[Lingtyp] query: cumulative songs

[Françoise Rose]

Dear David,
I have recorded a cumulative tale in Mojeño Trinitario (not sung), an Arawak language of Bolivia.
Best,
Françoise

De : Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> De la part de David Gil
Envoyé : dimanche 12 février 2023 08:13
À : lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
Objet : [Lingtyp] query: cumulative songs


Dear all,

A cumulative song is one in which each unit, or stanza, introduces an additional layer of syntactic embedding, such as the following ...
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

... and so forth.  Perhaps the earliest example of a cumulative song is the Jewish Aramaic hymn Had Gadya.

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.

(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.)

Thanks,

David



--

David Gil



Senior Scientist (Associate)

Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany



Email: gil at shh.mpg.de<mailto:gil at shh.mpg.de>

Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713

Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20230213/0d9fc1af/attachment.htm>