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Vol. 60, no. 2 (Summer 2018)

Contents

Abstracts

Evidence for Inland Penutian

Scott DeLancey
University of Oregon

Abstract. Comparative evidence for the Penutian hypothesis is very thin, but more evidence has been presented in the literature for the validity of two smaller units: Plateau Penutian, consisting of Sahaptian, Cayuse, Klamath-Modoc, and probably Maiduan, and Yok-Utian, consisting of Yokuts and Miwok-Costanoan. However, some evidence for a genetic relationship between these two units are provided here. Several lexical comparisons are presented that involve correspondences in internal word structure, larger word families, or both. Two morphological comparisons, of a locative construction and a numeral suffix, help to explain irregularities in the daughter languages.

Subsection Terminologies in Northern Australia: Conceptual and Lexical Diffusion

Mark Harvey
University of Newcastle

Abstract. Default lexical diffusion involves diffusion of phonological forms and their associated semantics. Subsections are a domain in sociocentric kin classification, whose spread shows full, partial, and null matches between conceptual diffusion and diffusion of terminologies. This offers a rare opportunity to analyze correlations between conceptual and linguistic diffusion. These correlations are modeled using social network theory: partial conceptual diffusion correlates with higher levels of weak ties, whereas partial lexical diffusion correlates with lower levels of weak ties. Subsection terminologies are widely diffused and are therefore Wanderwörter. However, they constitute a distinctive subclass, inasmuch as a lexical domain is diffused, not individual words.

Do Linguistic Properties Influence Expressive Potential? The Case of Two Australian Diminutives (Gunwinyguan Family)

Maïa Ponsonnet
University of Western Australia

Abstract. Although expressivity is indisputably a crucial function of language, expressive features have often been neglected in linguistic descriptions. After discussing how this lack can reflect a gender bias in language documentation, this article recruits first hand data from two Australian Aboriginal languages to explore whether the grammatical properties of individual languages can influence the semantics of their expressive resources. The study compares diminutives found in Dalabon and Rembarrnga, two Gunwinyguan languages spoken in the same cultural environment. The comparison shows that in spite of many mismatching linguistic properties, the emotions that these diminutives can express remain remarkably stable, suggesting strong sociocultural constraints in this semantic domain.

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