650 likes | 786 Views
Proper Name Plurals in Orizaba Nawatl ( nlv ). David Tuggy ILV-Mexico. I have run up against an interesting construction in a language I work with. A lot of people don’t seem to be aware of it ( though it has certainly been described and discussed by some ) , even though it is
E N D
Proper Name Plurals in Orizaba Nawatl(nlv) David TuggyILV-Mexico
I have run up against an interesting construction in a language I work with. • A lot of peopledon’tseemtobeaware of it(thoughit has certainlybeendescribed and discussedbysome), eventhoughitis • widespread in theworld • very natural (once you come tothinkaboutit) • likelytobeuseful (once you come tothinkaboutit) • Onenameforitis “associativeplurality”
Associative Plurality • It shows up clearly (and for many languages only) when a proper name is pluralized. • Forinstance, a standard plural in Orizaba Nawatl (=ON, nlv) is–tih, and the plural nameSamueltihdoesnot mean “peoplenamed Samuel”, but “Samuel and hisbunch.” • Thatiswhatassociativeplurality looks like.
Associative Plurality • Onthismap (from WALS.36A) bluedots show whereassociativeplurality has beenreported
Associative Plurality • As you can see, itiswidespread. • Theothercolorsindicateassociativesthataren’talsoused as plurals. White = no associativereported.
Associative Plurality • Itsnaturalnessisfurtherattestedbythefactthatitseemsto pop up more orlessindependently in languagesthat do nothaveit as a regular feature. Forinstance: • English: TheAlberts= Uncle Albert and hisfamily (in a child’sspeech) • French: Les Margaret = GeoffNathan & Margaret Winters • Spanish: En la época de los Borja = back when Borja and hiscontemporarieswerethestarsplayingfootball (soccer) [Apellido>Name>Apellido?] • Spanish: Los Chuchos = followers of (candidate) JesúsHernándezOchoa.
Associative Plurality in Nawatl • Here are someexamples of howassociativeplurality shows up in ON. • New͎itzeh n ichpopochtihkoxamoyonder.they.comethegirlswhethertlahtlaniskehinka n Samueltih. they.will .askwith.themthe Samuel-s • “Thosegirlsovertherethat are headingthisway are probablygoingtoaskafter Samuel and hisfriends.” • (Itmightalsobe Samuel & hisfamily; probablynot Samuel & hispoliticalparty.)
Associative Plurality in Nawatl • Mokniitzkuihnimanyeh se your.sibling his.dog immediately.heone n Simontihkipiah.theSimons they.have.it • “Your brother’s dog is just like one of Simon’s family’s.” • (The chances of itbeing a family are raisedbythe cultural awarenessthatmostothergroupingsdon’towndogs.)
Associative Plurality in Nawatl • Nahuatldoesnotmarkplurality as consistentlyas do someotherlanguages • Astaiknekahki n toahsiampah; until yonder is the our.common.boundary • ompainw͎ansemonamiki n Migelthere with.themwe.meet.each.other the Michael“Our common boundary is over there; that’s where our land borders on Michael’s family’s land” • Migeldoesnotbear a plural suffix. • Thepluralityissignalledonlybythe post-positionalwordinw͎an‘withthem’.
Why Use Associative Plurals? • Fortherest of thistalkI’dliketoconsiderthenotion of whyspeakersmight decide todo this. • Itis no accidentthatassociativeplurality centers onpluralizedNames (=propernouns). • ThisisbecauseNames and plurals are bytheirverydefinitionsopposing, or incompatible, concepts.
General comments • Whenyouputtwonotions (A & B) together in yourmindtoform a complexwhole, youmight do one of threethings: • Make A your “main” idea and fit B toit, ortheotherwayaround. (“Main” idea = ± ‘head’.) • Makeeachadapta bit tofittheother (can = unclearheadship) • Buildsomethingratherdifferentfrom (thoughnotunrelatedto) either(=exocentricity) • Thesestrategies grade intoeachother
General comments • A surprisingamount of syntacticstructureiscoveredbythese simple possibilities. • The ideas joined are almostalwaysdifferent (otherwisewhybotherjoiningthem), butoften are quite compatible. • Whenthey are incompatible theywillnotfittogether in thewayyoumightexpect, so something has togive.
General comments • Either A has tobechanged so it can fitwith B in theexpectedway • or B has tobechangedtofitwith A • oreach has to “give” a littletilltheyfit. • Oryoumaybeableto come up withanunexpectedwayto combine them so thattheyfitcompatibly. • Or, of course, youmayjustrefusetoputthetwo ideas together at all.
Proper Names vs. Plurals • Propernames (=Names) and plurals, I am claiming, are incompatible. • Languagesseemtotake at leastthreetacksregardingthissituation. • Somesimplydon’tallowNamestobepluralized. • SomechangetheName so itfitseasily in the plural construction • Somechangethe Plural so itdoesn’tcontradicttheName
Proper Names and Plurals • Both a plural and a Nameevokestronglythenotion of a group of prominentlyconceived individual Things.
Proper Names and Plurals • Buttheymake incompatible additionstothatbasicnotion.
Proper Names • A Nameassumeseach of thoseThingsisseparatelylabeled, thusdifferent in theirmostrelevant (and ∴ prominent) characteristic
Proper Names • Thenamethen singles outfromthegrouptheoneThingwiththe particular pronounced (orwritten) label.
Plurals • A plural, bycontrast, construesthe individual Things as havingthesamecharacteristics (thuseffectively similar) and designatesthegroup of them.
Plurals • Thecharacteristicssharedbytheindividualswithinthe plural group are expectedtobespecifiedbythe nominal stemwithwhichthe plural affixiscombined.
Plurals • That nominal stemthusfunctionsnot as an individual Thingbut as a type, whichisexpectedtobeinstantiated in manyindividuals.
Plural overrides Name • Onewaytopluralize a Nameistokeepthespecifications of the Plural intact, and forcetheNametofitthem.
Plural overrides Name • Thismakes (coerces) theNameinto a Type, withmultipleinstantiations • Thiscontradictsitsownspecificationthatitdesignates a unique individual.
Plural overrides Name • Thisiswhathappens in English: ifyousay “theCarolyns” you mean “thegirls/women (all) namedCarolyn”.
Plural overrides Name • “BeingnamedCarolyn” isthedefiningcharacteristicforthe new Type of Thing.
Plural overrides Name • (Otherkinds of constructions can effect similar coercions. Forinstance, ifyousay, “[she looks like] a Carolyn” youconverttheNameinto a typewhich can bemodifiedbyanindefinitearticle. • Only in this case thetypespecifiessomeothercharacteristics —presumably visual ones— besidesjusthavingthename. • Ifyouweretosay “theCarolyn”, thatwould come veryclosetojustsaying “Carolyn”.)
Making Plural fit Name • Butwhatif, instead of changingName so itfitswhat Plural expects, wechange Plural so Namefitsbetter?
Making Plural fit Name • Wecouldabandonboth • (a) thespecificationthattheThings in the Plural group are alike and • (b) theprofiling of thegroup as a whole.
Making Plural fit Name • Thenthetwo ideas wouldbe so compatible as tobealmostidentical, • Plural wouldaddnothingtoName, so whybotherto combine them?
Making Plural fit Name • Itis more likelytobeusefultodroptherequirement of alikeness, butkeepthedesignation of a group, lettingitoverrideName’sspecification of an individual.
Making Plural fit Name • Thisisessentiallywhathappens in anassociative plural. • Thecombinationdesignates a groupwithinwhichtheNamedThingisprominent.
Making Plural fit Name • Therelationshiponthebasis of whichtheassociationisformedisnotspecified, at least in themostschematicversions of theconstruction.
Making Plural fit Name • In the “true” plural, of course, therelationshipisone of similarityoreffectiveequality, of sharing of theessentialcharacteristicsspecifiedbythenounstem.
Making Plural fit Name • This, however, has beenspecificallynegated in the case of theassociative plural.
Making Plural fit Name • Thisdoesnot mean theassociatedthings are different in allimportantrespects. Itdoes mean anyimportantsharedcharacteristics are notthosedesignatedbytheName.
Making Plural fit Name • Names, of course, mosttypically are usedtodesignatehumans. (Naming of places, computerprograms, etc., are secondaryusages.)
Making Plural fit Name • So, quite naturally, theprototypicalcollectiveName-plural constructionalsospecifieshumans. • (In fact I have no clear ON exampleswith non-humans)
Making Plural fit Name • Althoughthesehumans are alike in beinghuman, theyhavedifferentnames, and a nameiswhatisdesignatedbythestem.
Making Plural fit Name • So theassociativegroupisestablishedonthebasis of someotherrelationships. • Typicallythey are therelationshipsthattypicallygrouphumans. • Kinship • Friendship • SharedActivities • Nearness • Hierarchy(e.g.boss-peon) • Etc.
Making Plural fit Name • Userscountoncontexttoconstrainthelikelihoodthatonerelationshipratherthananothershouldbeadopted • (as in theexampleswesawearlier.)
Associative-plural lookalikes • There are a couple of othercommonphenomenathat are very similar tothiscollective plural structure. • Seeingthesimilaritiesand differ-encesmaybeinstruc-tive.
Doing “dishes” • In (my) Englishtheworddishbyitselfmostprominentlymeans “a plate”. • Butthe plural dishescan mean either “a group of plates” (a normal plural), or
Doing “dishes” • dishes can mean “dishes and (/or?) other similar types of things”, prominentlyincludingglasses, silverware, pots and pans and cookingutensils.
Doing “dishes” • Thisismuchlikeanassociative plural. There are differenceshowever. • Ratherthanthestemdesignatingan individual and the plural a collection of individuals, bothdesignatea type anda collectionof types.
Doing “dishes” • Thereis a strongtendencyforusageswiththismeaningtooccur as part of certain set phrases, including “do thedishes”, “washthedishes”, “dirtydishes”, and so forth.
Doing “dishes” • Thereissomethingcertainlyrighttosayingthatdish has acquired a schematicmeaning “thingassociatedwithfoodpreparation (whichmayneedwashing)”. • Thatmeaningislimitedtothe plural constructionand isfavoredbyother more extensiveconstructionsconcurrently (e.g. “washthe ____es”).
Doing “dishes” • Acquiringsuch a more schematicsense as part of a polysemicstructureisone of thestandardways lexical itemsdevelop.
Doing “dishes” • Manywords in manylanguagesgeneralize in similar ways. • E.g. in Nawatlƛāka can mean “man (adulthumanmale)” or “humanbeing”. • Thelattermeaningispracticallylimitedto plural forms and favorsconstructionslikenochiƛākah ‘allmen (= humans)’
“Plural” pronouns • Anotherassociative-plural look-alikeiswhat are traditionallycalled “plural pronouns”. • LikeNames, singular pronounsdesignate a single individual out of a group. • Particularlyrelevanthere are 1st and 2ndpersonpronouns. They are definedbyspecific roles in the “communicationsituation” (akathe “epistemicground”, etc.)
“Plural” pronouns • 1stperson singular designatesthe individual communicating (prototypically, speaking) • 2ndperson singular, of course, designatesthe individual towhomthatcommunicationisdirected.