Marked Absolutive and Marked Nominative Case Systems in Synchronic and Diachronic Perspective

该项目的目标是研究一种罕见类型的案例系统的地理分布、类型和历时性，我们称之为“标记主/绝对”。这些系统的决定性特征是，主格/绝对格有一个明显的格素（即，不及物和及物结构之间共有的格素），而宾格/否定格则有一个不明显的（零）语素。这种公开与零分的分布违背了典型的期望，有时甚至被认为是不可能的。最不常见的亚型是“绝对型”，主要在中美洲发现；另一种更广为人知的亚型是“主型”，主要在非洲和北美的加利福尼亚地区发现。我们将调查异常案例系统之间的共性和差异，并将它们与一般的案例系统联系起来，与形式与功能标记的问题联系起来，并且，在可能的情况下，我们将寻求阐明案例系统的起源和发展。由于标记主格/绝对格的不同实例之间的变化位点是不及物从句中的格标记，特别是在像名义谓语这样的“次要”从句类型中，对标记主格/绝对格的研究将辅以对不同类型不及物从句中格标记的一般性、类型学研究。这将以涉及大小写标记的所有对齐类型的语言的平衡的世界范围样本为基础。

The goal of this project is to study the geographical distribution, typology and diachrony of a rare type of case system, which we call `marked nominative/absolutive¿. The defining characteristic of these systems is that there is an overt case-morpheme for the nominative/ absolutive case (i.e. the case that is shared between intransitive and transitive constructions), in contrast to a non-overt (zero) morpheme for the accusative/ergative. This distribution of overt vs. zero marking goes against typological expectations and is even sometimes considered to be impossible. The most uncommon subtype, `marked absolutive¿, is found mainly in Mesoamerica, and the other, more widely known subtype, `marked nominative¿, is found mainly in Africa and in the general California area of North America. We shall be investigating commonalities and differences among the anomalous case systems and relate them to case systems in general, to issues of formal vs. functional markedness, and, where possible, we shall seek to shed light on the origins and developments of the case systems. Since the locus of variation among different instances of marked nominative/absolutive is case marking in intransitive clauses, particularly in ¿minor¿ clause types such as nominal predication, the investigation of marked nominative/absolutive will be supplemented with a general, typological study of case marking in different types of intransitive clauses. This will be based on a balanced, world-wide sample of languages of all alignment types that involve case-marking.