{"title":"有没有一种极端突出的语言?Dagaare语言系统的类型学研究","authors":"Isaac N. Mwinlaaru","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103988","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To date, the three-tier typology of verbal systems into tense-prominent, aspect-prominent and mood-prominent proposed by Shankara Bhat at the end of the twentieth century seems to have stuck. The present study reveals a novel type of prominence in Dagaare (Niger-Congo: Mabia/Gur), namely polarity prominence. The study shows that distinctions in <span>tense</span>, <span>mood</span> and <span>modality</span> are cast in terms of <span>polarity</span>. First, the tense category of <span>futurity</span> makes positive and negative distinctions in both future and non-future. Second, indicative and imperative moods are essentially distinguished by polarity markers unique to each mood, and the sub-types of each mood are shades of polarity. This polarity-based mood distinction extends beyond the verbal domain to the domain of clause final particles and focus marking, establishing polarity concord between items of the verbal group and periphery elements of the clause. In addition, the interaction between <span>polarity</span> and <span>modality</span> enacts a cline of polarity from full positivity to full negation with a median modality in the mid region. The study also demonstrates that, although Dagaare verb morphology encodes perfective/imperfective aspectual distinction, <span>aspect</span> is not a competing candidate for prominence in the language. The study reveals that a robust empirical framework of prominence needs to go beyond verbal inflection and as well incorporate finiteness into the criteria of prominence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"324 ","pages":"Article 103988"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Is there a polarity-prominent language? A typological perspective on Dagaare verbal systems\",\"authors\":\"Isaac N. Mwinlaaru\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103988\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><div>To date, the three-tier typology of verbal systems into tense-prominent, aspect-prominent and mood-prominent proposed by Shankara Bhat at the end of the twentieth century seems to have stuck. The present study reveals a novel type of prominence in Dagaare (Niger-Congo: Mabia/Gur), namely polarity prominence. The study shows that distinctions in <span>tense</span>, <span>mood</span> and <span>modality</span> are cast in terms of <span>polarity</span>. First, the tense category of <span>futurity</span> makes positive and negative distinctions in both future and non-future. Second, indicative and imperative moods are essentially distinguished by polarity markers unique to each mood, and the sub-types of each mood are shades of polarity. This polarity-based mood distinction extends beyond the verbal domain to the domain of clause final particles and focus marking, establishing polarity concord between items of the verbal group and periphery elements of the clause. In addition, the interaction between <span>polarity</span> and <span>modality</span> enacts a cline of polarity from full positivity to full negation with a median modality in the mid region. The study also demonstrates that, although Dagaare verb morphology encodes perfective/imperfective aspectual distinction, <span>aspect</span> is not a competing candidate for prominence in the language. The study reveals that a robust empirical framework of prominence needs to go beyond verbal inflection and as well incorporate finiteness into the criteria of prominence.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":47955,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Lingua\",\"volume\":\"324 \",\"pages\":\"Article 103988\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.1000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-06-24\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Lingua\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"98\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024384125001135\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"文学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Lingua","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024384125001135","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
Is there a polarity-prominent language? A typological perspective on Dagaare verbal systems
To date, the three-tier typology of verbal systems into tense-prominent, aspect-prominent and mood-prominent proposed by Shankara Bhat at the end of the twentieth century seems to have stuck. The present study reveals a novel type of prominence in Dagaare (Niger-Congo: Mabia/Gur), namely polarity prominence. The study shows that distinctions in tense, mood and modality are cast in terms of polarity. First, the tense category of futurity makes positive and negative distinctions in both future and non-future. Second, indicative and imperative moods are essentially distinguished by polarity markers unique to each mood, and the sub-types of each mood are shades of polarity. This polarity-based mood distinction extends beyond the verbal domain to the domain of clause final particles and focus marking, establishing polarity concord between items of the verbal group and periphery elements of the clause. In addition, the interaction between polarity and modality enacts a cline of polarity from full positivity to full negation with a median modality in the mid region. The study also demonstrates that, although Dagaare verb morphology encodes perfective/imperfective aspectual distinction, aspect is not a competing candidate for prominence in the language. The study reveals that a robust empirical framework of prominence needs to go beyond verbal inflection and as well incorporate finiteness into the criteria of prominence.
期刊介绍:
Lingua publishes papers of any length, if justified, as well as review articles surveying developments in the various fields of linguistics, and occasional discussions. A considerable number of pages in each issue are devoted to critical book reviews. Lingua also publishes Lingua Franca articles consisting of provocative exchanges expressing strong opinions on central topics in linguistics; The Decade In articles which are educational articles offering the nonspecialist linguist an overview of a given area of study; and Taking up the Gauntlet special issues composed of a set number of papers examining one set of data and exploring whose theory offers the most insight with a minimal set of assumptions and a maximum of arguments.