Papers by Olga Steriopolo
16 Gender discrepancies and evaluative gender shift: A cross-linguistic study within Distributed Morphology
De Gruyter eBooks, Dec 3, 2023
Parameters of variation in the syntax of expressive suffixes: Case studies of Russian, German, Spanish and Greek
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 30, 2023
Individuals' pronoun choice: A case study of transgender speakers in Berlin, Germany
Routledge eBooks, Oct 15, 2023
Grammatical language forms used by non-binary transgender* individuals in the LGBT*QIA+ community in Berlin, Germany
This is a first study of grammatical gender forms used by gender non-conforming transgender* indi... more This is a first study of grammatical gender forms used by gender non-conforming transgender* individuals in the LGBT*QIA+ community in Berlin, Germany. Within the diverse LGBT*QIA+ community, gender non-conforming transgender* individuals are a heterogeneous group, in which gender identity may be expressed linguistically in a great variety of ways. This work is our first attempt to investigate such grammatical gender forms in hopes to document and preserve them as part of a rich queer linguistic tradition in a single but very culturally diverse city, Berlin. For our investigation into grammatical gender forms, the target group is gender non-conforming transgender* individuals currently living in Berlin, Germany. We invited 12 participants (22 ˗ 38 years old) who have lived in Berlin, Germany, for at least two years (ranging 2 ˗ 10 years). All the participants are fluent English speakers and use the English language to communicate with each other (English being their native or non-na...
The division of GENDER
Voprosy Jazykoznanija, 2022
The paper investigates the connection between grammatical gender of human nouns and social gender... more The paper investigates the connection between grammatical gender of human nouns and social gender and biological sex of their referents, focusing on the instances of mismatch between them. We analyze data from various languages and conclude that discrepancies between the biological sex of an individual and grammatical gender used in reference to that individual can be accounted for via sociological factors, namely the social roles, status and social behaviours that are considered (in)appropriate in a given society. We propose a pyramid structure, in which grammatical gender is based on social gender, and social gender, in turn, operates in relation to the assumed biological sex of a referent. We show that although there is not always a canonical correspondence between the three levels of the pyramid, there is a hierarchical dependence of the diff erent gender levels upon each other.
This article presents evidence for syntactic variation in the manner and place of attachment of e... more This article presents evidence for syntactic variation in the manner and place of attachment of expressive size suffixes in Russian, German, and Spanish. Steriopolo (2008, 2009) argued that Russian size suffixes are syntactic modifiers that attach only to a noun category. Steriopolo (2013) and Wiltschko and Steriopolo (2007) showed that similarly to Russian, German size suffixes attach to a noun category. However, unlike in Russian, they are syntactic heads, and thus, they are different in the manner of syntactic attachment. This article shows that the Spanish size suffix-(c)it is a syntactic modifier, just like Russian size suffixes. However, unlike Russian size suffixes, it can attach to various syntactic categories. Thus, it differs in the place of syntactic attachment. These findings have important implications for form/function mapping in the realm of categorization (Wiltschko 2014). They show that within a single class of expressive size suffixes, the same function does not ma...
In this paper, I investigate Russian expressive suffixes. I show that they have different formal ... more In this paper, I investigate Russian expressive suffixes. I show that they have different formal properties: some suffixes can change categorial properties of the base, while others cannot. I propose that this difference in formal properties is syntactically conditioned: some expressive suffixes are syntactic heads, while others are syntactic modifiers.
Jer vowels in Russian prepositions
Formal approaches to Slavic linguistics. the Toronto …, 2006
A morphosyntactic analysis of nominal expressive suffixes in Russian and Greek
The Linguistic Review, 2021
This work investigates and compares nominal expressive suffixes in Russian and Greek within the f... more This work investigates and compares nominal expressive suffixes in Russian and Greek within the framework of Distributed Morphology. It shows that, although the suffixes under investigation share the same expressive meaning, they differ significantly in their syntactic structure, namely in the manner and place of attachment in the syntactic tree. More specifically, in both languages expressive suffixes can attach either as heads or as modifiers and, furthermore, they may occupy various syntactic positions. This illustrates that, despite their uniformity at semantic level, expressive suffixes exhibit variation with respect to their syntactic structuring both within and across languages.
In this article, I provide a description and analysis of the morphemes čiɫ 'do to', ḥta &... more In this article, I provide a description and analysis of the morphemes čiɫ 'do to', ḥta 'do towards' and cḥin 'do for' in the Southern Wakashan language Nuuchahnulth (nuučaan̓uɫ). I argue that these morphemes are verbal applicatives that add a non-core argument to the thematic structure of a verb. Verbal applicatives in Nuuchahnulth are interesting to investigate because they exhibit typologically unique behaviour that has never been studied before. Applicatives are traditionally considered functional elements whose only purpose is to add an indirect object to the argument structure of the verb (Pylkkanen 2002:17). Nuuchahnulth is the only known language that productively uses independent verbs for this purpose. Nuuchahnulth is an indigenous language of Canada spoken in the province of British Columbia. It consists of 14 major dialects, most of which have never been studied. All of these dialects are now highly endangered and urgently need to be documented.
In this article, I provide a description and analysis of the morphemes čiɫ 'do to', ḥta &... more In this article, I provide a description and analysis of the morphemes čiɫ 'do to', ḥta 'do towards' and cḥin 'do for' in the Southern Wakashan language Nuuchahnulth (nuučaan̓uɫ). I argue that these morphemes are verbal applicatives that add a non-core argument to the thematic structure of a verb. Verbal applicatives in Nuuchahnulth are interesting to investigate because they exhibit typologically unique behaviour that has never been studied before. Applicatives are traditionally considered functional elements whose only purpose is to add an indirect object to the argument structure of the verb (Pylkkanen 2002:17). Nuuchahnulth is the only known language that productively uses independent verbs for this purpose. Nuuchahnulth is an indigenous language of Canada spoken in the province of British Columbia. It consists of 14 major dialects, most of which have never been studied. All of these dialects are now highly endangered and urgently need to be documented
Distribution and excretion of benadryl (beta-dimethyl-aminoethyl benzhydryl ether)
Federation proceedings, 1948
Questions and Answers in Linguistics, 2013
This article investigates diminutive affixes in four unrelated languages: Maale, Walman, Kolyma Y... more This article investigates diminutive affixes in four unrelated languages: Maale, Walman, Kolyma Yukaghir, and Itelmen, with additional discussion of German, Breton, and Yiddish. The data show variation in the syntax of diminutives. Diminutives differ cross-linguistically in the manner and place of attachment in a syntactic tree. In terms of the manner of attachment, some diminutive affixes are shown to behave as syntactic heads, while others show a behaviour characteristic of syntactic modifiers. In terms of the place of attachment, some affixes attach in the number position, while others attach above it. This article contributes to a discussion of form-function correspondence between syntactic categories (Wiltschko, in press). It shows that although diminutives across languages have the same meaning (or function), they significantly differ in their syntactic structures (or form). Thus, there is no 1:1 correspondence between form and function of diminutives in terms of the attachmen...
In this paper we explore the syntax of diminutive affixes (henceforth DIM) in three unrelated lan... more In this paper we explore the syntax of diminutive affixes (henceforth DIM) in three unrelated languages: German (Germanic), Halkomelem (Central Coast Salish), and Russian (Slavic). We wish to show that the syntax of diminutives varies across (at least) two dimensions: i) how DIM is merged: as a head or as a modifier; and ii) where DIM is merged: above or below the ‘word-level’ (in the sense of Marantz 1997). We further demonstrate that this type of variation is attested both across languages (German vs. Halkomelem) and within a single language (Russian). These findings have important implications for the syntax – semantics mapping of categorization: the same (semantic) ‘concept’ is not universally mapped onto the same syntactic category and thus we conclude there is no 1:1 correspondence between semantic and syntactic categories.
Suvremena lingvistika
Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS) steriopolo(at)leibniz-zas.de Russian evaluati... more Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS) steriopolo(at)leibniz-zas.de Russian evaluative nominalizing suffi xes and change in gender Th is is a study of Russian evaluative nominalizing suffi xes with the ability to produce a change in syntactic category and category features of the base, such as animacy, declension class, and gender. Th e majority of these suffi xes consistently form animate evaluative derivations of declension class II (-a-declension). However, when it comes to grammatical gender, there appears to be no consistency in gender of evaluative derivations. Th us, non-kinship bases are subject to change in gender and consistently produce evaluative derivations of common gender (masculine or feminine). Kinship bases, in comparison, do not change their gender at all. I propose an analysis of this phenomenon within the framework of Distributed Morphology. Th is work will be of interest to theoretical linguists, language typologists, Russian linguists and educators, as well as anybody interested in grammatical gender.
Languages
This article presents a syntactic analysis and comparison of diminutive suffixes in Russian, Koly... more This article presents a syntactic analysis and comparison of diminutive suffixes in Russian, Kolyma Yukaghir, and Itelmen, three genetically unrelated languages of the Russian Federation. Kolyma Yukaghir and Itelmen are on the verge of extinction. This article investigates how contact with Russian (specifically the syntax of Russian diminutives) has influenced the syntax of diminutives in Kolyma Yukaghir and Itlemen. Adopting the framework of Distributed Morphology, a syntactic analysis of diminutives across the three languages reveals that they share the same manner of syntactic attachment, but differ in regards to the site or place of attachment. Specifically, it is proposed that diminutives in all three languages are syntactic modifiers; however, in relation to the place of attachment, in Russian, diminutives attach below the functional category of Number, while diminutives in Kolyma Yukaghir and Itelmen attach above the Number category. This article contributes to our understanding of variation in universal grammar and linguistic outcomes of the syntactic feature 'diminutive' in a multilingual situation where a majority language is in contact with two genetically unrelated endangered languages.
Mixed gender agreement in the case of Russian hybrid nouns
Questions and Answers in Linguistics
This work presents a study of mixed gender agreement in the case of hybrid nouns in Russian. Exam... more This work presents a study of mixed gender agreement in the case of hybrid nouns in Russian. Examination of a number of approaches which seek to account for the category “gender” shows that these approaches are problematic when trying to explain mixed gender agreement in hybrid nouns. It is proposed here that the multiple-layer DP-hypothesis by Zamparelli (1995 and subsequent work) is best suited to analyze the Russian data. However, this rests on the crucial assumption that Russian demonstratives can occupy multiple positions within the DP, something that must still be verified by future work.
Gender in Ninilchik Russian: A morphosyntactic account
Folia Linguistica
This work presents a first morphosyntactic account of the category gender in Ninilchik Russian, a... more This work presents a first morphosyntactic account of the category gender in Ninilchik Russian, a highly-endangered dialect of Russian, within the framework of Distributed Morphology. Furthermore, it compares gender in Ninilchik Russian with that of Contemporary Standard Russian. I show that, unlike Standard Russian, Ninilchik nouns have no grammatical gender features on the nominal head. Masculine is the default grammatical gender. Human nouns, however, can be assigned feminine gender through the context, which is determined by the natural gender (sex) of the referent. The investigation is multi-disciplinary. The anticipated results will be of interest to theoretical linguists, language typologists, language-area specialists, and language educators. Since Ninilchik Russian is on the verge of extinction, the findings will also be relevant to the fields of education and endangered language documentation, maintenance, and revitalization.
Yearbook of the Poznan Linguistic Meeting
The paper proposes some formal and functional criteria for distinguishing between two different s... more The paper proposes some formal and functional criteria for distinguishing between two different syntactic positions of grammatical gender: determiner gender (D-gender) and nominal gender (n-gender). Focusing on D-gender and how it differs from n-gender, this work supports previous analyses of gender as a heterogeneous category that occupies different positions in the syntactic tree. Data are presented from 27 languages, many of which are either critically endangered or already extinct.1
Morphosyntax of Gender in Russian Sex-Differentiable Nouns
Journal of Slavic Linguistics
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Papers by Olga Steriopolo