In this thesis, I discuss the range of numerals in South American languages, the strategies that languages use to form their numerals, and what cultural and historical causes can be given to the...Show moreIn this thesis, I discuss the range of numerals in South American languages, the strategies that languages use to form their numerals, and what cultural and historical causes can be given to the range of the numerals. The Quechuan languages consistently possess an infinite decimal system. This could be the result of the preservation of the high numerals after colonization that were used to keep track of administration in the extended Inca Empire. In the Arawakan family, both the range and the internal structure of the numerals differ. Just as for the Quechuan, the Arawakan people were involved in trade and war which could indicate a need of high numerals. However, unlike for the Quechuan numerals, they have not been preserved. During colonization, Arawakan groups fled from their original settlements and adopted other groups into their communities, which indicates substratum influence and explains the diversity of the Arawakan numerals. In the Guaporé-Mamoré linguistic area, numerals are mostly concentrated around a maximum of 20. The body-part system and a connection to company or loneliness are common in the numerals in this area.Show less
This thesis compares the consonant inventories of constructed languages with the consonant inventories of natural languages, in an attempt to find out what natural languages are most similar to...Show moreThis thesis compares the consonant inventories of constructed languages with the consonant inventories of natural languages, in an attempt to find out what natural languages are most similar to these constructed languages in terms of consonant inventories. The main objective is to find out whether language creators are influenced by their native languages when creating their own languages. For this purpose, two programming scripts were created in order to quickly compare consonant inventories with each other. Using these programs, 7 constructed languages were each compared to 3,019 natural languages from the online database PHOIBLE. In more than half of the analysed constructed languages, the consonant inventories of the constructed language and the creator’s native language had an overlap of 70% or more, which, when compared to the overlap with other natural languages, is on the higher end of the scale, but rarely the highest end. These results point towards an influence of the native language of the creator on the consonant inventory of their created language.Show less
This thesis looks at positive and negative existentials in Finnish and Hungarian with the help of the framework of Denis Creissels’ 7 types of existentials for the positive constructions, as well...Show moreThis thesis looks at positive and negative existentials in Finnish and Hungarian with the help of the framework of Denis Creissels’ 7 types of existentials for the positive constructions, as well as Croft’s Cycle for the negative constructions. The findings are that neither language fits neatly within Creissels’ types, as both show several different constructions. Finnish has three distinct ways of forming existentials: ‘olla + locative’, ‘olla + agent participle of olla + locative’, or a ‘copula only’ construction. Hungarian has two different ways of forming existentials: with ‘lenni + locative’, as well as a ‘copula only’ construction. Not every construction is grammatical in every context. Often existentials cannot be clearly separated from locatives and possessives. Generally, word order and context work together with a specific construction to somewhat differentiate it from other constructions. However, multiple interpretations of a single construction are often possible, so this is not absolute. These findings go against multiple claims often made in conventional literature.Show less
The Dialect of Vlasotince is a Torlak variety of South Slavic spoken in and around the small town of Vlasotince in southern Serbia, between Kosovo (KiM) and Bulgaria. This grammar sketch aims to...Show moreThe Dialect of Vlasotince is a Torlak variety of South Slavic spoken in and around the small town of Vlasotince in southern Serbia, between Kosovo (KiM) and Bulgaria. This grammar sketch aims to provide a succinct description of its phonology, morphology and select syntactic features as currently used by the inhabitants of Vlasotince, supplemented with a small number of texts to illustrate its use in practice. Due to Vlasotince’s considerable growth since the end of WWII (Vukmirović 2013: 106) and the proliferation of media and schooling in the standard language, what is most commonly heard on the street nowadays is a variety with stronger influence from the standard language than is usually found in the works on Torlak dialectology from the past century, yet one that clearly retains much of its distinctive character. It is this contemporary, commonly used register, sprinkled with influences from the standard, that I have tried to describe here. It should serve as a representative snapshot of the way people from Vlasotince speak amongst themselves today.Show less
This thesis attempts to give a clear outline of the distribution of case in Australian languages and thereby aims to clarify the common divsion between Pama-Nyungan and non-Pama-Nyungan languages....Show moreThis thesis attempts to give a clear outline of the distribution of case in Australian languages and thereby aims to clarify the common divsion between Pama-Nyungan and non-Pama-Nyungan languages. That is, Australianists have not always agreed about which cases and core cases occur in which language groupings and what the alignment looks like in each language. On the basis of a representative sample of 12 Australian languages, I give an overview of the core cases and the alignment of these languages. The initial outcome shows a mixture of features, like a widespread ergative case and multiple forms of split ergativity, which not necessarily define the difference between the Pama-Nyungan and the non-Pama-Nyungan language family. As Pama-Nyungan and non-Pama-Nyungan are valid terms, one can, strictly speaking, still make the distinction between these two language families, yet not convincingly on the basis of case.Show less
Het Helmonds is een taal (ook wel dialect genoemd) gesproken in de stad Helmond, gelegen in het oosten van de provincie Noord-Brabant. Het behoort tot de Peellandse tak van het Oost-Brabants. Deze...Show moreHet Helmonds is een taal (ook wel dialect genoemd) gesproken in de stad Helmond, gelegen in het oosten van de provincie Noord-Brabant. Het behoort tot de Peellandse tak van het Oost-Brabants. Deze scriptie beschrijft zijn fonologie, morfologie en morfofonologie. In deze domeinen verschilt het Helmonds het sterkst van het Standaardnederlands (SN). Zo heeft de taal veertien monoftongen, één meer dan de dertien die Booij (1995: 5) voor het SN beschrijft. Dit is ook typologisch opvallend. Maddiesons (2013) sample van 564 talen bevat bijvoorbeeld maar één taal met veertien klinkers. Daarmee is het Helmonds een zeldzaamheid onder de talen van de wereld. Naast de grotere klinkerinventaris verschilt het Helmonds van het SN op het gebied van flexie. Het heeft affixen die niet voorkomen in het SN. Ook wordt modificatie van de wortel van een woord veelvuldig gebruikt om bepaalde morfologische functies uit te drukken. Verder heeft de toevoeging van morfologie vaak invloed op de realisatie van de wortel, waardoor de fonetische realisatie van de taal vaak afwijkt van haar onderliggende structuur. De morfofonologie is daarmee erg complex. Ondanks deze complexiteit is deze scriptie toch een erg volledige beschrijving van de eerdergenoemde domeinen. De data waar deze beschrijving zich op baseert is door de auteur zelf verzameld in Helmond. Hierbij heeft hij rekening gehouden met sociolinguïstische factoren als gender en plaats van geboorte binnen Helmond. Uit dit onderzoek is daarmee ook gebleken dat er twee variëteiten in Helmond gesproken worden, hier Perifeer Helmonds (PH) en Centraal Helmonds (CH) genoemd. Deze variëteiten zijn te verbinden met de plaats van geboorte van de spreker. Deze beschrijving is de eerste volledige beschrijving van de fonologie, morfologie en morfofonologie van het Helmonds. Het is daarmee een onmisbare bron voor eenieder die geïnteresseerd is in het Helmonds, maar ook in Noord-Brabantse dialectologie in het algemeen. Verder is de sectie over fonologie ook interessant voor het vakgebied van de taaltypologie.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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This thesis is the first descriptive work on Shan-Ni, a Tai-Kadai language spoken in Kachin state and Sagaing region of Northern Myanmar. Being a Tai language in longterm close contact with several...Show moreThis thesis is the first descriptive work on Shan-Ni, a Tai-Kadai language spoken in Kachin state and Sagaing region of Northern Myanmar. Being a Tai language in longterm close contact with several Tibeto-Burman languages, Shan-Ni has several features that are not common in other Tai languages, but do show similarities with Tibeto-Burman languages. The frequency of disyllabic words, the presence of different grammatical markers including TAM markers, and the variation in word order distinguishes Shan-Ni in particular. This thesis does not only describe these features, but also connects them to their presence in other languages, including both Tai-Kadai and Tibeto-Burman languages, Shan-Ni is in contact with. Some features of Shan-Ni are partially present in other Tai languages, but have developed further or in a different direction from certain points in history, which correspond with periods of migration. Through its grammar, Shan-Ni indicates relations with other Southwestern Tai languages of the Northern tier spoken both at the Myanmar-Chinese and Myanmar-Indian border. The expression of Tibeto-Burman-like constructions is made possible through the addition or different usage of grammatical markers, which nonetheless do have a Tai etymology.Show less
In this typological survey, I study the distribution of irrealis markers in a sample of nine South American indigenous languages. I do this to assess the typological validity of Reality Status, a...Show moreIn this typological survey, I study the distribution of irrealis markers in a sample of nine South American indigenous languages. I do this to assess the typological validity of Reality Status, a crosslinguistic grammatical category defined by Elliott (2000) about which there is much debate. This category assumes that a notional distinction of realized and unrealized events underlies the formal marking of the irrealis. Based on Elliott’s notional definition, and inspired by Michael (2014), I set out a group of irrealis parameters, grammatical categories which are expected to be marked for irrealis in a language which makes an RS distinction, and study which of these parameters are marked for the irrealis. I argue that assuming RS is often not adequate in explaining the distribution of irrealis markers and that this distribution should instead be explained by assuming a focal meaning of future prediction, which shows interaction with either degree of assertion or metaphorical inference from markers of deictic space. Together, these factors can account for the distribution of the irrealis markers in this sample.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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In this study, the grammar and basic lexicon of the Sayan languages (Turkic), spoken in Russia and Mongolia, are compared by means of the features found in WALS (Dryer & Haspelmath 2013). The...Show moreIn this study, the grammar and basic lexicon of the Sayan languages (Turkic), spoken in Russia and Mongolia, are compared by means of the features found in WALS (Dryer & Haspelmath 2013). The main goal of this thesis is to provide a comparative study on four Sayan languages, namely Tuvan, Tofa, Soyot, and Dukha. Tuba, the fifth Sayan language, became extinct before it was described and studied and, therefore, it is excluded from the linguistic study. The data in this study came from the grammars by Anderson & Harrison (1999 and 2006, Tuvan), Rassadin (1971, 1978 and 2010, Tofa and Soyot) and Ragagnin (2011, Dukha). Another question that will be discussed in this thesis is the reason why Tuvan is not moribund, while its sister and daughter languages are. To answer this question, I looked at the history of the Sayan peoples and their current social status. Of all Sayan languages, Tofa showed the least Mongolian influences. This is probably because the Tofa people moved away from the Tuva Basin before the Mongols had a linguistic influence on the Tuvan language. Together with data from the grammars and historical information, a Sayan tree diagram is reconstructed. From the history and the current social status of the Sayan peoples could be concluded that the number of speakers and isolation together form the reason why Tuvan is not extinct and flourishes, while the other Sayan languages struggle to survive.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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This thesis proposes a sketch description of Brazilian Bergamasch, a Gallo-Italian language spoken in the town of Botuverá, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Brazilian Bergamasch...Show moreThis thesis proposes a sketch description of Brazilian Bergamasch, a Gallo-Italian language spoken in the town of Botuverá, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Brazilian Bergamasch is a non-standard variety of Bergamasch, an Italian language currently spoken in the Italian region of Lombardy, which was brought to Brazil by Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. This thesis has two main goals. Firstly, it aims to provide a grammatical and sociolinguistic sketch of the language, since Brazilian Bergamasch is currently undescribed. The description focuses on the analysis of the sociolinguistic situation present in the community, as well as on the main linguistic structures of the language (lexicon, phonology, morphology, syntax). In both cases, emphasis is given to the features that diverge from the standard variety spoken in Italy. On the basis of numerous discrepancies due to the geographic origins of the community founders on the one hand, and language internal and contact induced change on the other hand, it is argued that Brazilian Bergamasch can in fact be classified as a linguistic system independent from Standard Bergamasch. Secondly, the thesis provides a short wordlist of the basic lexicon of the language. The wordlist, which counts around 770 items, is organized by semantic fields and aims to contribute to projects of language maintenance that are currently being discussed and implemented by the community.Show less
This MA thesis provides the first description and discussion of three temporal predicative particles (aɬta, ɬke and hata) found in Sanapaná, an underdocumented and underdescribed Enlhet-Enenlhet...Show moreThis MA thesis provides the first description and discussion of three temporal predicative particles (aɬta, ɬke and hata) found in Sanapaná, an underdocumented and underdescribed Enlhet-Enenlhet language of the Paraguayan Chaco. Furthermore, it compares the form and function of these particles in Sanapaná to that of their cognates in the other Enlhet-Enenlhet languages: Angaité, Enxet, Enlhet, Guaná and Enenlhet. As such, this thesis has three main objectives. Firstly, it aims to be a contribution to the descriptive literature on an understudied indigenous language of South America, since it is based on primary data gathered during my own field work. Secondly, it hopes to provide insights into the genetic relations between the languages of the Enlhet-Enenlhet language family. Thirdly, this work hopes to provide data for possible areal or typological studies of the phenomena manifested by these particles: tense-aspectmodality systems, and (nonverbal) predication. It is argued that aɬta, when it follows a verb, functions as a prehodiernal past marker. When it follows a word from a different word class, it can locate the referent of a noun in the past (but is not a nominal tense marker), and it makes the inherent predicativity of this word explicit, just as Kalisch (2009) argues that these particles do in Enlhet. ɬke, secondly, is argued to be an immediate aspect marker when it follows a verb, and has the same predicative force when following a word from a different class. Furthermore, it can locate the previous mention of a referent or its previous presence in the extralinguistic context in the past. Lastly, hata functions as an indefinite future marker when combined with a verb, and also has this aforementioned predicative force. Based on these (admittedly limited) Sanapaná data and that of its sister languages, it seems that Unruh & Kalisch’ (2003) hypothesis of a Western and an Eastern branch of the family is warranted: Guaná, Sanapaná and Enenlhet cluster together, while Enlhet shares fewer features with these languages. Within the former group, Guaná and Sanapaná seem to be most similar.Show less
This thesis aims to discuss the distinction between nouns and verbs (and other word classes) in Wakashan and Salish languages. I will be discussing this distinction with specific reference to the...Show moreThis thesis aims to discuss the distinction between nouns and verbs (and other word classes) in Wakashan and Salish languages. I will be discussing this distinction with specific reference to the two main approaches in flexible languages – categorial and precategorial classification. For the categorial approach, I will be looking at how well Hengeveld’s (1992) PoS system, and its revisions (Hengeveld et al. 2004, Hengeveld & Van Lier 2010), can be applied to the six Wakashan and Salish languages. For the precategorial approach, I will be working with Don & Van Lier's (2013) precategorial approach and notion of syntactic flexibility to determine how well it can be applied to the Wakashan and Salish languages. The resulting data and analysis indicates that neither approach is particularly suitable. Categorial classification is shown to be slightly too restrictive, whereas precategorial classification can be viewed as not restrictive enough. Additionally, a recurring issue is that word classes aren’t always mutually flexible, a problem which neither approach seems to account for.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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The conceptual link between space and time is accounted for by two different theories: Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT, Lakoff and Johnson 1980) and A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM, Walsh 2003). Within...Show moreThe conceptual link between space and time is accounted for by two different theories: Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT, Lakoff and Johnson 1980) and A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM, Walsh 2003). Within a linguistic framework, CMT provides evidence for an asymmetric conceptual link between space and time, opposed to the symmetric link predicted by ATOM. Casasanto and Boroditsky (2008) and Casasanto (2010) presented evidence in favour of CMT from non-linguistic psychophysical tasks. Longer lines appeared to positively affect participants’ estimation of duration, analogous to metaphors for duration using spatial words such as long and short, but duration did not influence the perception of space (Casasanto and Boroditsky 2008). A subsequent study revealed language specific differences in effects of different stimulus types, parallel to the typical duration metaphors found in these languages (Casasanto 2010). The present investigation of Dutch shows that the relation between duration metaphors and the perception of space and duration is less straightforward than what might be expected on the basis of the accounts of Casasanto and Boroditsky (2008) and Casasanto (2010). The results of an experiment with speakers of Dutch reveal a symmetric link between space and duration in the case of space presented in the form of one-dimensional length, but an asymmetric link is reported in case of more-dimensional size. Overall, this provides evidence for ATOM rather than CMT.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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This thesis investigates the linguistic expression and conceptualization of lexical temporal concepts in Kavalan, a highly endangered Austronesian (Formosan) language spoken on the east coast of...Show moreThis thesis investigates the linguistic expression and conceptualization of lexical temporal concepts in Kavalan, a highly endangered Austronesian (Formosan) language spoken on the east coast of Taiwan. The first part consists of a grammar sketch. The second part is the core component, describing and analyzing lexical time in Kavalan based on fieldwork data. The lexical temporal concepts are taken from Haspelmath’s (1997) typological semantic classification of temporal NP-based adverbials. The conceptualization of these concepts is examined using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory as advanced by Lakoff & Johnson (e.g. 1980, 1999b) and adjusted and expanded by Moore (2000, 2006, 2014). Expressions motivated by various TIME IS SPACE metaphors are found to be fairly frequent in Kavalan. The third and final part contains a small typological study, in which Kavalan’s linguistic behavior in terms of temporal expression and conceptualization is compared to that of four other Formosan languages: Tsou, Saisiyat, Isbukun Bunun, and Paiwan. A general pattern is the different encoding of temporal clauses in past situations as opposed to those in future and generic/habitual situations (Zeitoun 1997). Both Kavalan and Saisiyat are curiously found to deviate from this two-way distinction by being more implicit. Tsou is an obvious outlier in various respects, as expected from its likewise diverging general linguistic properties.Show less
This master’s thesis focuses on comparing and contrasting Property Concept Words (PCWs) in six Amazonian languages. PCWs are usually referred as ‘adjectives’ in Indo-European languages, words that...Show moreThis master’s thesis focuses on comparing and contrasting Property Concept Words (PCWs) in six Amazonian languages. PCWs are usually referred as ‘adjectives’ in Indo-European languages, words that have a semantic denotation of properties or features. However, they vary in different languages regarding whether they belong to a morphosyntactically distinct word class or not. In other words, whether these PCWs should all be included in an adjectival class (if exist) or some may be categorized in subclasses of nouns or verbs. In my sample of six Amazonian languages: Panare, Hup, Karajá, Jarawara, Kwaza and Cavineña, PCWs are found behaving differently in each language. When discussing whether adjectives should be classified as a separate syntactic class or not, semantics is quite often involved. Moreover, the introduction of copula clauses complicates this discussion. Payne & Payne (2013) argues for a separate word class of AD-forms instead of adjectives in Panare to represent words that are usually characterized as either ‘adjectives’ or ‘adverbs’ in Indo-European languages. However, AD-forms are quite similar to nouns in Panare. Epps (2008) agrees on a closed set of adjectives in Hup that is quite similar to verbs regarding their TAM-marking, and similar to bound nouns when occurring postnominally. According to Ribeiro (2012), Karajá lacks an independent part of speech for ‘adjectives’ where PCWs are considered a subclass of nouns without much difference from other types of nouns. Dixon’s (2004) grammar distinguishes a small closed class of adjectives from other word classes in Jarawara and at the same time argues that PCWs can also be expressed through possessed nouns and stative verbs. In Kwaza, Van der Voort (2004) claims that it is unnecessary to exhibit a distinct class of adjectives whereas PCWs behave quite similar to verbs. Lastly, Guillaume (2008) introduces two distinct subclasses of adjectives, predicative and attributive adjectives in Cavineña, where the former function as copula complements and the latter are postnominal modifiers. The six languages vary in whether adjectives should be identified as a distinct word class or not. Even though these analysis may be of different approaches, PCWs show certain similarities across languages: they can both modify nouns and function in predicative constructions; they usually can take TAM-markers; the noun-modifier construction most likely parallels possessive construction. In a nutshell, these Amazonian languages are different from prototypical Indo-European languages regarding the syntactic distribution of PCWs. However, within Amazonian languages, syntactic variability of PCWs is large but possibly limited.Show less
In this thesis I will be looking at complex predicates of Dutch, Jaminjung, Saramaccan and Japanese. The approach will be to part from Dutch and investigate which semantic types of complex...Show moreIn this thesis I will be looking at complex predicates of Dutch, Jaminjung, Saramaccan and Japanese. The approach will be to part from Dutch and investigate which semantic types of complex predicates are also present in the other languages. I found that, although they differ greatly in the combination of word classes in forming complex predicates, they show a great amount of similar semantic types. Each language has complex predicates which are in meaning predictable from the combination of their parts, and those which are not. Both in the predictable and in the non-predictable types they have similar functions, among which one part expresses a causative, inchoative, directional, quantificational, aspect or resultative.Show less
Ameka en Levinson (2007) hebben de verschillende locationele constructies die voor kunnen komen in talen van de wereld opgedeeld in vier types. Bij twee types kan er gebruik worden gemaakt van de...Show moreAmeka en Levinson (2007) hebben de verschillende locationele constructies die voor kunnen komen in talen van de wereld opgedeeld in vier types. Bij twee types kan er gebruik worden gemaakt van de positiewerkwoorden ‘liggen', ‘zitten’ en ‘staan’, zoals het Nederlands dat doet. Maar, hoe maken talen in de rest van de wereld gebruik van positiewerkwoorden in locationele constructies met onbezielde objecten? Aan de hand van literatuur onderzoek en een questionnaire afgenomen onder moedertaalsprekers van het Zweeds is er in deze scriptie gekeken worden naar het gebruikt van (positie)werkwoorden in locationele constructies in talen van de wereld. De talen die aan bod komen zijn het Zweeds (Indo-Europees, Noord-Germaans), Seri (isolaat), Gurenɛ (Niger-Congo, Gur), Tzeltal (Maya, Yucatecan-Core Maya), Ese Ejja (Tacana), Yélî Dnye (isolaat) en het Galo (Tibeto-Birmees, Tani). Deze talen maken ruwweg op dezelfde manier gebruik van positiewerkwoorden: ‘liggen’ wordt vooral gebruikt bij horizontaal georiënteerde objecten, ‘staan’ bij verticaal georiënteerde objecten en ‘zitten’ wanneer het object in of vast zit aan de ondergrond. Ook ‘hangen’ wordt in enkele talen gebruikt bij onbezielde objecten. Er zijn enkele uitzonderingen te vinden in de locationele constructies van het Galo, Tzeltal, Ese Ejja, en GurenɛShow less
Stassen (2009) defines four major types of predicate possession: with-possessives, topic-possessives, locational possessives and have-possessive. This thesis examines which of these types occur in...Show moreStassen (2009) defines four major types of predicate possession: with-possessives, topic-possessives, locational possessives and have-possessive. This thesis examines which of these types occur in a sample of the languages of the Pacific North West Coast linguistic area. The data used for this research was collected for eight languages and the sample is one of convenience, though it was attempted to gather a sample as genetically and geographically dispersed as possible. The possession-type for each language was determined by examining data gathered with a questionnaire and/or with existing data from grammars or dictionaries. The research shows that four of the languages use a predicativized with-possessive construction, one has a basic with-possessive, one has a topic-possessive, and two have a dual system consisting of a have-possessive in combination with one of the other basic types. Stassen (2009) formulates four universals of predicative possession, one for every basic type of construction. The universal for with-possessive is as follows: if a language has a with-possessive, it has deranked DS-sequences. The data shows that Gitksan is a with-possessive language, but that it has balanced DS-sequences. This makes Gitksan a counterexample to the with-possessive universal as formulated by Stassen (2009).Show less
Shibatani & Pardeshi (2002) have argued that there is a continuum from direct to indirect causatives and that there is a connection between that continuum and the productivity of the causative...Show moreShibatani & Pardeshi (2002) have argued that there is a continuum from direct to indirect causatives and that there is a connection between that continuum and the productivity of the causative form. They have also proposed a hypothesis on causative-applicative syncretism. Meanwhile Dixon (2012) has found a correlation between the ‘compactness’ of causative forms and how those forms score on nine parameters. This thesis analyses causative constructions in a geographically and genetically balanced sample of nine languages to check whether these hypotheses hold. This thesis concludes that there is no evidence against these hypotheses and that any possible counterevidence encountered in the sample can be explained on the basis of one these hypotheses.Show less
This thesis attempts to establish an adequate framework to describe question words. On the basis of this framework some universal tendencies within the constructions of question words will be...Show moreThis thesis attempts to establish an adequate framework to describe question words. On the basis of this framework some universal tendencies within the constructions of question words will be established and some new insights will be exposed. Through the analysis of the question words of several languages an implicational hierarchy of the semantic categories of question words will be postulated. Furthermore, it will become clear that general question words need to be treated differently from question words which have a specified meaning regardless of the context. When looking at the internal constructions of question words, I conclude that all question words consist of a Q-element (QE), which indicates the interrogative mood and a Semantic Indicator Element (SIE), which specifies the exact content of the interrogative mood. The order of these two elements appears to be similar to the order of the head and dependent of nominal constructions. Finally I discuss the fact that this division between QE and SIE is also to be found in sign languages, and therefore universally applicable. Also, from a historical point of view the order of QE and SIE within submorphemes can be an indication of the head and dependent order in Proto-languages.Show less
