Diachronica journal
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Diachronica journal
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Método comparativo para la determinación de préstamos de lenguas indígenas no habladas en el español benjamins.com/catalog/dia....
Método comparativo para la determinación de préstamos de lenguas indígenas no habladas en el español El caso de los cognados en el muysca ORCID logoDiana Andrea Giraldo Gallego | Universidad de Antioquia El muysca pertenece a la familia lingüística chibcha y aunque se clasifica como una lengua no hablada, préstamos léxicos con su origen sobreviven en el español de Colombia. Aquí se muestran algunos de estos que se identificaron como tales al implementar el método comparativo. Los préstamos determinados bajo este método se tomaron de Giraldo Gallego (2015). Se concluye que (a) el método comparativo es útil para determinar préstamos de lenguas indígenas no habladas en el español, como ocurre con el muysca; (b) la comparación con lenguas no habladas favorece la propuesta de cognados de lenguas habladas, como acontece con el tunebo; (c) la propuesta de cognados permite la identificación de rasgos fonéticos-fonológicos, como en el caso de un posible segmento lateral alveolar aproximante para el muysca (Giraldo Gallego 2016a); y, además, (d) ayuda en la reconstrucción de étimos en una protolengua como se evidencia con el protochibcha. Keywords: cognado, familia lingüística chibcha, muysca, préstamo léxico, protochibcha
August 23, 2025 at 12:55 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
A long farewell benjamins.com/catalog/dia....
A long farewell What the loss of V2 made briefly visible ORCID logoCecilia Poletto | Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main | Università degli studi di Padova ORCID logoPierre Larrivée | Université de Caen Normandie ORCID logoFrancesco Pinzin | Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main ORCID logoMathieu Goux | Université de Caen Normandie The verb second word order (V2) is known to have been present in some Medieval Romance languages, and to have been lost. The loss is however a gradual process that we propose to relate to the decreasing height of the verb movement in the left periphery through the Medieval period: whereas in the initial period the verb could move to a high position (CP Topic/Focus projection), in the final period only lower peripheral positions are accessible. This means that the ongoing change will make visible constructions involving verb movement to a lower position. Such constructions are studied here in parallel texts calibrated for provenance and text type from two Romance languages for the period from the beginning of the 14th century to the 16th century. More specifically, we investigate Participle and Infinitive Fronting in French and Venetian, showing that these structures involve low movement and correlate with a V2 of the low type. Keywords: verb second, language change, fronting, Medieval Romance, French,
August 23, 2025 at 12:54 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
Emergence and evolution of free variation in Central Pame prefixes benjamins.com/catalog/dia....
Emergence and evolution of free variation in Central Pame prefixes Sound change vs. paradigmatic structure ORCID logoBorja Herce | University of Zurich Many word forms from different classes in Central Pame (cent2145, Otomanguean) allow two synonymous forms, one containing a prefix with the vowel /a/ and another one with /u/ (e.g. wa-ttsáuʔ~wu-ttsáuʔ ‘(s)he feels’). I conduct historical corpus research and elicitation to throw light on the diachronic origin and contemporary profile of this unusual phenomenon. Evidence suggests that it started as a sound change /a/ > /u/ between bilabial consonants. However, paradigmatic pressures have largely dismantled the original distribution of allomorphy synchronically, generalizing free variation (i.e. overabundance). In addition, other phonological and morphosyntactic cues have emerged for the probabilistic prediction of these allomorphies. The case provides an extraordinary window into the cognitive underpinnings of sound change, allomorphy, and the paradigm in a highly-inflecting and understudied language. Keywords: paradigm, sound change, overabundance, analogy, Otomanguean, Central Pame
August 23, 2025 at 12:53 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
Towards reconstructing grammatical tone in the northwestern Bantu verb phrase benjamins.com/catalog/dia....
In this paper, I provide a first systematic analysis of grammatical tone (GT) in the verb phrase of northwestern (NW) Bantu languages. Based on a sample of twelve languages, I show that GT on preverbal subject agreement, tense, aspect, mood, and polarity markers, on the verb stem, and tonal phrase-medial/phrase-final verb distinctions are inherited features. In contrast, GT on elements immediately following the verb is an innovation in some genealogical subgroups of NW Bantu. In Proto-NW-Bantu, GT generally co-occurred with segmental morphemes. This “co-exponence” type is retained in the Proto-B clade of NW Bantu, while languages of Proto-A innovated more exponence types, namely tone-only and segment-only exponents, synchronically exhibiting all three exponence types in individual languages.
August 23, 2025 at 12:52 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New article in the tone special issue
#linguistics
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Accent and tone
The double origin of the Paicî prosodic system
Florian Lionnet | Princeton University
Accent and tone The double origin of the Paicî prosodic system ORCID logoFlorian Lionnet | Princeton University What happens when an accentual language develops a tonal contrast from laryngeal features: is the accent system kept alongside the new tone contrast? Is it lost? Do both prosodic systems merge? In this paper, I present the tone system of Paicî, which illustrates the latter outcome. Paicî seems to possess two integrated prosodic subsystems: a purely tonal H vs. L contrast, and a typologically unusual downstep with accentual properties. Building on Rivierre (1978), I show that a comparison with neighboring Xârâcùù, where accent is marked by a similar downstep, explains this apparently mixed system: the H/L tonal contrast emerged through tonogenesis in an already accentual language, where accent was marked by a downstep just like in Xârâcùù. This caused the former downstep to be reinterpreted as tonal. The Paicî case is interesting for the study of the interactions between accent and tone, both in synchrony and in diachrony. Keywords: tone, accent, downstep, Paicî, Xârâcùù, Oceanic, New Caledonia
August 1, 2025 at 1:58 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New article in our tone special issue
#linguistics
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Tonogenesis
A diachronic typology
Lilja Maria Sæbø | Oxford University
Eitan Grossman | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Steven Moran | University of Neuchâtel | University of Zurich
Tonogenesis A diachronic typology ORCID logoLilja Maria Sæbø | Oxford University ORCID logoEitan Grossman | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ORCID logoSteven Moran | University of Neuchâtel | University of Zurich This article presents the Database of Tonogenetic Events (DTE), which describes 259 tonogenetic events from 104 genealogically and geographically diverse language varieties. The DTE allows us to identify the main types of reported tonogenesis triggering contexts, the types of resultant tones, and their effects on pitch. We illustrate the usefulness of the database with case studies addressing (i) the frequency of different types of tonogenesis, (ii) the diachronic pathways linking phonological triggering context and resultant tone, and (iii) areal trends. We also discuss the shortcomings of the database with respect to the diachronic typological study of tone. Keywords: tonogenesis, typology, tone, historical linguistics
August 1, 2025 at 1:57 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New #linguistics article!
Late Malayo-Polynesian
A new model of Austronesian linguistic relations
Alexander D. Smith | Fudan University
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Keywords: Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian, subgrouping, linkages, language contact
Late Malayo-Polynesian A new model of Austronesian linguistic relations ORCID logoAlexander D. Smith | Fudan University Models of higher-order Austronesian linguistic relations have traditionally involved the grouping of languages into large higher-order subgroups. In the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup, that tradition has led to the creation of subgroups covering great geographical distances all modeled as descending directly from the Malayo-Polynesian node. This research argues that the evidence for those large subgroups does not stand under scrutiny. Rather, the distribution of innovations throughout the Malayo-Polynesian region suggests that those innovations spread within a large network of dialects. That network, here dubbed the “Late-Malayo-Polynesian” network, replaces discrete higher-level nodes in the classical model of Austronesian linguistic relations. Keywords: Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian, subgrouping, linkages, language contact
July 31, 2025 at 9:45 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New paper! #linguistics

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Learning to be (un)hip in panel data
Exploring quotative be like across the adult life‑span
Anne-Marie Moelders, Isabelle Buchstaller | Sociolinguistics Lab, University of Duisburg-Essen
Learning to be (un)hip in panel data Exploring quotative be like across the adult life‑span ORCID logoAnne-Marie Moelders | Sociolinguistics Lab, University of Duisburg-Essen ORCID logoIsabelle Buchstaller | Sociolinguistics Lab, University of Duisburg-Essen The quotative system is a highly dynamic domain characterised by competing traditional variants (say, think) and newcomers (be all, be like) (Buchstaller 2013). Trend and apparent time studies have focused on be like, describing its expansion across the English-speaking world and reporting incrementation amongst the younger age-brackets (D’Arcy & Tagliamonte 2003; Gardner et al. 2021). “Information on speakers’ loyalty to be like across their lifespan is conflicting”, however (Buchstaller 2015: 460). We report on a dynamic panel corpus to assess malleability in the quotative system across the adult lifespan. Our findings suggest that the grammar underlying be like remains largely stable across the lifespan. And while most socio-demographic factors do not significantly influence speakers’ quotative choices, we seem to witness the development of socially niched retrenchment in the middle age brackets, turning one of the most vibrant changes in the English language into a gender-differentiated and age-graded pattern. Keywords: quotation, language change across the lifespan, panel research
July 23, 2025 at 2:19 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New paper! #linguistics

Tonogenesis in the Naduhup family of northwest Amazonia
Mark Simmons | University of California San Diego
Patience Epps | University of Texas at Austin
Tonogenesis in the Naduhup family of northwest Amazonia ORCID logoMark Simmons | University of California San Diego ORCID logoPatience Epps | University of Texas at Austin While tone is widely encountered among Amazonian languages, Amazonia has generally been underrepresented in wider studies of tone and tonal diachrony. This paper offers a case study of tonogenesis within the small Naduhup language family of western Amazonia. We propose that Naduhup tonogenesis was grounded in a prior contrast involving vowel length and was linked to coda voicing. Contact with neighboring languages in which tone was already present was also a likely catalyst. In addition to contributing to our understanding of tonogenesis in a part of the world where these processes are not well known, the Naduhup case provides an illustration of how vowel length, coda voicing, and intonation may all play a role in the emergence of tone.
July 23, 2025 at 2:16 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New paper!
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Tracing the development of the perfect alternation in Early Modern English
Marianne Hundt | University of Zürich
Yoko Iyeiri | Kyoto University
Tracing the development of the perfect alternation in Early Modern English Marianne Hundt | University of Zürich Yoko Iyeiri | Kyoto University On the basis of just under 5,050 examples of perfect constructions, this paper traces the development of the be:have perfect alternation in English between the 1620s and 1750s. For a core group of 18 verbs, the study investigates the role that language-internal and language-external predictor variables played in the choice of auxiliary. Multifactorial modelling reveals that language-internal factors such as modality, negation, clause-type and tense are among the most important predictors favouring the choice of have as auxiliary; there is also some indication of diachronic, lexical and idiosyncratic variation within Early Modern English. A close investigation of perfects that combine both auxiliaries strengthens the view that ambiguity-avoidance did not play a major role in the loss of the be-perfect. The results of the multifactorial model suggest greater independence of negation and counterfactuality as factors than previously claimed. The study thus contributes a novel perspective on the demise of the be-perfect, with paradigmatic variability taking centre stage. Keywords: be:have perfect alternation, generalised linear mixed model, syntactic loss, paradigmatic variability, lexical and individual variation, Early Modern English
March 20, 2025 at 12:45 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New paper! benjamins.com/catalog/dia....
Paradigmatic complexity metrics as signals of phylogenetic relatedness
A proof of concept in Romance and Pamean diachrony
Borja Herce | University of Zurich
Balthasar Bickel | University of Zurich
Paradigmatic complexity metrics as signals of phylogenetic relatedness A proof of concept in Romance and Pamean diachrony Borja Herce | University of Zurich Balthasar Bickel | University of Zurich Morphological complexity metrics like entropy, and notions like the Paradigm Cell-Filling Problem, have recently (re)gained popularity for the synchronic analysis of inflectional systems. The potential of these quantitative approaches for diachronic research, however, remains largely untapped. This paper constitutes a first exploration of whether and, if so, how these methods can be used profitably in this domain. We first use Romance, for which we have rich historical knowledge, to establish the diagnostic value of complexity metrics for phylogenetic relatedness under a best-case scenario. We then apply these methods to Pamean (Otomanguean, Mexico) to show that the same metrics help diagnose the phylogenetic relatedness of tenses and inflection classes even when, as is the case in this family, most of the morphological material has been replaced or altered beyond recognition. Results suggest that complexity metrics can successfully diagnose phylogenetic relatedness over extended periods of time and fruitfully complement traditional qualitative approaches. Keywords: paradigm structure, complexity metrics, diachrony, relatedness, cognacy
March 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New Open Access Paper is out!
#linguistics #histling #creoles
Consonant stability in Portuguese-based creoles
Author(s): Carlos Silva1 and Steven Moran2,3,4ORCID icon
DOI: doi.org/10.1075/dia....

Keywords

Portuguese-based creoles, language contact, consonant stability
Consonant stability in Portuguese-based creoles Author(s): Carlos Silva1 and Steven Moran2,3,4ORCID icon View Affiliations Source: Diachronica Available online: 30 January 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.23006.sil
January 31, 2025 at 10:38 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
Some problems involving Proto-Mǐn onsets and new Old Chinese
Jonathan Smith | Christopher Newport University

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#linguistics #langsky
The Mǐn languages are crucial for the study of early Chinese, and Baxter and Sagart’s (2014) new Old Chinese system aims to prioritize Jerry Norman’s Proto-Mǐn of the 1970s. This report describes three key problems relating to the reconstruction of Proto-Mǐn syllable onsets, observing that, in relation to each problem, Baxter and Sagart’s new Old Chinese system is affected by serious errors with respect to data and methodology. Keywords: Mǐn languages, Proto-Mǐn, Old Chinese, complex onsets, Chinese historical linguistics
December 20, 2024 at 1:54 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
A diachronic account of Present Day Standard Danish stop gradation: Phonological reorganization through prosodically conditioned chain shifts & mergers
Rasmus Puggaard-Rode (LMU Munich) Henrik Jørgensen (Aarhus) Camilla Søballe Horslund (Aalborg)
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In certain contexts, Present Day Standard Danish displays an unusual pattern of alternations between voiceless stops and semivowels often referred to as stop gradation. Stop gradation is traditionally considered a synchronic phonological process, but evidence for this analysis is based almost exclusively on non-productive morphology. Here, we argue that the structural generalization captured by a synchronic analysis is better accounted for with reference to the history of Danish, and to well-understood constraints on articulation and perception which led to prosodically conditioned chain shifts and mergers through gradual, continuous changes in the realization of consonant allophones. Inspired by the change-chance-choice model of sound change in Evolutionary Phonology, we outline the historical trajectory that led to the synchronic stop gradation patterns, and the well-known phonetic pressures underlying them; these pressures pulled the allophone distributions of stops in different prosodic contexts in very different directions. Keywords: Danish, North Germanic, sound change, lenition, obstruent voicing, laryngeal contrast, Evolutionary Phonology, merger, chain shift
December 20, 2024 at 1:53 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
Mutual predictiveness of sound correspondences for reconstruction and language subgrouping
The case of Gyalrongic preinitials
Yunfan Lai (Nanyang Technological University | Trinity College Dublin)
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#linguistics #langsky
This paper uses Gyalrongic languages, a conservative branch of Sino-Tibetan, to illustrate a new method to evaluate proto-language reconstructions in general historical linguistics and to conduct exploratory analyses in language phylogeny. It first reconstructs a proto-system of Gyalrongic preinitials and computes and compares the implicative entropies between reconstructed and modern systems. In a second step, Mutual Implicative Entropy (MIE) is used to measure genetic distances between related languages and to generate Neighbornet networks to visualize the subgrouping of Gyalrongic languages. The resulting networks are in agreement with qualitative historical linguistic analyses and allow adjustments to previous subgroupings obtained by Bayesian phylogenetic inference. Thus, this method can be used to detect nuances in lower sub-branches, which are sometimes neglected by lexicon-based methods. Using MIE in historical linguistics is therefore a quick and efficient means of checking the effectiveness of reconstructions and establishing the accurate preliminary shape of language subgrouping. Keywords: Sino-Tibetan, Gyalrongic languages, Tangut, Khroskyabs, (Mutual) Implicative Entropy, Neighbornet, historical linguistics
December 20, 2024 at 1:51 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
Evaluation between grammar and context: The case of blessings and curses
Nina Dobrushina 
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(text of abstract in alt text)
This paper analyzes how the grammatical meaning of qualitative evaluation is developed in optatives which denote blessings and curses. Based on the analysis of several Turkic forms and several Russian constructions, this study distinguishes the grammatical meaning of evaluation from a pragmatic implication arising in particular contexts. It shows that grammatical items that have evaluative usages often exhibit a certain “fluidity”, with positive or negative interpretation specified by the context. Positive or negative evaluation comes as a pragmatic satellite, and even if the category generally leans towards a negative (or positive) interpretation, it can in certain contexts display the opposite evaluation. Based on this approach, the paper suggests two different paths of the development of grammatical markers which denote qualitative evaluation.
December 20, 2024 at 1:48 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
New paper out!
An approach to path movement in the diachronic study of sign languages: Biomechanics and nonarbitrariness
Donna Jo Napoli | Swarthmore College
Nathan Sanders | University of Toronto
Sign languages seem not to be amenable to traditional historical reconstruction via the comparative method, making it difficult to replicate the successes achieved in the diachronic study of spoken languages. We propose to alleviate this difficulty with an alternative approach that draws upon nonarbitrariness and biomechanics, especially the drive for reducing articulatory effort. We offer a demonstration of this approach, which can add confirmation to known relationships between sign languages and new evidence in support of suspected relationships, helping to fill in a methodological gap in the diachronic study of sign languages.
June 13, 2024 at 7:29 PM
diachronica.bsky.social
We published "Gender Reduction in Contact" benjamins.com/catalog/dia.... - the historical linguistics of agreement and gender in Romani in contact with Hungarian
Gender reduction in contact: The case of Romani in nineteenth-century Hungary. Marton A. Balo and Zuzana Bodnarova
December 31, 2023 at 3:40 PM