[Lingtyp] clause linker stacking/co-occurrence

[Daniel Ross]

Dear Joseph,

One term for (at least some of) what you have described would be
*para-hypotaxis*, introduced to typology in this paper (following
traditional usage for studies as especially a stylistic device in
historical usage of European languages):
Bertinetto, Pier Marco & Luca Ciucci. 2012. Parataxis, Hypotaxis and
Para-Hypotaxis in the Zamucoan Languages. Linguistic Discovery 10(1).
89–111. https://doi.org/10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.404

Also surveyed cross-linguistically in this presentation:
Ross, Daniel, Jesús Olguín Martínez & Luca Ciucci. 2018. Para-hypotaxis in
the world’s languages: A cross-linguistic survey. Presented at Syntax of
the World’s Languages (SWL) 8, INALCO, Paris, September 4, 2018.
https://swl8.sciencesconf.org/data/pages/Ross_etal_PH_SWL_1.pdf

Note that Amele switch-reference plus conjunctions is mentioned on slide 25.

The typological survey is also discussed in chapter 3 of my dissertation:
Ross, Daniel. 2021. Pseudocoordination, Serial Verb Constructions and
Multi-Verb Predicates: The relationship between form and structure.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Ph.D. dissertation.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5546425

Specifically, para-hypotaxis is when parataxis/coordination and
hypotaxis/subordination are overtly mixed in a single clause-combining
strategy. By this definition, hypotaxis could include switch-reference
marking plus a coordinator for parataxis blended in the same construction.

Note that other possible combinations of conjunctions or other markers of
clause-combining are not strictly included in the definition of
para-hypotaxis, including:
1. Correlatives in general if we they aren't analyzed as
"parataxis"+"hypotaxis".
2. Doubling of coordinators, e.g. "and so", "and yet" in English, or wa
lakin 'but' (lit. 'and but') in Arabic, or similarly conjunction pairs like
"not only..... but...".
3. Doubling of subordinators, e.g. preposition-related subordinators plus
que 'that' in Spanish such as para que 'in order to' (lit. 'for that').
[Another analysis might be preferable here, but I just mentioned this for
illustrative purposes. There are probably better examples.] Even more
broadly, we could consider for example subordinate moods (e.g.
subjunctives) plus complementizers to be some kind of "doubling", or is
that some kind of agreement, or something else?
3b. There are also instances of subordinators combined with non-finite
verbs (I think some of the examples summarized in Hannah's reply are
probably of this type in the recent clause-chaining volume).
3c. For example doubly-suffixed non-finite verb forms such as a nominalized
verb form further suffixed with a case-like suffix for adverbial functions.

On the diachrony of converbs related to (3c), and another mention of
para-hypotaxis, see also:
Ross, Daniel. 2025. The life cycle of converbs: A diachronic typology. In
Paola Cotticelli-Kurras, Eystein Dahl & Jelena Živojinović (eds.),
Diachronic, Typological, and Areal Aspects of Converbs, 317–360. Berlin: De
Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111335551-012

There are definitional questions that come up when we try to categorize
doubling (stacking, co-occurrence, etc.), which I think often suggest a
diachronic perspective for analysis. For example, para-hypotaxis can be
introduced via language contact (e.g. in a language with clause-chaining
plus borrowed conjunctions). Otherwise, whether it counts as "doubling"
might depend on whether we consider form (two morphemes) or function (one
clause-combining function, or more?).

Daniel Ross
UC Riverside


On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 2:22 AM Joseph Brooks via Lingtyp <
lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm wondering if anyone could point me to any sources or have that report
> on clause linker stacking/co-occurrence of clause linkers in a single
> clause. Esp looking for examples from languages with clause chaining and/or
> switch reference where linker stacking occurs in one or more constructions.
> (Unpublished examples also welcome).
>
> Roberts' 1997 (137, 194) work on switch reference in languages of New
> Guinea claims that for languages with clause chaining, co-occurrence of
> markers is found exclusively in New Guinea, and even then only in a handful
> of languages. Wade 1997 is the only paper I know of that focuses on this
> topic explicitly, for the Apalɨ language.
>
> Thanks,
> Joseph
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