[Lingtyp] Terminology query: Obviative constraints

Mon Sep 18 18:39:22 UTC 2023

I wouldn't use "obviation", because outside of North American 
linguistics, this has come to be used in the sense of "disjoint 
reference from the subject" (e.g. Szabolcsi, Anna, 2021. Obviation in 
Hungarian: What is its scope, and is it due to competition? /Glossa: A 
Journal of General Linguistics/ 6(1): 57. doi: 
https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1421)

In my 2021 paper on role-reference associations 
(https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/004047), I referred to the kinds of 
phenomena that Jürgen talks about as "scenario splits" of argument 
coding, because they depend on the *scenario* (the 
referential-prominence value of two arguments).

I wouldn't use the term "alignment" for such phenomena, because this is 
generally reserved for coexpression patterns (accusative alignment is 
coexpression of S and A, ergative alignment is coexpression of S and P, 
etc).

But this discussion is useful because it illustrates how difficult we 
sometimes find it to talk about interesting phenomena with terms that we 
all understand right away.

Martin

On 18.09.23 20:26, Juergen Bohnemeyer wrote:
>
> Fair enough, Christian! Let me try to restate my comment a little more 
> sensibly:
>
> Both active/passive voice alternations and the kind of phenomena I’m 
> interested in (including inverse voice marking) are governed by 
> constraints on topicality and animacy, and thus more broadly by 
> ‘reference-conditioned alignment constraints’.
>
> But I was looking specifically for a way to designate only those 
> constraints that occur in obviative alignment systems.
>
> And those constraints are of a subtly different nature from those that 
> govern active/passive alternations. In active/passive alternations 
> (though surely not in every language-specific construction that has 
> been called by that label), what matters is whether the actor or the 
> undergoer is topical and where each lands on an animacy scale.
>
> In contrast, in obviative alignment systems, what matters is whether 
> the actor **outranks** the undergoer in animacy and topicality 
> (including definiteness) or vice versa.
>
> And, again, I’m looking for a way to specifically designate 
> grammatical systems that have constraints of this specific second kind.
>
> Does that make sense? – Best – Juergen
>
> Juergen Bohnemeyer (He/Him)
> Professor, Department of Linguistics
> University at Buffalo
>
> Office: 642 Baldy Hall, UB North Campus
> Mailing address: 609 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260
> Phone: (716) 645 0127
> Fax: (716) 645 3825
> Email: jb77 at buffalo.edu <mailto:jb77 at buffalo.edu>
> Web: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/ 
> <http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/>
>
> Office hours Tu/Th 3:30-4:30pm in 642 Baldy or via Zoom (Meeting ID 
> 585 520 2411; Passcode Hoorheh)
>
> There’s A Crack In Everything - That’s How The Light Gets In
> (Leonard Cohen)
>
> -- 
>
> *From: *Christian Lehmann <christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de>
> *Date: *Monday, September 18, 2023 at 19:32
> *To: *Juergen Bohnemeyer <jb77 at buffalo.edu>, 
> LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
> *Subject: *Re: [Lingtyp] Terminology query: Obviative constraints
>
> I'm afraid I don't understand your qualms. An alternation is not a 
> constraint, and voices and diatheses are no alignment constraints.
>
>     Thanks, Christian! But wouldn’t those terms again also extend to
>     voice alternations, including European-style active/passive
>     alternations? I’m not looking for a cover term, mind you, but
>     rather specifically for a term that narrowly denotes those
>     constraints that specifically concern the /relative/ animacy and
>     topicality (etc.) of core arguments in transitive (and
>     ditransitive) clauses. – Best – Juergen
>
>     Juergen Bohnemeyer (He/Him)
>     Professor, Department of Linguistics
>     University at Buffalo
>
>     Office: 642 Baldy Hall, UB North Campus
>     Mailing address: 609 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260
>     Phone: (716) 645 0127
>     Fax: (716) 645 3825
>     Email: jb77 at buffalo.edu <mailto:jb77 at buffalo.edu>
>     Web: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/
>     <http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jb77/>
>
>     Office hours Tu/Th 3:30-4:30pm in 642 Baldy or via Zoom (Meeting
>     ID 585 520 2411; Passcode Hoorheh)
>
>     There’s A Crack In Everything - That’s How The Light Gets In
>     (Leonard Cohen)
>
>     -- 
>
>     *From: *Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org>
>     <mailto:lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of
>     Christian Lehmann <christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de>
>     <mailto:christian.lehmann at uni-erfurt.de>
>     *Date: *Monday, September 18, 2023 at 18:12
>     *To: *LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>     <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
>     <mailto:lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
>     *Subject: *Re: [Lingtyp] Terminology query: Obviative constraints
>
>     Since animacy (better: empathy 🙂) and topicality are both related
>     to reference, the term you are looking for could be something like
>     'reference-conditioned alignment constraint'. It would cover not
>     only empathy and topicality, but also other referential properties
>     like specificity, which play a role in alignment, too.
>     Best, Christian
>
>     -- 
>
>     Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
>     Rudolfstr. 4
>     99092 Erfurt
>     Deutschland
>
>     Tel.:
>
>     	
>
>     +49/361/2113417
>
>     E-Post:
>
>     	
>
>     christianw_lehmann at arcor.de
>
>     Web:
>
>     	
>
>     https://www.christianlehmann.eu
>
> -- 
>
> Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
> Rudolfstr. 4
> 99092 Erfurt
> Deutschland
>
> Tel.:
>
> 	
>
> +49/361/2113417
>
> E-Post:
>
> 	
>
> christianw_lehmann at arcor.de
>
> Web:
>
> 	
>
> https://www.christianlehmann.eu
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp

-- 
Martin Haspelmath
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
https://www.eva.mpg.de/linguistic-and-cultural-evolution/staff/martin-haspelmath/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20230918/9fac34b8/attachment.htm>