Indo-European Reduplication

321 Pages·2017·1.7 MB·English

Indo-European Reduplication:
Synchrony, Diachrony, and Theory
by
Sam Zukoff
M.A.,UniversityofGeorgia(2012)
B.A.,GeorgetownUniversity(2010)
SubmittedtotheDepartmentofLinguisticsandPhilosophy
inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforthedegreeof
DoctorofPhilosophyinLinguistics
atthe
MASSACHUSETTSINSTITUTEOFTECHNOLOGY
September2017
○c SamZukoff,MMXVII.Allrightsreserved.
TheauthorherebygrantstoMITpermissiontoreproduceandtodistributepubliclypaper
andelectroniccopiesofthisthesisdocumentinwholeorinpartinanymediumnow
knownorhereaftercreated.
Author...........................................................................
DepartmentofLinguisticsandPhilosophy
September8th,2017
Certifiedby.......................................................................
DoncaSteriade
Professor
ThesisSupervisor
Acceptedby......................................................................
DavidPesetsky
Head,DepartmentofLinguisticsandPhilosophy

Indo-EuropeanReduplication:
Synchrony,Diachrony,andTheory
by
SamZukoff
SubmittedtotheDepartmentofLinguisticsandPhilosophy
onSeptember8th,2017,inpartialfulfillmentofthe
requirementsforthedegreeof
DoctorofPhilosophyinLinguistics
Abstract
ThereduplicativesystemsoftheancientIndo-Europeanlanguagesarecharacterizedbyanunusual
alternation in the shape of the reduplicant. The related languages Ancient Greek, Gothic, and
Sanskrit share the property that root-initial consonant clusters exhibit different reduplicant shapes,
dependingontheirfeaturalcomposition.Moreover,eventhoughthecorefeaturaldistinctionlargely
overlaps across the languages, the actual patterns which instantiate that distinction are themselves
distinctacrossthelanguages.Forrootsbeginninginstop-sonorantclusters(TRVX–roots),eachof
these languages agrees in displaying a prefixal CV reduplicant, where the consonant corresponds
to the root-initial stop: TV-TRVX–. These three languages likewise agree that roots beginning in
sibilant-stop clusters (STVX–roots) show some pattern other than the one exhibited by TRVX–
roots.However,eachofthethreelanguagesexhibitsadistinctalternativepattern:V-STVX–inthe
caseofAncientGreek,STV-STVX–inthecaseofGothic,TV-STVX–inthecaseofSanskrit.
This dissertation provides an integrated synchronic and diachronic theoretical account of the
morphophonological properties of verbal reduplication in the ancient Indo-European languages,
withitscentralfocusbeingtoexplainthiscorealternationbetweenTRVX–rootsandSTVX–roots.
Set within Base-Reduplicant Correspondence Theory, a framework for analyzing reduplication
in Optimality Theory, the comprehensive synchronic analyses constructed in service of under-
standing this distinction and other interrelated distinctions allow us to probe complex theoretical
questions regarding the constraints and constraint interactions involved in the determination of
reduplicantshape.
Thisdissertationseeksnotonlytodevelopindepth,consistentaccountsofboththeproductive
andmarginal/archaicmorphophonologicalaspectsofreduplicationintheIndo-Europeanlanguages,
itaimstounderstandtheoriginsofthesepatterns—fromahistoricalandcomparativeperspective,
andfromtheperspectiveofmorphophonologicallearningandgrammarchange—andattemptsto
motivate the conditions for the onset, development, and retention of the changes that result in the
systemsobservedintheattestedlanguages.Assuch,theseanalysesconstituteavaluablesetofcase
studiesoncomplexsystemicchangeinphonologicalgrammars.
ThesisSupervisor:DoncaSteriade
Title:Professor
3

Toperseverance,andtoeveryonewhohelpedmealongtheway.
5
Acknowledgments
Theysaythatthedissertationisnottheend,it’sjustthebeginning.Well,whateverthisis,itbegan
well before I ever conceived of writing a dissertation. This whole giant mess emerged out of a
phonologyassignmentsophomoreyearofcollegeatGeorgetown.InJimGruber’sphonologyclass,
wehadtocomeupwithourownproblemset.IhappenedtobetakingmyfirstsemesterofAncient
Greek at the time, and I had noticed that this whole reduplication thing was kind of weird. So I
used that for my problem set, which I eventually decided to turn into my senior thesis (and no,
I’mnotgoingtoletanyoneseeit),whichmorphedintomyclasspaperforAnyaLunden’sgraduate
phonologyclassatUGA,whichmorphedintomyUGAMaster’sthesis(whichImightletyouseeif
youasknicely),whichpromptedmyindependentstudywithDoncaSteriadeatMIT,whichIturned
into my first conference presentation at WECIEC, for which I wrote my first proceedings paper,
whichturnedintomyfirstjournalarticleatLI,whichformsthebasisforthefirstcontentchapterof
thisdissertation,whichisentirelyanextensionoftheideascontainedtherein.Somanypeoplehave
helpedmegetfromtheretohere,andeventogetthereinthefirstplace.Ican’tpossiblythankthem
allhere,letalonethankthemproperly.Buthere’smybestattempt.
First I have to thank my committee, who have all been extremely supportive throughout the
dissertationprocess,andthroughmywholetimeatMIT.
ToDoncaSteriade,agreatadvisorandmygreatestchampion.WhenIfirstarrivedoncampus
formyacceptedstudentvisit,Isteppedofftheelevatorandsawthedepartmentandsaidtomyself
“Wow, this is different, and awesome!”. Then the very first thing I did was meet with Donca, and
I had the very same reaction. I made the department wine me and dine me for the rest of the open
house, but I knew at that moment that I was going to MIT. Thank you, Donca, for always being
willingtoreadandcommentoneverythingIeverwrote,nomatterhowbadashapeitwasin.Andfor
always being open to my ideas, even (and especially) when you adamantly disagreed with them.
For giving me the chance to argue for my ideas, and for be willing to be convinced when I did a
good job at doing so. I can think of no greater compliment than, when after my second generals
defense,youcametomeandsaid“Thisisthesecondtimeyoucametomewithsomethingcrazy...
anditturnedouttobetrue!”.TherearesomanydifferentpossibilitiesthatIcanonlyguessabout
whichwasthefirsttimeshehadinmind.
ToAdamAlbright,foralwayshavingthemostpositiveandconstructivefeedback.Ican’tcount
thenumberoftimesIwentintoameetingwithyoufeelingreallyanxiousanduncertainabouthow
toproceedonaprojectandwhetherIwouldeverbeabletomakeanyheadwayonit,andcameout
withagameplanthatIwasconfidentaboutandbelievingthatIcoulddoit.Andfor,likeclockwork,
alwaysaskingthequestion“Buthowwouldyoulearnthis?”.
AndtoEdwardFlemming,forneverbeingsatisfiedwithanythinglessthantheabsoluteclearest
and strongest reasoning. I came out of every meeting with you with a clearer understanding of my
ownthoughts,andofthebiggerpicture.
And thank you to all the rest of the faculty and staff at MIT Linguistics, as well, especially
David Pesetsky and Michael Kenstowicz. There were multiple times when you all went above and
beyondtohelpmethroughdifficulttimes,andyourkindnessandsupportmadeahugedifference.
I’ve also been extremely lucky to have support from giants of the field who weren’t on my
committee. There was no greater validation than when Craig Melchert read my Anatolian chapter
and gave it the thumbs up. Thank you, Craig, for suggesting that I look into Anatolian in the first
place,forbeingwillingtoreadandcommentonmychapter(andfordoingsosoquickly),andfor,
as always, providing the most helpful feedback. Though I didn’t take full advantage of it, having
JayJasanoffdownthestreethasbeenanamazingresourceforme.Thankyou,Jay,forbewillingto
6
meetwithmeanytimeIasked,andformeindulgingmeinmyideasevenwhentheywerecounter
toyourown.YourfeedbackontheGermanicchapterwasunbelievablyhelpful.Thankyoutoboth
of you for allowing me to be an honorary member of UCLA Indo-European Studies and Harvard
Linguistics,respectively.
As I said before, this work got started long before I ever thought I had a chance of coming
toMIT(orwouldevenwantto).There’snochanceIwouldhavemadeithereifnotformyamazing
Master’sadvisorsatUGA:JaredKleinandAnyaLunden.EverythingIknowaboutIndo-European
IknowbecauseofJaredKlein.JaredtookmeinatUGAwhenitlookedlikeIhadnootheroptions.
Without his generous support and his guidance, I never would have reached this point. And thank
you to Anya, for giving me my first real taste of theoretical phonology, and getting me hooked.
Mostofmyaestheticpreferencesinphonologycanbetracedbacktowhatyoutaughtme.
IneverwouldhavebeeninapositiontosucceedatUGAwithoutthegreateducationIreceived
atGeorgetown.ThankyoutoShaligramShukla,AlexSens,LisaZsiga,PatriciaSlaton,JimGruber,
and many others. And I never would have been in position to succeed at Georgetown without
the amazing support and guidance I received at Summit High School. Thank you to Mr. Thayer,
Mrs.Solondz,andDr.Schnedeker—Ireallywouldn’thavemadeitthroughthattimewithoutyou.
Ihavebeenextremelyluckytoworkonvariousaspectsofthisprojectwithsomeamazingco-
authors,whohappentobesomeofmybestfriends.Thefactthatthere’sachapterinthisdissertation
about Anatolian is completely due to Tony Yates. Without Tony, I never would have been able to
make heads or tails out of that data, and so many of the detailed arguments from the historical
phonology of those languages are due totally to him (except whichever ones might ultimately be
judgednottowork,whichwereallmyideas).I’veknownTonysinceJaredKleindesignatedhimas
thepersontoshowmearoundonmyvisittoUGA.GettingtomakeourtriumphantreturntoAthens
to present this together at ECIEC couldn’t have been more perfect. And thank you for making
UCLA,andLAingeneral,likeasecondhomeformetheselast6years.YouandSamalwaysmade
me feel so at home and were always happy to let me overstay my welcome. I wouldn’t trade all
thosebreweryvisits,tripstothebeachinSantaMonica,andoverallgreatcompany,foranything.
The basis for the Germanic chapter came about when Ryan Sandell and I realized we were
accidentally working on pretty much the same idea at the same time. We decided to join forces,
andthatcouldn’thaveworkedoutanybetter.Ryanhasbeenperhapsthemostenthusiasticadopter
of my ideas, and those ideas would never have reached the level where they are now without the
benefit of his work and his insights. And thank you, Ryan, for your amazing feedback on drafts of
severalchapter,whichwereimmeasurablyimprovedfromyoursuggestions.
Theworkon*PCRimmenselybenefitedfromjointexperimentalworkwithBenjaminStorme.
While the vicissitudes of dissertation writing prevented much of it from actually making it in,
Ben’s expert experimental acumen helped me conceptualize the problem in different and more
precise ways. I look forward to continuing to work on this with you in the future. And thank you
foryoursandLiz’sfriendshipoverthistimeatMIT.Gettingtospendaweekhavingyoushowme
around France, and getting to return the favor and show you around New Jersey and New York,
aresomeofmyfondestexperiencesingradschool.
Whilewedidn’tworkonthisprojecttogether,mycollaborationwithJulietStantonhascertainly
mademeabetterphonologist.Juliethasconstantlysetthebarformeforhowhardyoushouldwork
and how rigorous your work should be. Thank you, Juliet, for always being there to talk about
phonology(especiallytowhisperbackandforthduringtalks)andalwaysbeinginterestedinwhatI
hadtosay.
Thank you also to Tyler Lau. Tyler helped me run down a potentially relevant pattern in the
Ryukyuan languages. I ultimately had to leave it out of the dissertation, but I really appreciate
yourhelp.
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I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun as I have with my friends from MIT. Thank you to
TedLevinandCoppevanUrkforalwaysbeingwillingtoballoutofcontrol,or,whencircumstances
dictated, to ball on a budget. Thank you to Ruth Brillman and Chris Davis for being the most
supportive friends you could ever ask for, always inviting me over for a gourmet meal at the drop
of a hat, and dropping everything to go grab a beer whenever I needed to talk. Michelle Yuan,
AthulyaAravind,andCarrieSpadineinsistedthattheydeservedspecialmentiontoo.They’reright.
Thanksalsoto(inchronologicalorder)SamSteddy,GretchenKern,AronHirsch,AnthonyBrohan,
Chris O’Brien, Kenyon Branan, Ezer Rasin, Justin Colley, Colin Davis, Chris Baron, and all the
otheramazingfriendsI’vehadthehonorofsharingthedepartmentwith(andtoNicoleTorres,who,
at this point, is basically an honorary member of the department). Thanks to my linguist friends
from near and far: Nico Baier, Laura Grestenberger, Jesse Lundquist, Chiara Bozzone, Andrew
Bird,JessDeLisi, CaleySmith,HemangaDutta,andtoo manyotherstocount. Andthanksalsoto
my great friends from back in Summit, New Jersey: Dan Rufolo, David Richards, Scott Leighton,
justtonameafew.ThankyoualsotomyBostonareacousins:SteveZukoff,AdamandBethBadik,
KennyWestermanandBrianWesterman.
Aboveall,however,Icouldnothavemadeittothispointwithouttheunwaveringandunparal-
leledloveandsupportfrommyfamily.Tomyparents,MimiandPaulZukoff,wordscan’tdescribe
how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me, and everything you continue to do for me.
Ineverwouldhavemadeitthroughallthetoughtimeswithoutyouinmycorner.Thankyoutomy
grandmotherIrenePreiserandmylategrandfatherAaronPreiser.Youwerealwaystheretosupport
me and facilitate my success. You know that I am who I am because I take after you. Thank you
tomygrandmotherEllaZukoff,mygrandfatherMartyZukoff,andmyuncleEdZukoff.Nogrand-
parents have ever shown their grandson as much love as you have always showed me. And thank
youtomylatebrotherBenZukoff.Youhavealwaysbeenaninspirationtome,whileyouwereand
everydaysince.
The incomparable Ted Levin once imparted us with the following wisdom: “You can sweat
the petty stuff, but don’t pet the sweaty stuff.” On this point I can quibble with only one thing:
youshouldn’tsweatthepettystuffeither.Toanyonewho’sstillreadingatthispoint,Imuststrongly
recommendyoustopnow—it’salldownhillfromhere.Butifyouinsist,hereitis.
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Contents
1 Introduction 15
1.1 OverviewoftheDissertation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.2 StructureoftheDissertation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.2.1 AncientGreek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.2.2 Anatolian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.2.3 Gothic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2.4 Sanskrit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2.5 The NO POORLY-CUED REPETITIONSConstraint(*PCR) . . . . . . . . . 19
1.2.6 ReconstructingProto-Indo-EuropeanReduplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.3 AnalysisofReduplicantShapeinIndo-European . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3.1 Across-the-boardBehavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3.1.1 Across-the-boardCluster-copying:Hittite . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3.1.2 Across-the-boardC -copying:OldIrish(andelsewhere) . . . . . 24
1
1.3.1.3 Across-the-boardC -copying:Unattested . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2
1.3.2 Cluster-DependentCopyingPatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.3.2.1 TRVX–C -copying,STVX–Cluster-copying:Gothic . . . . . . 26
1
1.3.2.2 TRVX–C -copying,STVX–C -copying:Sanskrit . . . . . . . . 27
1 2
1.3.2.3 TRVX–C -copying,STVX–Non-copying:AncientGreek . . . 29
1
1.3.3 FactorialTypology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2 Greek 33
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.1.1 APreviewoftheData . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.1.2 OutlineoftheChapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2 ReduplicationinAncientGreek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.1 Consonant-InitialRoots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.1.1 DataandGeneralizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.1.2 The Analysis of Reduplication in Base-Reduplicant Correspon-
denceTheory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.2.1.3 PerfectReduplication:OneMorphemeorTwo? . . . . . . . . . 39
2.2.1.4 TheC -CopyingPattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1
2.2.1.5 TheNon-CopyingPattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.2.1.6 LocalSummary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.2.2 Vowel-InitialRoots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.2.2.1 Vowel-LengtheningPerfects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.2.2.2 AtticReduplicationinAncientGreek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
9
2.2.3 REDUP(RED)lex,ReduplicatedPresents,andtheirAssociatedPerfects . . . 50
2.2.3.1 TheReduplicatedPresents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.2.3.2 ReduplicatedPresentsandPre-Greek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.2.3.3 Generating the Unexpected C -Copying Presents and Perfects
1
with REDUP(RED)lex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.2.4 InterimSummary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.3 AtticReduplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.3.1 AtticReduplicationandtheLaryngeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.3.2 PreviousApproaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.3.3 VowelProthesisandLaryngealVocalizationinGreek . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.3.4 Generating(Pre-)AtticReduplicationinPre-Greek . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.3.4.1 MotivatingthePattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.3.4.2 TheAlternativePattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.3.5 AtticReduplicationfor*HeCroots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.3.6 InterimConclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.4 TheDiachronyofAtticReduplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.4.1 CompositionalityinGreekReduplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.2 TheDiachronyofLaryngealLossandtheReflexesofthePerfect . . . . . 67
2.4.3 InconsistencyDetectionandConstraintCloningforAtticReduplication . . 69
2.4.4 DerivingtheBehaviorof REDUP(RED)lex AftertheRiseof*PCR . . . . . 73
2.4.5 LocalSummaryandDiscussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.5 AtticReduplicatedPresentsandAorists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.5.1 AtticReduplicatedPresents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.5.2 AtticReduplicatedAorists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.5.3 Consonant-initialReduplicatedAorists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
2.5.4 LocalSummary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.7 Appendix:AtticReduplicationPerfects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3 Anatolian 85
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2 HittiteOrthography,Epenthesis,andClusterPhonotactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.3 HittiteandLuwianReduplicationData . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.3.1 CVX–Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.3.2 VCX–Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.3.3 TRVX–Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.3.4 STVX–Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.4 SynchronicAnalysisofHittiteCopyingPatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.4.1 CVX–BasesinHittite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.4.2 TRVX–BasesinHittite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.4.3 STVX–BasesinHittite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.4.4 VCX–BasesinHittite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.4.5 HittiteSummary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.5 SynchronicAnalysisofLuwianCopyingPatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.5.1 TRVX–BasesinLuwian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.5.2 VCX–BasesinLuwian,andtheRankingof*PCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
10