picard verbal morphology: what it tells us about...

Picard Verbal Morphology: What it tells Us about Syllable

StructureRyan Hendrickson

Julie AugerIndiana University

Picard

Vimeu

Jean Leclercq: extrait I

J’ai étè alvè à Biéfa. Et pis... ch’est pour o que.. j’ai pèrlè picard, mais o m’empétchoait d’parler picard. Point ch’maristér. Ém tante, et pis m’grand-mére, i voloait’t qu’éj parle français. D’abord là-bos, tous chés piots, quand ils étoait’t piots, o leu disoait, “Chti-lo i parle in français.” Pis au - au bout de quate, chonq, six ans, il étoait’té obligés de - éd laicher aller pasque i pérloait’té picard. Pasque tous les eutes i pérloait’té picard, alors, euh, tout l’monne pérloait picard. Mais mi, o m’empétchoait d’parler picard.

A few interesting features

Phenomenon Picard French Gloss Literature

Palatalization [titø] [kite] ‘to leave’ Dawson 2006

Regressiveassimilation

[mmz][pprt]

[lamz][lapt]

‘the house’‘the door’

Cardoso 2003

Epenthesis [ilakm][purekmø]

[ilakmse][pukmse]

‘he began’ Auger 2001

Nasalassimilation

[vdw][vn]

[vd][vd()]/[vn]

‘he sold’‘to sell’

José & Auger 2004

Gemination [lavw][ollavwm]

[lavw][nulavj]

‘I had it’‘we had it’

José & Auger 2005

[tu] ~ [tut] [tuefm][dirtut]

[tutlefam][ditu]

‘all the women’‘say everything’

Petrush & Auger 2009

Subjunctive

(1) a. j’finis [ʃfini] ‘I finish.ind.present’b. qu’éj finiche [ʃfiniʃ] ‘I finish.subj.pres’

(2) a. qu’éj meurche [ʒmoerʃ] ‘I die.subj.pres.’b. qu’o brûlche [ɔbrylʃ] ‘one.burn.subj.pres’c. qu’i freum’t [ifroemt] ‘they.close.subj.pres.3pl’d. qu’i s’érclaque [iserklak] ‘he.collapse.subj.pr’

(3) a. qu’os mouronche [ɔmurɔʃ̃] ‘we die.1pl.s.pr’b. qu’i meurch’t [imoerʃt] ‘they.die.subj.pres.3pl’

Questions

1. Why different orderings for person/number and mood morphemes?

2. Why is 3pl /tt/ always overt, but not //?

3. Why isn’t epenthesis used to produce licitsubjunctive forms?

Rbéyer ‘to watch’

Indicative present

Subjunctive present

1sg [erbe] [erbe]2sg [tyrbe] [tyrbe]3sg [irbe] [irbe]1pl [orbej] [orbej]2pl [orbeje] [orbeje]3pl [irbett] [irbet]

Morpheme order

Which is basic?

Person, number, and mood

Indicative tenses: Tense before person No indicative morpheme

Subjunctive: Singular: no overt person/number morpheme 1pl and 2pl: person/number before mood 3pl: mood before person/number

[rbejwm] ‘we watch-imp-1pl’[erbere] ‘I watch-fut-1sg’

[orbej] ‘we watch-1pl-subj’

[irbet] ‘they watch-subj-3pl

Morin 1988

“PRES SUBJ forms in Melleville Picard are normally built on the corresponding PRES IND ones by suffixing to them the SUBJ marker /-/ when they end with a vowel, except for 3PL forms, where /--/ appears before the person ending /-tt/ (necessarily reduced to /-t/ after a consonant)” (275)

Base

“According to Kager (1999b:281-282), the base (that is, the form that can influence the surface form of a derived related form) is a freestanding output form - a word - and it must contain a subset of the grammatical (morphological and semantic) features of the derived form.” (Bonet, Lloret, & Mascaró 2007:921)

Base: predictions

[irbe] + [] = [irbe] ‘watch.3pl.m.subj’ [orbej] + [] = [orbej] ‘watch.1pl.subj’ [orbeje] + [] = [orbeje] ‘watch.2pl.subj’ [irbett] + [] = *[irbet] ‘watch.3pl.subj’ [ktt] + [] = [kt] ‘sing.3pl.subj’

Why 3pl forms problematic?

Increasing sonority (Burquest & Payne 1993) Insufficient sonority distance for an onset No defective syllables in Picard

Near-categorical simplification of CL clusters Rintrer [rtre] ‘to enter’ ~ rinte [rt] ‘enters’

Frequent epenthesis phrase-internally qu’i résté [reste] lo ‘who lives there’ (Chl’autocar)

Phrase-final appendices (Piggott 1999) Oz oblie ch’réste. [rest] ‘We forget the rest’

(Chl’autocar)

2 types of /t/

j’veux qu’o cant’ch [kt] (Lettes 432)‘I want that we sing’

I feut qu’éj té cont’ch [kt] (Lettes 220)‘It is necessary that I tell you’

temps qu’i voéch’té clair [vwete] (Lettes 43)‘time they see clearly’

o veut qu’i peuch’té [pøte] travailleu (Lettes 182)

‘we want that they be able to work’

CONTIGUITY

R corresponds to a contiguous substring of B. (McCarthy & Prince 1993:67)

CONTIGUITY: highly ranked in Vimeu Picard (Auger 2001)

/km/ ‘road’ > [ekm]/*kem/ [t] tolerated if [t] part of a larger morpheme [t] preferred if morpheme boundary present [t]: more compatible with appendix position

3pl /tt/ vs. Subjunctive //

Gaston Vasseur’s description

« In the subjunctive present, all verbs end in ch, except those in [t]-[d], []-[], [s]-[z] and those whose root ends in a consonant followed by a liquid [r] or [l]. » (unpublished note, Jehan Vasseur, p.c.)

Gaston Vasseur (1904-1971): some data I

I feut qu’ tout l’ monne viche (Lettes 111) [vi] ‘It is necessary that everybody live’

pour qu’oz y allonche ? (Lettes 11) [al] ‘so that we go there’

temps qu’i voéch’té clair (Lettes 43) [vwete] ‘time that they see clearly’

dvant qu’i meurche. (Lettes 65) [mr]‘before he dies’

Gaston Vasseur: some data II

qu’i li coll’ch és main (Lettes 1039) [kl]‘that he stick his hand’

qu’éj vous donn’ché chon mille (Lettes 452) [dne]‘that I give you 5,000’

qu’i répliqu’ch… (Lettes 30) [replik] ‘that he respond’

qu’éj té racont’ch (Lettes 50) [rakt] ‘that I tell you’

Analysis Word-final appendices: /t/ and // possible

[.typ+t] ‘occupy.3pl’ [ra.kt+] ‘tell.sg.subjunctive’ [dn+] ‘give.sg.subjunctive’ [dn+t] ‘give.ind.pres.3pl’

Complex codas: /LC/ Ceusses qui pérl’té [perl.te] bien (Lettes1379)

‘speak.ind.pres.3pl’ qu’éj t’én-n in pérl’ch. [perl+] (Lettes 1124)

‘that I tell you about it’

OCP effect qu’tu cminches [km] (Ch’coin 58)

‘begin.subj.2sg’ qui pousse [pus] (Lettes 8)

‘grow.subj.3sg’ qu’chof feume al passe [pas] (Flopèe 21)

‘the woman pass.subj.3sg’ qu’a marche [mar] (Lettes 041)

‘work.subj.3sg’

But…

qu’o pinseuche [psø] (Lettes 323)‘think.subj.2pl’

qu’oz y passonche [pas] (Lettes 432)‘pass.subj.1pl’

qu’o noz amusonches [amyz] (Lettes 511)‘have.fun.subj.1pl’

qu’o cangeonche [k] (Lettes 390)‘change.subj.1pl’

Limit on the number of consonants

No examples of [perlt] ‘speak.subj.3pl’ [otypt] ‘occupy.subj.3pl’

À moins qu’ chés feumes i princh’té[prte] goût à ch toubac et pi qu’i tap’té[tapte] (Lettes 107)‘Unless women begin to like tobacco and they begin to hit’

Gaston Vasseur: variation

sans qu’o no donne [dn] (Lettes 162)‘without that one give us’

qu’éj li donn’ch [dn] (Lettes 365)‘that I give him’

Qu’o no rprinche [rpr] […] pi qu’o no rdonne[rdn] (Lettes 173)‘That we take back […] and they give us back’

Robert Touron (1907-1993)

qu’éj n’in fouaiche [fw] (Ch’coin 38)‘that I do some’

qu’j’értrouve [ertruv] (Flopèe 8)‘I find again (subj.)’

pour qu’i li prète [prt] (Ch’coin 103)‘so he can lend (subj.) it to him’

qu’j’értorne [ertrn] (Ch’coin 96)‘I turn over (subj.)’

Amiénois Picard I

pour éque ches soupe i bouche-té [bute](Lediu, II, 124)‘so soup will boil’

pour qué je vous donne-che [dn] l’absolution(Lediu, II, 202)‘so I will give you my absolution’

devant qu'i se réveile-che. [revj] (Lediu, II, 30)‘before they wake up’

Amiénois Picard II

i feut que jé retorne [rtrn] à nou moison. (Lediu, II, 77)‘it is necessary that I return home’

pour éque chacun i rente [rt] da sen bien. (Lediu, II, 38)‘so everyone benefits’

Our data

Oral recordings: radio shows, sociolinguistic interviews (1996-98)

Written texts: Ch’Lanchron magazine, published books, web pages

L’art de conjuguer le verbe picard Elicitation tasks: 5 Picard speakers

4 men and 1 woman aged between 32 and 75

Subjunctive vs. 3pl

Verb Gloss Ind. pr. 3pl Subj. 3sg Subj. 3pl

Rbéyer ‘watch’ [irbett] [irbe] [irbet]Finir ‘to finish’ [ifinitt] [ifini] [ifinit]Vnir ‘come’ [ivjnt] [ivj] [ivjt]Moérir ‘die’ [imrt] [imr] [imrt]/[imrt]

Serrer ‘hold tightly’ [isrt] [isr]/[isr] [isrt] /[isrt]Brûler ‘burn’ [ibrylt] [ibryl] [ibrylt]

Tcheuiller ‘collect’ [itjt] [itj] [itjt]

Arriver ‘arrive’ [arivt] [ariv] [arivt]

Otchuper ‘occupy’ [typt] [typ] [typt]

Younger speakers: analysis

Word-final appendix: voiceless stops only

/LC/ complex codas: possible but marginal

Competition between // and /C/ in codas

/LC/ vs. /CC/

/LC/ /CC/Decreasing sonority: [rl], [lm], [ld]but *[lr], *[rj], *[lj]

Equal sonority possible(e.g., [pt], [kt])

No other constraint on C C2: only voiceless stopsEpenthesis less frequent Epenthesis very frequentComplex coda Coda + appendix

al réste din ch'mèrais ! (Canteraine)‘She lives in the swamp area’I met sin casque dins ch’bénitieu (Ch’coin 66)‘He puts his hat in the stoup’

Future I

[arivre] ‘I will arrive’ (Chl’autocar 25) [wardre] ‘I will keep’ (Chl’autocar 43) [merrø] ‘you will walk’ (Crimbillie 32) [mtrer] ‘they will show’ (Crimbillie 77) [suflere] ‘I will blow’ (Flopèe 47) [perler] ‘one will speak’ (Lettes 17)

Future II

[trnra] ‘he will turn’ (Lettes 261) [trnr] ‘we will turn’ (JVasseur 74:28) [trnre] ‘I will turn’ (Art de conjuguer) [perlre] ‘I will speak’ (Art de conjuguer)

/LCt/

qui’iz hurl’t [yrl+t] à l’mort (Piéches 24)‘that they call death’

qui torn’t [trn+t] aveuc chés gins. (Piéches 27)‘that turn with people’

Ceusses qui pérl’té [perl.te] bien (Lette 1379)‘those whose speak well’

I feut qu’chés fleurs i meurch’t [mr+t] pour… ‘‘It is necessary that flowers die in order to…’(4/5 subjects, elicitation, May 2010)

But also evidence of theirmarginal status

[perler] ‘one will speak’ (Lettes 17) [ketrn] (* [ketrn]) ‘turn.1sg.subj.pres’ [kitrt] (*[kitrnt]) ‘turn.3pl.subj.pres.’

(Vasseur 1996:41)

Variation: [srvt] / [srt] serve.3pl.ind.pres’

Art de conjuguer: bases in /r/Subjunctive in // Unmarked subjunctive

Verb Gloss Verb Gloss

Moérir ‘die’ Adorer ‘adore’

Courir ‘run’ Agorer ‘to deck sb out in’

Servir ‘serve’ Asseurer ‘ensure’

Durer ‘last’ Tirer ‘pull’

Espérer ‘hope’

Éclairer ‘provide light’

Prépèrer ‘prepare’

Respirer ‘breathe’

Éporer ‘raise dust’

Écorer ‘support’

//: competition with otherconsonants

Verb Gloss Ind. pres.3sg

Ind. present3pl

Subj. 3pl Source

Pérler ‘speak’ [perl] [perlt] [perlt] Various textsArt conjuguer

Réponne ‘answer’ [rep] [repnt][repdt]

[rept] Jacques V. & Jean-Luc D.

Prinne ‘take’ [pr] [prnt] [prt] Jean-Luc D.

Assayer ‘try’ [asj] [asjt] [asjt][ast]

Art conjuguer

Servir ‘serve’ [sr] [srvt][srt]

[srt] Art conjuguer

Donner ‘give’ [dn] [dnt] [dnt]*[dt]

Art conjuguer

Taper ‘hit’ [tap] [tapt] [tapt]*[tat]

Art conjuguer

Elicitation data

Why no epenthesis?

Epenthesis and morphology

Morpheme No epenthesis Epenthesis

Base Complexword

Gloss Base Complexword

Gloss

[m] ‘-ly’ [gr] [grm] ‘a lot’ [libr] [librem] ‘freely’

[re] ‘1sg.fut’ [aprt] [aprtre] ‘will bring’ [mtr] [mtrere] ‘will show’

[] ‘subj.’ [kur] [kur] ‘run’ [mtr] *[mtre] ‘show’

[] ‘subj.’ [kt] *[kte] ‘sing’

Analysis I

Context for epenthesis: Unsyllabifiable sequence of 3+ consonants Marginal syllabifications Prosodic role: linking role

/kt/ + // > *[kte] ‘sing.sg.subj’ /mtr/ + // *[mtre] ‘show.sg.subj’

Cf. [mtrer] ‘will show.3sg’

/purkmø/ > [purekmø]

Écmincheu?

I n’pérlé point‘He doesn’t speak’

Analysis II

Multiple stems for verbs like rintrer? [rtr]: infinitive, imperfect, future,

conditional, participles [rt]: present

/CL/ simplification regular and predictable Not all present forms

[ortr] ‘we enter’ [ortre] ‘you enter’

So what do we propose?

Subjunctive built on inflected forms of indicative present

Morpheme-specific specifications for epenthesis Future and conditional: allowed Subjunctive & 3pl:

Historically, epenthesis not required: appendices Synchronic grammar: disallowed word-internally

Morpheme and epenthesis

il ainm'té bién (Chl’autocar) [mte] ‘they quite like’

qu'i pérl'té conme li. (Beudets) [perlte]‘who speak like him’

o n’ donn’ché pu (Lettes 763) [dne] ‘we don’t give anymore’

o brûl’ché toute (Lettes 748) [bryle]‘one burn everything’

Concluding remarks

Rescuing phonology throughmorphology

Bonet & Lloret 2009 Gender allomorphy Selection of a different allomorph Selection of a different morphological class

Picard subjunctive conjugation Morpheme metathesis

// vs. /tt/

Language change: appendix vs. Coda Competition between // and other C’s More restricted distribution of //

Postvocalic After /r/ After a single consonant

Evidence for LC complex codas

Why no epenthesis?

History reflected in synchronic grammar

Ch’est toute !

References

A big thank you

To the following Picardisants, for theirquestions and for great discussions: Jean-Pierre Calais Jacques Dulphy Jehan Vasseur Jean-Luc Vigneux

To the 5 Picardisants who did ourelicitation tasks

/j/ and /l/

If [r] complex codas are possible, why isthe subjunctive for travailleu ‘work’ [travaj] rather than [travaj]?

OCP effect: Disfavoring effect of /l/ */j/ among younger speakers