Differential subject marking in Azhee

Matthias GERNER*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

Abstract

Azhee (of the Tibeto-Burman family, spoken in China) uses differential subject marking (DSM) conditioned by animacy and the potential ambiguity of subject and object. It is shown that the Azhee differential subject marker is a highly syncretic case marker, which derived from a source case, and developed into a contrastive focus marker. DSM is presented as the diachronic source of focus, rather than the other way around. In a range of publications, topic and focus have been identified to be associate functions of case markers. Furthermore, the position of Azhee is described in a typology of differential case marking motivated by the principles of markedness, faithfulness and economy.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)137-173
JournalFolia Linguistica
Volume50
Issue number1
Online published3 May 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2016

Research Keywords

  • Differential Subject Marking
  • syncretic case marker
  • focus
  • Azhee

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Differential subject marking in Azhee'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this