Investigating grammatical borrowing in Moseten through historical sources

Sakel, Jeanette

Abstract

Using historical sources (1804-1913), this paper investigates the influence of Span-ish on the grammar of modern Mosetén, an indigenous language spoken in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes and the adjoining Amazon basin. Focusing on the categories of gender agreement and phrasal word order, I argue that modern Mosetén gender agreement follows Spanish patterns, while word order rules are in part affected by intensive language contact with Spanish. Speaker variation, as observed in modern Mosetén, appears to be present in the historical data already. Yet, changes in use-patterns and frequencies may be the reason for the extension of some grammatical categories, meaning modern Mosetén grammar is closer to Spanish than the language observed in the original historical sources.

• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2025
• Pages: 341-351
• Series Title: Empirically Oriented Theoretical Morphology and Syntax
• Series ISSN: 2366-3529
• Book Title: From Fieldwork to Linguistic Theory: A Tribute to Dan Everett
• Chapter Number: 14
• ISBN: 9783985541027
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11130313
• Publisher URL: https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/434
• Contract Date: Sep 1, 2023