalization somewhat like the following, which, in 
conjunction, would yield can/until coexpression:


HAVE MASTERY OVER > FINISH > UNTIL

HAVE MASTERY OVER > CAN

*****

"Consider, for example, the Modern Hebrew universal quantifier /kol/ 
'all'.Synchronically it is clearly monomorphemic; however, in its 
diachronic origins, it reflects an ancient biconsonantal root morpheme 
/k-l/.Such roots form the basis of much of the Afroasiatic lexicon; 
however, in the Semitic family, the biconsonantal roots are often 
expanded into tri-consonantal ones, by the addition of a third root 
consonant.Resulting from this historical process, and also from the 
synchronic processes of word formation in Modern Hebrew, is a large 
family of words, all containing reflexes of the original root /k-l 
/morpheme, and all connected via a semantic network based on the related 
concepts of ability, containment, consumption, exhaustiveness, and the 
like.Some members of this family include verbal forms such as /yaxal/ 
'be able to' (from root /y-k-l/); /axal/ 'eat', /ʔikel/ 'consume' 
(/ʔ-k-l/); /ʕikel/ 'digest' (/ʕ-k-l/); /kala/ 'end', 'cease to exist'; 
/kila/ 'finish', 'exterminate' (/k-l-y/); /kala/ 'imprison' (/k-l-ʔ/); 
/kal/ 'measure', /hexil/ 'contain' (/k-w-l/); /kiyel/ 'calibrate' 
(/k-y-l/); /kalal/ 'include', /hixlil/ 'generalize', /šixlel/ 'improve' 
(/k-l-l/); and /kilkel/ 'support', 'provide for' (/k-l-k-l/); and also 
related nominal forms such as /oxel/ 'food'; /kli/ 'utensil'; /kila/ 
'bed curtain'; /meyxal/ 'container'; /heyxal/ 'palace'; /mixlala/ 
'college'; /makolet/ 'grocery store'; /kele/ 'jail'; /klal/ 'rule'; 
/kilayon/ 'extermination'; /yexolet/ 'ability'; /kalkala/ 'economy' and 
many others.(Note that in many of the above examples, /k/ is reflected 
by its allophone /x/.)"

Gil, David (2001) "Quantifiers", in M. Haspelmath, E. König, W. 
Oesterreicher and W. Raible eds., /Language Typology and Linguistic 
Universals, An International Handbook/, Volume 2, Walter de Gruyter, 
Berlin, 1275-1294.





On 05/01/2021 14:11, Smith-Dennis, Ellen wrote:
> Happy New Year all!
>
> Could you help?
>
> I'm looking for languages where the word for 'able, can' is 
> polysemous/homophonous with 'until, up to, for (X amount of time)'. 
> This is the case in Papapana (Austronesian, Papua New Guinea) and Tok 
> Pisin (pidgin/creole, PNG) so I'm especially (but not only!) 
> interested in languages of the Pacific region.
>
> Many thanks in advance,
> Ellen
> E.Smith-Dennis at warwick.ac.uk
> *
> *
> *Dr. Ellen Smith-Dennis, FHEA*
> Assistant Professor
> Widening Participation/Schools Liaison Officer
> Centre for Applied Linguistics, The University of Warwick, Coventry, 
> CV4 7AL
> Email: E.Smith-Dennis at warwick.ac.uk OR E.L.Smith at uon.edu.au
> Tel: (+44) (0)24 76 575912 (internal: 75912)
>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
David Gil
  
Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
  
Email: gil at shh.mpg.de
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-556825895
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81344082091

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