A natural history of infixation

Tai Lieu Chat Luong A Natural History of Infixation OX F O R D S T U D I E S I N T H E O R E T I C A L L I N G U I S T I C S general editors: David Adger, Queen Mary College London; Hagit Borer, University of Southern California advisory editors: Stephen Anderson, Yale University; Daniel Büring, University of California, Los Angeles ; Nomi Erteischik-Shir, Ben-Gurion University ; Donka Farkas, University of Cali- fornia, Santa Cruz; Angelika Kratzer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Andrew Nevins, Harvard University ; Christopher Potts, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Barry Schein, University of Southern California ; Peter Svenonius, University of Tromsø ; Moira Yip, University College London published 1 The Syntax of Silence Sluicing, Islands, and the Theory of Ellipsis by Jason Merchant 2 Questions and Answers in Embedded Contexts by Utpal Lahiri 3 Phonetics, Phonology, and Cognition edited by Jacques Durand and Bernard Laks 4 At the Syntax-Pragmatics Interface Concept Formation and Verbal Underspecification in Dynamic Syntax by Lutz Marten 5 The Unaccusativity Puzzle Explorations of the Syntax-Lexicon Interface edited by Artemis Alexiadou, Elena Anagnostopoulou, and Martin Everaert 6 Beyond Morphology Interface Conditions on Word Formation by Peter Ackema and Ad Neeleman 7 The Logic of Conventional Implicatures by Christopher Potts 8 Paradigms of Phonological Theory edited by Laura Downing, T. Alan Hall, and Renate Raffelsiefen 9 The Verbal Complex in Romance by Paola Monachesi 10 The Syntax of Aspect Deriving Thematic and Aspectual Interpretation Edited by Nomi Erteschik-Shir and Tova Rapoport 11 Aspects of the Theory of Clitics by Stephen Anderson 12 Canonical Forms in Prosodic Morphology by Laura J. Downing 13 Aspect and Reference Time by Olga Borik 14 Direct Compositionality edited by Chris Barker and Pauline Jacobson 15 A Natural History of Infixation by Alan C. Yu 16 Phi-Theory Phi-Features Across Interfaces and Modules edited by David Adger, Susana Béjar, and Dan Harbour 17 Dislocation in French: Syntax, Interpretation, Acquisition by Cécile De Cat The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Interfaces edited by Gillian Ramchand and Charles Reiss [published in association with the series] For titles in preparation see page 265.

A Natural History of Infixation ALAN C. YU 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With oYces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York ß Alan C. Yu 2007 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2007 All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department. Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk ISBN 978–0–19–927938–8 (HB) 978–0–19–927939–5 (PB) 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Contents Preface ix General Preface xi 1 Introduction 1 2 What is infixation? 9 2.1 Defining infixation descriptively 9 2.2 Infixes as formal objects 14 2.3 Infixation as a phonological process 17 2.4 Infixation as morpho-phonological mismatch 21 2.5 Phonological Readjustment and Phonological Subcategorization compared 25 2.1 On the ethological view of infixation 26 2.2 On the issue of empirical coverage: Problems of undergeneration 31 2.3 On the predictive power of the theory: Problems with overgeneration 37 2.6 Conclusion 45 3 Subcategorization in context 47 3.1 Subcategorization as Generalized Alignment 48 3.2 Phonological Subcategorization in Sign-Based Morphology 53 3.3 Phonological Subcategorization and constraint overgeneration 58 3.4 Understanding the Edge-Bias Effect 62 4 Pivot Theory and the typology 67 4.1 The Pivot Theory 67 4.7 Stress and related metrical units 118 vi Contents 4.8 Other potential pivots 124 4.1 Takelma frequentative reduplication 125 4.3 Hausa Class 5 Plural formation 130 4.9 Conclusion 135 5 The secret history of infixes 137 5.2 Toward a diachronic typology of infixation 138 5.1 The phonetic origins of metathesis 141 5.2 Metathesis without faithfulness 142 5.3 Infixation in Pingding Mandarin 144 5.2 Symptoms and predictions of entrapment 151 5.2 Hopi plural formation 159 5.5 Northern Interior Salish diminutives 165 5.4 Morphological excrescence and prosodic stem association 172 5.1 The emergence of Homeric infixation 174 5.3 Conclusion 177 6 Beyond infixation 181 6.2 Infixation in language games and disguises 190 6.1 Iterative infixal ludling 192 6.2 A general theory of iterative infixing ludling 199 Contents vii 6.4 Feature and subcategorization 218 6.5 Conclusion 229 Appendix 231 References 235 Language Index 255 Subject index 259 This page intentionally left blank Preface We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Eliot, Little Gidding This book is ostensibly a revision of my 2003 dissertation from the University of California at Berkeley.

However, while the main thesis has not changed, this book differs from, and far exceeds if I dare say, the earlier manuscript in several important respects. I have included considerably more data as well as discussion on how the different parts of my theory work together as a coherent model. In lieu of reproducing the three case studies discussed in the dissertation, I have, on the suggestion of one of the reviewers for Oxford University Press, opted to provide many short illustrations instead. My aim is not only to increase the empirical coverage but also to give the reader a better sense of how the diversity of infixes is analyzed within the framework defended in this monograph.

To be sure, it was at times difficult to maintain the delicate balance between the desire to offer a breadth of coverage and the necessity to achieve a certain depth of analysis. Decidedly, short case studies are not meant to be exhaustive analyses. I have focused instead on attending to the basic pattern and highlighting the more peripheral aspects of the pattern only when relevant. A central thesis of this book is the idea that typological tendencies of language may be traced back to its origins and the mechanisms of language transmission.

As such, this book is more than just a natural history of infixation; it is an apologia for a holistic approach to linguistic explanation. It echoes much previous work that has tirelessly combated the confusion in regard to the role diachronic and functional factors play in synchronic argumentation. When a diachronic explanation for typological tendencies is advanced, it is not an attempt to attribute some psychic ability of the speakers that can pierce into the past to uncover the hidden secret histories of their language. Such a naı̈ve interpretation of the diachronist’s agenda is misguided and certainly not conducive to the advances of the field.

I hope that this work, like the work of many others before me, will advance the dialogues, if only in a small way, in a fruitful direction. Ideas presented in this work did not come out of a vacuum. This project began at Berkeley where I have had the great fortune of working with Sharon x Preface Inkelas and Andrew Garrett. I benefited tremendously from their sage guid- ance.

They have both been a consistent source of support and inspiration throughout my years at Berkeley and beyond. I shall like to think that this work reflects an adequate synthesis of the ideas they have imparted to me throughout the years. I am also happy to have another opportunity to express my thanks to all those people who helped me in writing the thesis and contributed to the wonderful Berkeley experience. Many of them were mentioned in the disser- tation.

However, I would like to single out a few of these individuals who have made the experience particularly enjoyable; among these are (in alphabetic order) Juliette Blevins, Jeff Good, Larry Hyman, Mary Paster, Johanna Nichols, Ruth Rouvier, and Tess Wood. I am also grateful and indebted to many people for various comments and suggestions along the way: (in alphabetic order) Bill Darden, Daniel Kaufman, Josh Viau, Moira Yip, Cheryl Zoll, and the reviewers for Oxford University Press (who gave extensive and very helpful comments for which I am grateful). I would also like to thank the students in my classes and seminars at the University of Chicago for the patience with which they have listened to many ideas presented in this book, and for their questions, comments, and challenges. Additional editorial comments and assistance on portions of the manuscript from Robert Peachey and Jett McAlister have been extremely valuable.

I would like to thank John Davey, my editor at Oxford University Press, for his patience and support. Last but not least, I thank my parents and my brothers who have provided constant encouragement and much love. General Preface The theoretical focus of this series is on the interfaces between subcompo- nents of the human grammatical system and the closely related area of the interfaces between the different subdisciplines of linguistics. The notion of ‘interface’ has become central in grammatical theory (for instance, in Choms- ky’s recent Minimalist Program) and in linguistic practice: work on the interfaces between syntax and semantics, syntax and morphology, phonology and phonetics etc.

has led to a deeper understanding of particular linguistic phenomena and of the architecture of the linguistic component of the mind/ brain. The series covers interfaces between core components of grammar, includ- ing syntax/morphology, syntax/semantics, syntax/phonology, syntax/prag- matics, morphology/phonology, phonology/phonetics, phonetics/speech processing, semantics/pragmatics, intonation/discourse structure as well as issues in the way that the systems of grammar involving these interface areas are acquired and deployed in use (including language acquisition, language dysfunction, and language processing). It demonstrates, we hope, that proper understandings of particular linguistic phenomena, languages, language groups, or inter-language variations all require reference to interfaces. The series is open to work by linguists of all theoretical persuasions and schools of thought.

A main requirement is that authors should write so as to be understood by colleagues in related subfields of linguistics and by scholars in cognate disciplines. In this volume Alan Yu examines a process at the interface of phonology and morphology—infixation—and argues that infixes are epiphenomenal. They emerge from a misalignment of phonology and morphology: the infix phonologically subcategorizes a phonological unit that is not a morphological unit. Yu combines this grammar-internal analysis with a plea for the import- ance of grammar-external factors which influence the typological profile of infixation and similar phenomena.

David Adger Hagit Borer For my parents, Paul and Carol Yu 1 Introduction My subject—inWxation—is at once exotic and familiar. Russell Ultan in his pioneering study of the typology of inWxation (1975) noted that inWxes are rare compared to the frequency of other aYxes. The presence of inWxes in any language implies the presence of suYxes and/or preWxes, and no languages employ inWxation exclusively (Greenberg 1966: 92). The term ‘inWxation’ is also less familiar to students of linguistics than are such terms as preWxation and suYxation.