Relé de recierre y verificación de sincronismo

In this study, the development of complex function words is observed in a small group of body part related postpositional phrases (body part term + spatial post- position). In previous research, other phrases have been investigated, according to the purpose of the studies. For instance, Habicht and Penjam (2007) hypo- thesised that the status of complex function word (which is indicated by spelling) is associated with the degree of grammaticalization of the simple post- position as well as part of speech (pronoun vs. noun) and length of the comple- ment. Jürine (2011) hypothesised that the spelling of the phrase is connected with literal vs. non-literal interpretation of the phrase. Accordingly, the phrases examined were chosen based on these variables and intuition. However, intui- tively it seems that the development of complex function words (especially adverbs) is quite a widespread tendency. Thus, in this study, I investigate whether (and to what extent) this process is attested in the body part related postpositional phrases. The body part related phrases are an interesting object of study for the following reasons:

i. In the world’s languages, body parts are a frequent source of function words, especially adverbs and adpositions (c.f. Svorou 1994; Heine 1997, 1989; Heine, Kuteva 2002, 2007, etc). The same process has been shown to have occurred in the case of simple function words in Estonian and Finnish (Habicht 2001, Ojutkangas 2001). Thus, it is probable that body part related phrases are a potential source of complex function words as well.

ii. Body part related postpositional phrases are a semantically homogenous group of expressions. As such, they provide a uniform set of examples. This enables me to draw parallels between them and generalize the results, whereas studying semantically and functionally different expressions might not untangle the development of complex function words in such detail. iii. A simple observational inspection of the body part related postpositional

phrases uncovers that some of them (see below) are already presented in dictionaries as compound adverbs.26 _{Thus, they are likely to be used in}

contexts where they may be analyzed as complex postpositions as well. For

26 _{The term ’compound adverbs’ suggests that they are compounds, i.e. recognized as} holistic units by language planning, and, therefore, written as a single word. As mentioned earlier (see section 2.3), in this study I use the broader term ’complex adverbs’ (and postpositions) which are defined based on semantic and syntactic features of the phrase.

instance, Karelson (2005: 65–66), who discusses problems with word class determination based on the data obtained for compiling ‘The Estonian Explanatory Dictionary’, claims that the compounds seljataga (back+ behind) and käekõrval (hand+beside) are used as adverbs as well as postpositions and listed as such in the dictionary as well. However, having separate entries in the dictionary is not, of course, taken as a criterion for the selection of the phrases.

iv. Body part related phrases are an adequate source for the description and determination of the complex function words because they provide a sample of grammaticalizing items that are present in the contemporary lan- guage as the source form (simple postpositional phrase) as well as the target form (the complex adverb, the complex postposition). Thus, they enable me to characterize the use of each expression as the simple and the complex structure and, thereby, determine and test the criteria for distin- guishing the complex items from the freely combined phrases.

It follows from the final reason listed above that one criterion for the selection of a phrase is that it also allows a literal interpretation. Therefore, the second component of the phrase is always a spatial postposition (e.g. selja taga (back+behind) ‘behind one’s back’). The literal interpretations of the phrases are easily contrasted with unit meanings (i.e. lexicalized meanings), which are usually more abstract. Thus, the two concrete components ensure that when the phrase expresses a more abstract meaning, it is due to lexicalization of the phrase, and not to the abstractness of the simple gram. For instance, the body part term käsi ‘hand’ and a causal postposition läbi ‘through’27 _{forms a postpositional phrase}

which carries an abstract meaning (as in example (51)) and appears in contexts were analysis as a complex adverb or a complex postposition is possible.

(51) Kui kogu Starki-Ø isiklik maailm verivaenlase-Ø

when entire Stark-GEN personal world arch enemy-GEN

käe-Ø läbi hävita-ta-kse, asu-b ta piina-Ø

hand-GEN through demolish-IMPS-PR set-3SG s/he torture-GEN

ja seiklusrikka-le otsingu-le et süüdlase-d üles lei-da.28 and adventurous-ALL journey-ALL to responsible-PL up find-INF

Lit. When Stark’s world is demolished through the hand of his arch enemy, he begins an agonizing yet adventurous journey to find those that are responsible. ‘When Stark’s world is demolished by his arch enemy, he begins an agonizing yet adventurous journey to find those that are responsible.’

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The adposition läbi ‘through’ does express a spatial meaning as well. However, here it clearly expresses CAUSE because as a spatial adposition it either is preposed (läbi akna-Ø (through + window-GEN)) or takes a complement in the elative, not the genitive, case (akna-

st läbi (window-ELA through), käe-st läbi (hand-ELA through)).

It may be argued that in (51), käe läbi (hand+through) is lexicalized and expresses causality. However, as the simple postposition itself carries causal meaning, it may just as well be argued that the abstract sense may be formed by freely combining the two components. In this case, there would be no phrasal meaning and no lexicalization. Therefore, it would not make sense to talk about complex grams, but rather postpositional phrases that express abstract meaning(s). Thus, to minimalize the vagueness of the semantic criteria and to unequivocally distinguish the simple and complex structures, only post- positional phrases with spatial grams were investigated.

This study analyzes the following body part related phrases: selja taga (back+behind), käe all (hand+under), käe kõrval (hand+beside), külje all (side+under), kaela peal (neck+on), jalge all (feet+under). This list is not exhaustive, and it is not meant to be understood to represent the only selected phrases which bear the relevant criteria. The selection of the phrases was executed as follows.

I listed all the potentially relevant body part related phrases by combining a list of body part terms with a list of simple postpositions expressing spatial functions. The list of body part terms is based on frequent sources of grams in various studies (Svorou 1994; Heine, Kuteva 2002). The list includes basic terms only, i.e. it does not contain complex terms (e.g. küünar+nukk ‘elbow’) or derived forms (e.g. ist-mik ‘buttocks’). The terms for internal organs as well as obscene vocabulary were excluded because these are not likely to undergo grammaticalization for obvious reasons. The list of simple grams expressing spatial meanings is adapted from Palmeos (1985). In order to provide a more uniform sample, only the postpositions that have three locative forms (the lative, locative, and separative) were included (see section 2.2.).

The potential phrases were combined of 35 body part terms and 24 spatial grams (see Annex 1), amounting to a total of 840 postpositional phrases. Most of these phrases express compositional meanings. Such usages are always ana- lyzed as simple structures and, given the aim of this study, are not of particular interest. The following criteria were implemented to determine potential complex units:

i. the phrase is lexicalized, i.e. carries a meaning that is not directly derivable from its components;

ii. the phrase is not confined to extremely restricted contexts in contemporary language;

iii. the phrase occurs in contexts that allow structural reanalysis as a complex postposition;

iv. the semantic shift is clear enough to distinguish simple and complex struc- ture;

v. lexicalized usages make up a considerable amount of data, i.e. enough to analyze the complex unit.