23. Mai 2023
Andrea Drocco
Università Ca' Foscari, Dipartimento di Studi sull'Asia e sull'Africa Mediterranea
Diachronic pathways and synchronic variation:
The dynamics of case marking and alignment system in New Indo-Aryan
Gemeinsame Veranstaltung mit dem Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde der Universität Wien.
Abstract: In the course of the first period of New Indo-Aryan, the general mechanism which lead to case syncretism in nominal declension has resulted in the attrition of the main characteristic of the Indo-Aryan ergative-absolutive alignment system, that is to say the distinction between intransitive and transitive ‘subject’ in past constructions. The aim of the lecture is to show, on the one hand, the eliminative forces in the histo-ry of the ergative construction throughout the New Indo-Aryan period, as testified by Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. On the other hand, particular attention will be paid to contemporary Western New Indo-Aryan languages where the conservative tendencies of the original ergative-absolutive system are attested, especially through its preservation or its restoration by means of the introduction and gradual extension of a new ergative case-marker.