Layers of morphosyntactic number in Eastern Sudanic

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jochen Trommer, since 8/2023
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 439622645

The goal of this project is to investigate phenomena pertaining to the underexponence of number (i.e. the presence of fewer than expected number morphemes in a given word) and the overexponence of number (i.e. the presence of more than expected number morphemes in a given word) in the severely understudied Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family, and to investigate whether a Cyclic Optimization (CO) approach is better-equipped to account for the attested cross-linguistic variation. The CO model to be developed is one in which syntax builds structure, which is spelled out in a cyclic fashion. At spellout, Optimailty Theoretic (OT) constraints determine what type of morphological operations take place, leading to the final exponent (e.g. a given constraint ranking may lead to Impov- erishment, resulting in underexponence of number). The model combines elements of Kastner (2019), Sande & Jenks (2018) and McPherson & Heath (2016), but is innovative in introducing a separate optimization step for the determination of a phase boundary in the syntax, which then triggers spellout. Furthermore, the CO approach to be developed in this project will be contrasted to two existing CO models for multiple exponence: Caballero & Inkelas’ (2013, 2018) approach in Optimal Construction Morphology and Müller’s (2020) in Harmonic Serialism. The bulk of the empirical data for this project will come from original fieldwork conducted in Kenya with speakers of different dialects of four Eastern Sudanic languages (Kalenjin, Turkana, Maa, Didinga), making an significant empirical contribution, since data from these languages have not, to my knowledge, featured in theoretical discussions of number and/or multiple exponence before.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5175: Cyclic Optimization
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Professorin Maria Kouneli, Ph.D., until 7/2023