Abstract
AbstractIn this study, we present an analysis of gender assignment tendencies in Jamtlandic, a language variety of Sweden, using a word list of 1029 items obtained from fieldwork. Most research on gender assignment in the Scandinavian languages focuses on the standard languages (Steinmetz 1985; Källström 1996; Trosterud 2001, 2006) and Norwegian dialects (Enger 2011, Kvinlaug 2011, Enger & Corbett 2012). However, gender assignment principles for Swedish dialects have not previously been researched. We find generalizations based on semantic, morphological, and phonological principles. Some of the principles apply more consistently than others, some ‘win’ in competition with other principles; a multinomial logistic regression analysis provides a statistical foundation for evaluating the principles. The strongest tendencies are those based on biological sex, plural inflection, derivational suffixes, and some phonological sequences. Weaker tendencies include non-core semantic tendencies and other phonological sequences. Gender assignment in modern loanwords differs from the overall material, with a larger proportion of nouns assigned masculine gender.
Highlights
IntroductionGrammatical gender can be defined as ‘classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words’ (Hockett 1958:231, from Corbett 1991:1)
Background and previous researchGrammatical gender can be defined as ‘classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words’ (Hockett 1958:231, from Corbett 1991:1)
While we do not attempt to assemble an exhaustive list of gender assignment principles for Jamtlandic, we aim to establish some clear tendencies for gender assignment, in enough detail to be able to draw comparisons to related Scandinavian languages
Summary
Grammatical gender can be defined as ‘classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words’ (Hockett 1958:231, from Corbett 1991:1). Gendered languages have varying ranges of VALUES (the number of genders present). They vary with respect to ASSIGNMENT, or how individual lexical items receive a gender (Audring 2014:7). Gender assignment is the main focus of our study. In this study we are interested in the gender a noun possesses in a general sense, rather than in a specific context. (following Dahl 2000) we look at LEXICAL rather than REFERENTIAL gender; referred to as SYNTACTIC rather than SEMANTIC gender (Corbett 1991:225)
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