Universal #2

Legacy number: 4

 Number  4
 Original  If the exponent of vocative is a prefix, then this prefix has arisen from 1st person possessor or a 2nd person subject.
 Standardized  IF the exponent of vocative is a prefix, THEN this marker has been reanalysed from a 1st person possessor marker on nouns or a 2nd person subject marker on verbs.
 Keywords  case, vocative, prefix, possessor, person, 1st, 2nd
 Domain  inflection
 Type  target < source
 Status  diachronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  mainly based on a survey of Nootkan languages (Almosan), but also on a sampling of vocative forms in other langugaes, and is assumed to be valid generally
 Source  Jacobsen 1994: 34

← Back to Universals Archive

Discussion
Notes
To rephrase it without If-Then:The only source of vocative prefixes are 1st person possessor or 2nd person subject markers, while vocative suffixes presumably have other sources, perhaps including 1st/2nd person markers.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
To rephrase it without If-Then:
The only source of vocative prefixes are 1st person possessor or 2nd person subject markers, while vocative suffixes presumably have other sources, perhaps including 1st/2nd person markers.