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[TACOL] A. Schapper & M. Bouma │ «Singular-plural verb stem alternations in Papuan languages»

Séminaire TACOL

Terrains, Analyse et COmparaison des Langues

 


 

The next session of our TACOL seminar will take place on Thursday, November 20 at  2:30 p.mon site (meeting room 311, CNRS Villejuif Campus) and on Zoom.

We will have the pleasure to listen to

A. Schapper (LACITO) & M. Bouma (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam).

Title of talk:

“Singular-plural verb stem alternations in Papuan languages”

Abstract:

This talks reports on preliminary results from a survey of singular-plural verb stem alternations in Papuan languages.

The starting point for our study is Inman and Vuillermet’s (2024) recent cross-linguistic definition of a singular-plural verb stem alternation as referring to a lexically specific set of verb stems whose distribution can be determined by the number of an argument. This definition encompasses a broader set of phenomena than earlier studies in that it not only looks at root suppletion, but also lexically limited regular patterns involving unproductive morphology, ablauting, and reduplication.

We show that singular-plural verb stem alternations are common in Papuan languages, occurring in roughly half of the 100 languages we have sampled thus far. Languages with singular-plural verb stem alternations are scattered across the full expanse of the Papuan area,but the size and type of alternations show some strikingly skewed distributions. Using detailed data collected on alternation types, we also show that while root suppletion for participant number consistently follows an absolutive pattern, lexically limited morphology and ablaut do not necessarily.

For further information, please contact Lameen Souag


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Balthazar Do Nascimento (13 novembre 2025). [TACOL] A. Schapper & M. Bouma │ «Singular-plural verb stem alternations in Papuan languages». LES CARNETS DU LACITO. Consulté le 16 décembre 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/1555z


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