Vortrag: Traces of middle voice systems in Dravidian languages

Grammatical voice (or diathesis) is a verbal category which “signal[s] alternations in the configurations of nominal statuses with which verbs are in particular relationships” (Klaiman 1991: 1). As Inglese (2021: 491) points out, middle voice—as a third voice type next to active and passive—“has been used in reference to a wide range of phenomena [...]”. Commonly mentioned examples of languages which have a middle voice system are, e.g., Ancient Greek and Sanskrit (c.f. Smyth 1920: 390-394 and Burrow 2001: 294-295, respectively). I follow the exposition in Inglese’s (2021) typological study of middle voice systems where he conceptualizes middle markers as polyfunctional and explicates that they ought to be obligatory with some verbs (non-oppositional) while also non-obligatory with others (oppositional), i.e. there are both frozen and non-frozen forms in a language.

In my presentation, I will discuss first and early observations on middle voice systems found in Dravidian languages of South India, with examples from Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam. Burrow & Emeneau (1984, entry 2151) note that the verb koɭ “to seize, receive, buy, acquire, etc.” (form from Tamil) is an auxiliary with reflexive meaning in multiple Dravidian languages. Reflexive is one of the many functions associated with the middle. It seems that koɭ develops into a middle marker at different rates, with regard to the languages.

References:
Burrow, T. & M. B. Emeneau. (1984). A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Burrow, T. (2001). The Sanskrit Language. India ed. Motilal Banarsidass: Delhi.
Inglese, G. (2021). Towards a typology of middle voice systems. Linguistic Typology, 26(3), https://doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2020-0131
Klaiman, M. H. (1991). Grammatical voice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smyth, H. W. (1920). A Greek Grammar for Colleges. American Book Company.

Info

Tag: 23.11.2024
Anfangszeit: 11:25
Dauer: 00:30
Raum: 00A03 CNMS
Track: Typologie und Variationslinguistik
Sprache: en

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