Papers by Claudine Chamoreau
Relative Clause Structure in Mesoamerica Languages, eds. Enrique Palancar, Roberto Zavala Maldonado, and Claudine Chamoreau. Amsterdam: Brill. , 2021
This book is on relative clause structure in the Mesoamerican languages. The book consists of a t... more This book is on relative clause structure in the Mesoamerican languages. The book consists of a total of nine chapters in the form of independent articles. We use the concept ‘RC structure’ as an umbrella term here to refer to relevant aspects of linguistic structure that revolve around relative clauses (RCs) and relative constructions. Seven chapters are on different language families of the Mesoamerica linguistic area, including Nahuatl, Mayan, Mixe-Zoquean, Chatino, Zapotec and Otomian, while an eighth chapter is on Pesh, a Chibchan language spoken in Honduras, outside the limits of Mesoamerica. While we do not consider Pesh a Mesoamerican language, we include it in the book to show the extent to which the relative constructions found in the other languages of this book can indeed be said to be Mesoamerican. In this connection, the first article in the book sets the typological scene, as it were, taking an areal view of the phenomenon and thus allowing us to propose what type of RC structure is typically Mesoamerican.
Relative Clause Structure in Mesoamerica Languages, eds. Enrique Palancar, Roberto Zavala Maldonado, and Claudine Chamoreau. Amsterdam: Brill. , 2021
We conclude this book by briefly highlighting its most important contributions to the creation of... more We conclude this book by briefly highlighting its most important contributions to the creation of new typological knowledge on the syntax of the indigenous languages of Mesoamerica from the light shed by their RC structure. This exercise leads us to further propose some lines for future research that we believe are essential to cover if we want our knowledge of this area to be more complete.
Relative Clause Structure in Mesoamerica Languages, eds. Enrique Palancar, Roberto Zavala Maldonado, and Claudine Chamoreau. Amsterdam: Brill. , 2021
In this chapter, we identify what constitutes the canonical profile of relative constructions in ... more In this chapter, we identify what constitutes the canonical profile of relative constructions in the Mesoamerican languages. We propose that the typical Mesoamerican relative clause is a morphosyntactic finite relative clause with a gap, but when the relativized position is that of locative, a relative pronoun is typically used (with this pattern reaching out beyond Mesoamerica). In our proposal, we have identified three structural traits that we take to be Mesoamerican: (i) relative clauses introduced by determiners which agree in deixis with the determiner of the DP in which the domain nominal of the relative clause is embedded; (ii) the so-called ʻpied-piping with inversionʼ introduced by Smith-Stark (1988) for interrogatives that has percolated into relative clause structure; and (iii) headless relative clauses with a gap, that is, headless relative clauses where there is little indication as to the role of the relativized element. 2 CHAPTER 1
International Journal of American Linguistics, 2021
Pesh (Chibchan, Honduras) has until now been described as having a morphological nominative-accus... more Pesh (Chibchan, Honduras) has until now been described as having a morphological nominative-accusative alignment. This paper argues that Pesh displays a bilevel split ergative pattern for morphological alignment. On the first level of the system, Pesh features a split alignment that is conditioned by the way the arguments are expressed. It has a nominativeaccusative alignment for the obligatory indexing of arguments on the verb, and three systems of alignment for flagging case. The distribution of these three systems shapes the second level where ergative-absolutive, tripartite, and nominative-accusative are seen depending on the types of clause and the varieties spoken. On the other hand, Pesh shows a syntactic nominative-accusative alignment. Cross-clausal behaviors in two constructions show a subject/agent pivot. This is seen in the possibility of deletion of the subject or the transitive subject in the second conjoined clause and the control of coreference with core arguments in a purpose clause.
Relative Clause Structure in Mesoamerica Languages, eds. Enrique Palancar, Roberto Zavala Maldonado, and Claudine Chamoreau. , 2021
In this chapter, I offer the first description of restrictive headed relative constructions in Pe... more In this chapter, I offer the first description of restrictive headed relative constructions in Pesh, a Chibchan language spoken in Honduras. This language follows three relativization strategies: 1) internally-headed relative clauses in which the head nominal of the relative clause, which is a core argument or a genitive, occurs inside the relative clause. This is the most frequent and primary strategy in Pesh, as it is used to relativize subjects; 2) externally-headed relative clauses in which the head nominal, which has a peripheral role in the relative clause, occurs outside the relative clause, being represented in the relative clause by a gap; and 3) relative clauses introduced by a WH-word that functions as a relative; only locative WH-words piah 'where' and pikan 'where, in which direction' occur. The distribution of the three relative clauses in Pesh clearly responds to accessibility restrictions on specific functions. Further, this chapter explores the relation between relative strategies and degree of finiteness. Internally-headed relative clauses and externally-headed relative clauses are less finite and show some nominalized features in the scalar phenomenon of nominalization, since the marker that obligatorily occurs at the end of the relative construction in internally-headed relative clauses and at the end of the relative clause in externally-headed relative clauses is a case or the topic enclitic marker prototypically used at the end of noun and postpositional phrases. In contrast, relative clauses bearing a WHword are most finite, and their subordinate feature is marked by a subordinator at the end of the verb.
The aim of this study is to describe the two main kinds of headless relative clauses that are att... more The aim of this study is to describe the two main kinds of headless relative clauses that are attested in Pesh, a Chibchan language spoken in Honduras: free relative clauses, which use a wh-word that functions as a relative pronoun at their left edge and a subordinator at their right edge, and headless relative clauses, which lack a wh-word but show a case marker or the topic marker at the right edge of the clause. The first type is less frequently attested in the natural corpus this study relies on, although the corpus does contain various instances of maximal, existential, and free-choice free relative clauses. Each of the constructions is distinguished by features of the wh-word and/or by certain restrictions regarding the tense of the verb in headless relative clauses or the type of verb in matrix clauses. The second type of headless relative clause, the ones that do not use a wh-expression, are much more frequent in the corpus and behave like headed relative clauses that lack a wh-expression. They are like noun phrases marked by a phrase-final case marker or the topic maker. The case or topic markers are used for light-headed relative clauses and for almost all types of maximal headless relative clause that have neither a light head nor a wh-expression, in contrast to maximal free relatives, in which only locative wh-words occur.
In Pesh (Chibchan, Honduras), the topic marker =ma is generally not used for continuing topics or... more In Pesh (Chibchan, Honduras), the topic marker =ma is generally not used for continuing topics or in topic shifts with accessible referents; use of =ma with a topic NP is correlated with thematic discontinuity or referent complexity, including shifted or contrastive topics, antitopics, and frame-setting topics, and some continuing topics. Topic constituents other than antitopics are usually clause-initial, and all are marked by particular prosodic characteristics. Four uses of =ma do not fit this characterization: with personal pronouns (especially first person); in stacking of several constituents in the same clause or intonation unit; in relativization of subjects; and as a mark of certain kinds of embedded clauses.
A. Alvarez González, Z. Estrada Fernández & C. Chamoreau (eds). Diverse Scenarios of Syntactic Complexity., 2019
This paper describes, in synchrony, the use, form, and position of the linking devices with ka in... more This paper describes, in synchrony, the use, form, and position of the linking devices with ka in coordinating phrases and clauses and in subordinate clauses. This study also explores the relation between the different occurrences of ka and investigates a diachronic common source. Taking into account such parameters as weight, cohesion, and variability (Lehmann 2002), I advance the hypothesis that there have been two routes of grammaticalization. These two routes include the free coordinator ka which has given rise to a dependent marker-ka that forms subordinators, and the subjunctive mood-ka which seems to be the grammaticalization of the assertive mood marker-ka used for speech-act participants.
Faits de Langues-Journal of Language Diversity 50(1)., 2019
The objective of this paper is to offer the first description of equative and similative construc... more The objective of this paper is to offer the first description of equative and similative constructions in twelve Chibchan languages focusing on two typological particularities: first, all the languages share the construction with only an equative standard marker. But, although all the Chibchan languages have SOV constituent order, the constituent order in the equative construction is not the same in all the languages. Some languages display the expected order for SOV constituent order languages, that is the standard marker follows the standard and both precede the parameter. But the central Isthmian languages show the reverse order, that is the standard marker occurs after the standard entity and both follow the parameter. Second, the distinction between equative and similative constructions, which is semantically and formally present in European languages, is not attested in most of the Chibchan languages that have only one construction for expressing similarity and equality. Only three languages, Cabecar, Ika and Pesh usually use the construction with similative standard marker for similarity and have another dedicated construction with a degree-marker for equality.
Chamoreau. Forthc. Purepecha: a non-Mesoamerican language in Mesoamerica. Søren Wichmann (ed.) The Languages of Middle America: A Comprehensive Guide. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Purepecha (formerly known as Tarascan) is spoken in the state of Michoacán in Mexico by approxima... more Purepecha (formerly known as Tarascan) is spoken in the state of Michoacán in Mexico by approximately 110,000 people. It is classified as a language isolate. In this chapter, after introducing some of its sociolinguistic and dialectal characteristics, I provide information on a selection of its phonetic and phonological processes (Chamoreau 2009), then highlight the most recent and significant progress in morphological and syntactic description. Verbal derivational morphology in Purepecha is elaborate and highly productive. Stems may be simple or compound. Although bare stems exist, they are typically augmented with various derivational suffixes, in particular locative suffixes, but also voice, causative, positional, directional, desiderative, and/or adverbial derivational suffixes, comprising a total of around eighty markers. The majority of nouns are derived from a verbal stem and built with a nominalizer. Verbs inflect for aspect, tense, and mood and nouns for case by means of suffixes. In simple clauses, Purepecha has nominative-accusative alignment; the basic constituent order is SVO but the language exhibits some traits commonly associated with basic OV order. It is a predominantly dependent-marking language, since the person of subject and object is generally encoded not on the verb but by means of second position enclitics, on the first constituent of a clause. However, in some contexts it exhibits head-marking characteristics (Chamoreau in press b). With respect to complex clauses, the predicates of both independent and dependent clauses are generally finite, although some non-finite dependent clauses have been observed. Here I describe the uses of non-finite and finite dependent clauses and the position of these clauses on the continuum of finiteness in Purepecha (see also Chamoreau in press a). I close this chapter by discussing the question of whether Purepecha belongs within the Mesoamerican linguistic area. This is an interesting question because although the language is located in Mesoamerica, following Smith-Stark (1994), I do not classify it as Mesoamerican as it exhibits very few signature Mesoamerican characteristics.
Purepecha (language isolate, Mexico) has one relevant characteristic that leads to identifying it... more Purepecha (language isolate, Mexico) has one relevant characteristic that leads to identifying it as a polysynthetic language: productive verbal morphology (in particular locative suffixes). Purepecha is a predominantly dependent-marking language, as its pronominal markers are enclitics, generally second position enclitics. But, in some contexts Purepecha shows head-marking characteristics. Today, pronominal enclitics exhibit variation, tending to move to the rightmost position in the clause; they may encliticize to the predicate itself, showing a head-attraction or polypersonalism strategy and making Purepecha more polysynthetic. But this language lacks noun incorporation. Purepecha has three types of non-finite clause: two subordinate clauses (non-finite complement clauses and purpose clauses) and a syntactically independent clause (the chain-medial clause). This seemingly inconsistent situation (characterized by a correlation of different properties, some of which have not been identified as polysynthetic) calls for addressing the typological classification of Purepecha among the polysynthetic languages.
Chamoreau, C. & Estrada Fernández, Z. (eds). 2016. Finiteness and nominalization: An overview. C.... more Chamoreau, C. & Estrada Fernández, Z. (eds). 2016. Finiteness and nominalization: An overview. C. Chamoreau & Z. Estrada Fernández (eds). Finiteness and Nominalization. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 1-12.
Chamoreau, C. 2016. Non-finite chain-medial clauses in the continuum of finiteness in Purepecha. ... more Chamoreau, C. 2016. Non-finite chain-medial clauses in the continuum of finiteness in Purepecha. C. Chamoreau & Z. Estrada Fernández (eds). Finiteness and Nominalization. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 83-104.
Traditionally, antipassive constructions have been associated with ergative-absolutive languages ... more Traditionally, antipassive constructions have been associated with ergative-absolutive languages and few authors have noted their presence in nominative-accusative languages.
This construction is used primarily to promote the agent and diminish the valency of the verb. The consequence is the relegation (demotion as an adjunct or deletion, that is, an absolutive construction) of the patient of the transitive verb. In ergative languages, this modification leads to a change of case for the agent: it is marked by the ergative case in the transitive
construction and by the absolutive case in the intransitive antipassive construction. This modification does not occur in nominative-accusative languages because the agent of the
transitive construction preserves its function of subject in the intransitive antipassive construction and retains the same morphological marking (the nominative case, for example).
In this paper, I show the existence of antipassive constructions in diverse nominative accusative varieties of Mesoamerican languages. I describe this construction with transitive
verbs, showing that constructions can be found in which the patient is deleted or demoted. I then examine this construction with ditransitive verbs, showing that depending on the
language in question, either the patient or the receptor is relegated. Finally, I show that the degree of humanity of the referent of the relegated element may be a prominent factor in the restriction of the use of this construction.
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Papers by Claudine Chamoreau
This construction is used primarily to promote the agent and diminish the valency of the verb. The consequence is the relegation (demotion as an adjunct or deletion, that is, an absolutive construction) of the patient of the transitive verb. In ergative languages, this modification leads to a change of case for the agent: it is marked by the ergative case in the transitive
construction and by the absolutive case in the intransitive antipassive construction. This modification does not occur in nominative-accusative languages because the agent of the
transitive construction preserves its function of subject in the intransitive antipassive construction and retains the same morphological marking (the nominative case, for example).
In this paper, I show the existence of antipassive constructions in diverse nominative accusative varieties of Mesoamerican languages. I describe this construction with transitive
verbs, showing that constructions can be found in which the patient is deleted or demoted. I then examine this construction with ditransitive verbs, showing that depending on the
language in question, either the patient or the receptor is relegated. Finally, I show that the degree of humanity of the referent of the relegated element may be a prominent factor in the restriction of the use of this construction.
This construction is used primarily to promote the agent and diminish the valency of the verb. The consequence is the relegation (demotion as an adjunct or deletion, that is, an absolutive construction) of the patient of the transitive verb. In ergative languages, this modification leads to a change of case for the agent: it is marked by the ergative case in the transitive
construction and by the absolutive case in the intransitive antipassive construction. This modification does not occur in nominative-accusative languages because the agent of the
transitive construction preserves its function of subject in the intransitive antipassive construction and retains the same morphological marking (the nominative case, for example).
In this paper, I show the existence of antipassive constructions in diverse nominative accusative varieties of Mesoamerican languages. I describe this construction with transitive
verbs, showing that constructions can be found in which the patient is deleted or demoted. I then examine this construction with ditransitive verbs, showing that depending on the
language in question, either the patient or the receptor is relegated. Finally, I show that the degree of humanity of the referent of the relegated element may be a prominent factor in the restriction of the use of this construction.
indigenous languages of Mesoamerica, this volume omprises a collection of original, in-depth studies of relative constructions in representative languages from across Mexico and Central America, based on empirical data collected by the authors themselves. The studies not only reveal the complex and fascinating nature of relative
clauses in the languages in question, but they also shed invaluable light on how Mesoamerica came to be one of the richest and most diverse linguistic areas on our planet.