Syntax of direct speech particle -wa(r) in Hittite

Sideltsev, Andrei V.

doi:10.1556/062.2020.00007

Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungarica

2020

DOI: 10.1556/062.2020.00007

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Syntax of direct speech particle -wa(r) in Hittite

Andrei V. Sideltsev

Abstract: This paper deals with the syntax of the direct speech particle in Hittite, particularly its inconsistent use within direct speech. It is suggested that a syntactic account of what appears at first sight as an entirely chaotic distribution is possible.

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2023

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Cited by 2 publications

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Mismatch between syntax and prosody and complex sentence structure in Hittite

Sideltsev

2023

Indo-Eur. Linguist.

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Hittite attests a set of complex sentences in which (mostly) relative clauses (other subordinate clauses are also attested) appear in linear syntax to be within another subordinate (usually conditional, rarely temporal) clause or main clause. The relative clause can be preceded by a very limited array of constituents from the matrix clause, e.g., mān ‘if’ or the quotative particle ⸗wa(r). There are also examples which attest the conditional subordinator and the irrealis particle in two positions simultaneously, at the left edge of the whole sentence and in the conditional clause (= main clause for the relative clause). I provide a fine-grained descriptive and structural analysis of the structure and show that the type cannot be explained as bare indefinites, embedded relative clauses or parenthetic clauses. It is shown that, structurally, the sentences containing subordinate (mostly relative) clauses within other clauses are heterogenous and of three types. The difference lies in the elements that precede the relative clause and in the structure of the sentences, whereby a standard Hittite relative clause adjoins at different heights. All three types display the same mismatch between prosodic domains and syntax/semantics—the constituent that is part of the main clause from the semantic and syntactic perspective is prosodically part of the relative clause. Since there is a clause boundary delimiting the end of the subordinate clause within the main clause, it makes sense to treat the surface structure as a distinct taxonomic unit, which is correspondingly labelled a mismatch sentence. The new evidence allows us to obtain a fuller understanding of the Hittite left periphery than was previously possible. It thus offers an important window into hitherto unrecognized aspects of the underlying structure of the complex sentence in Hittite.

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Mismatch between syntax and prosody and complex sentence structure in Hittite

Sideltsev

2023

Indo-Eur. Linguist.

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“Clitic climbing” in Hittite

Sideltsev

2023

Indo-Eur. Linguist.

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Cross-linguistically, clitic climbing occurs when clitics that belong syntactically and semantically to the subordinate clause (most commonly non-finite, rarely finite) appear in the main clause, i.e., they climb out of the subordinate clause into the main clause. In Hittite, prototypical clitic climbing is attested in two constructions: with non-finite predicates and finite restructuring verbs (Lyutikova & Sideltsev 2021b); and in serial constructions with the finite motion verbs pai- ‘go’ and uwa- ‘come’ co-occurring with another finite verb in the same clause (Koller 2013). In both of these cases, clitics climb out of complements of finite verbs. This paper explores yet another potentially relevant context for clitic climbing, a particular type of complex sentence that may be called ‘mismatch sentences’ (Sideltsev 2023). These involve three structurally distinct types of complex sentences which share one common property: they all have the same surface structure (1a) one word of the main clause (2) subordinate clause (1b) rest of the main clause. The enclitics of the subordinate clause are in (1a), so that they appear to climb out of the subordinate into the main clause. The enclitics of the main clause are consistently in the rest of the main clause (1b), never attached to the first word of the main clause (1a). Structurally, all these subordinate clauses adjoin to the main clause. This distribution of clitics is attested only if there is a one-word constituent in the main clause to the left of the subordinate clause. As movement out of adjoined clauses is held to be illicit in current linguistic theory, it is argued that, differently from prototypical clitic climbing, this is a purely post-syntactic reordering and does not involve any kind of syntactic movement of clitics out of the subordinate into the main clause: the structure one-word constituent of main clause—subordinate clause—main clause is always prosodically realized at the post-syntactic stage as subordinate clause—main clause.

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Syntax of direct speech particle -wa(r) in Hittite

Abstract: This paper deals with the syntax of the direct speech particle in Hittite, particularly its inconsistent use within direct speech. It is suggested that a syntactic account of what appears at first sight as an entirely chaotic distribution is possible.

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Mismatch between syntax and prosody and complex sentence structure in Hittite

Mismatch between syntax and prosody and complex sentence structure in Hittite

“Clitic climbing” in Hittite

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