Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics

Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 7 Issue 1

Issue of Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics

Contents
Journal Overview

Accessible July 16, 2021

Frontmatter

Page range: i-iv

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Articles

January 11, 2021

The relator noun construction in Assamese

Gitanjali Bez

Page range: 1-41

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of relator noun constructions in Assamese, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the eastern part of India by a majority of people living in the state of Assam. The construction consists of a relator noun that functions as a head, and a genitive case marked noun that functions as a dependent. Semantically, most of the relator nouns encode spatial relation, such as place, path. However, some other relator nouns signal other relations, such as the ‘for’, ‘about’ etc. The occurrence of relator nouns is not an unusual phenomenon in Indo-Aryan languages. It has been analyzed as adpositions in many Indo-Aryan languages. However, I argue that the syntax of Assamese does not allow this analysis. It forms a distinct syntactic category, the behaviour of which is not similar to adpositions. Further, Assamese shares some close affinity regarding the relator noun construction with the neighbouring Tibeto-Burman languages such as Boro and Dimasa, rather than with the Indo-Aryan languages. Thus, this paper further investigates whether the resemblance occurs as a result of language contact or by accident.

January 11, 2021

Cape Town Gujarati and its relation to Gujarati dialectology: A study of retroflex boosting

Rajend Mesthrie, Vinu Chavda

Page range: 43-56

Abstract

This paper has two purposes. Firstly, it provides a bird’s eye view of the characteristics of a variety of Gujarati in diaspora, viz. that spoken in Cape Town, South Africa for almost 150 years. Secondly it focusses on one notable feature, viz. the prominence of retroflexes over dentals, and connects this with other dialects of Gujarati in India and with Western Indo-Aryan. We analyse the speech of 32 speakers born or brought up in South Africa, and resident in Cape Town. We show that Cape Town Gujarati retains the dialect variation of late nineteenth century Gujarati as identified by Grierson, Sir George A. 1908. Linguistic survey of India. Vol IX, part II: Indo-Aryan family, Central Group – Rajasthani and Gujarati . Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. In particular, it resembles the Surti dialect, in keeping with the fact that the area around Surat district provided the bulk of migrants to Cape Town in the nineteenth and twentieth century. We then focus in detail on a prominent, but little-studied, phenomenon of Gujarati dialects: the variable occurrence of retroflex stops where Standard Gujarati has dentals [t̪ t̪ h d̪ d̪ h ]. We demonstrate the considerable amount of such “retroflex boosting” in the Cape Town variety. We provide a detailed and replicable methodology from variationist sociolinguistics for studying this boosting that we believe illuminates the study of its occurrence in modern dialects in Gujarat.

February 22, 2021

Predicate derivations in Thulung

Aimée Lahaussois

Page range: 57-84

Abstract

In this article, I describe a subset of complex predicates in Thulung (Kiranti, Nepal) which I call “predicate derivations” (after Post, Mark. 2010. Predicate derivations in the Tani languages: root, suffix, both or neither? In Mark Post & Stephen Morey (eds.), North East Indian linguistics , 175–197. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press India). I argue that these constructions in Thulung are built on grammaticalized elements that can be synchronically considered to be derivational. I focus on their morphology, placing it within the context of simplex verbs, and highlighting certain features – multiple exponence, allomorphy of the derivational suffixes similar to that of simplex verbs – which suggest strongly a development from serial verb constructions. I discuss their functions, which cover valence changes, as well as the marking of associated motion and aspect/Aktionsart. Complex predicates are seen as a feature of South Asian languages, but the types found in Tibeto-Burman languages appear to be quite different, morphologically, from what is found in Indo-Aryan or Dravidian languages. This article therefore represents a language-specific description as a contribution to cross-linguistic research on the topic.

June 18, 2021

Religion and language preservation: the case of Sora

Anastasia Krylova, Evgeniya Renkovskaya

Page range: 85-104

Abstract

The article, based on field data collected by the authors, analyzes the modern sociolinguistic situation of the Sora language (South Munda languages, Odisha, India) in various religious communities. The religious communities such as Baptists, Catholics, Vishwa-Hindus, Animists, Mattar Banom and Alekh are analyzed. The data on the use of various languages in the religious practices of these communities is considered, accompanied by rich illustrative material. According to the findings of the authors, the preservation of Sora is most successful in the Baptist and Mattar Banom communities.

May 27, 2021

Sanskritization in Pāli

Bryan G. Levman

Page range: 105-149

Abstract

This article continues the discussion on the nature of the early language of Buddhism and the language that the Buddha spoke, arguing that the received Pāli transmission evolved out of an earlier Middle Indic idiom, which is identified as a koine . Evidence for this koine can be found by examining correspondence sets within Pāli and its various varieties and by examining parallel, cognate correspondence sets between Pāli and other Prakrits which have survived. This article compares 30 correspondence sets transmitted in the Dhammapada recensions: the Gāndhārī Prakrit verses, the partially Sanskritized Pāli and Patna Dhammapada Prakrit verses, and the fully Sanskritized verses of the Udānavarga . By comparing cognate words, it demonstrates the existence of an underlying inter-language which in many cases can be shown to be the source of the phonological differences in the transmission. The paper includes a discussion on the two major factors of dialect change, evolution with variation over time, and the diffusionary, synchronic influence of dialect variation; it concludes that both are important, with dialect variation – and the phonological constraints of indigenous speakers who adopted MI as a second language – providing the pathways on which the natural evolutionary process was channeled.

Book Reviews

May 24, 2021

Philippe Swennen: Démons iraniens: Actes du colloque international organisé à l’Université de Liège les 5 et 6 février 2009 à l’occasion des 65 ans de Jean Kellens

Leonid Kulikov

Page range: 151-156

May 24, 2021

Natalia Chalisova, Natalia Aleksandrova & Maksim Rusanov: Ya evaṃ veda … Kto tak znaet … Pamjati Vladimira Nikolaeviča Romanova

Ekaterina Komissaruk

Page range: 157-163

May 5, 2020

Khochung Okhup Aimol: Aimol Dictionary (Aimual Chongriabuk). Aimol – English Dictionary

Pauthang Haokip

Page range: 165-169

Obituary

Accessible May 9, 2020

In memoriam Johanna Narten (1930–2019)

Almut Hintze

Page range: 171-178

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About this journal

Objective
The Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics (JSALL) provides a peer-reviewed forum for publishing original research articles and reviews in the field of South Asian languages and linguistics, with a focus on descriptive, functional and typological investigations. Descriptive studies are encouraged to the extent that they present analyses of lesser-known languages, based on original fieldwork. Other areas covered by the journal include history of South Asian languages, language change, contact phenomena and sociolinguistics. The journal also publishes occasional special issues on focused themes relating to South Asian languages and linguistics, for which it welcomes proposals.

Topics

South Asia
Asian languages
Linguistic typology
Language history
South Asian grammatical traditions
Multilingualism
Language planning
Sociolinguistics

Article formats
Original research articles, Book reviews