Paradigmatic Structure of Person Marking #
@cite{cysouw-2009} @cite{greenberg-1963}
Formalizes the typological framework from:
Cysouw, M. (2009). The Paradigmatic Structure of Person Marking. Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory. Oxford University Press.
Core Ideas #
Person marking is analyzed not via traditional "person × number" grids but via participant groups: sets of speech act participants that are marked by a single morpheme. "Plural" is reanalyzed as qualitative group composition (who is included?) rather than quantitative number (how many?).
The 8-cell paradigmatic scheme (Fig 10.1) comprises:
- 3 singular categories: speaker (1), addressee (2), other (3)
- 5 group categories: 1+2 (minimal inclusive), 1+2+3 (augmented inclusive), 1+3 (exclusive), 2+3 (second person group), 3+3 (third person group)
A paradigmatic structure assigns each category to a morpheme class: categories sharing a class are homophonous (marked by the same form).
Key Results Formalized #
- Singular homophony types (Sa–Se): 5 patterns from Chapter 2
- First person complex types (Pa–Pe): 5 common patterns from Chapter 3
- Explicitness Hierarchy (10.7): ordering of paradigmatic explicitness
- Horizontal Homophony Hierarchy (10.1–10.2): ordering of horizontal mergers
- Implicational universals: exclusive → inclusive (3.23), split inclusive → exclusive (3.24)
- Homophony Implication (10.4): singular homophony → inflectional paradigm
A paradigmatic structure assigns each of the 8 person categories to a morpheme class. Categories assigned the same natural number are realized by the same morpheme (homophonous).
This is the central representational device: all of Cysouw's typological classifications are computable from this function.
- name : String
Language or paradigm name
- isoCode : String
ISO 639-3 code (if applicable)
- morphClass : Core.Person.Category → Nat
Maps each person category to a morpheme class index. Same index = same morpheme (homophony).
- isInflectional : Bool
Whether this is an inflectional (true) or independent (false) paradigm
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- Phenomena.Agreement.Typology.instBEqParadigmaticStructure = { beq := fun (a b : Phenomena.Agreement.Typology.ParadigmaticStructure) => a.name == b.name }
Two categories are homophonous in a paradigm iff they share morphClass.
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- s.homophonous c1 c2 = (s.morphClass c1 == s.morphClass c2)
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Number of distinct morphemes in the paradigm.
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The 5 singular homophony types (@cite{cysouw-2009}, §2.1–2.5).
Classifies how the three singular categories (1, 2, 3) pattern with respect to homophony within a paradigm.
- Sa : SingularType
- Sb : SingularType
- Sc : SingularType
- Sd : SingularType
- Se : SingularType
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- Phenomena.Agreement.Typology.instBEqSingularType.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)
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Compute the singular homophony type from a paradigmatic structure.
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The 5 common types of marking for 'we' (@cite{cysouw-2009}, Table 3.2/10.3).
Classifies how the three first-person-complex categories (1+2, 1+2+3, 1+3) pattern in the paradigm relative to singular 1.
- Pa : FirstPersonComplexType
- Pb : FirstPersonComplexType
- Pc : FirstPersonComplexType
- Pd : FirstPersonComplexType
- Pe : FirstPersonComplexType
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Compute the first person complex type from a paradigmatic structure.
Follows the decision tree in Figure 3.10:
- Any specialized 'we'? (No → Pb)
- Inclusive distinguished from exclusive? (No → Pa unified-we)
- Exclusive specialized (≠ 1sg)? (No → Pc only-inclusive)
- Inclusive split (min ≠ aug)? (No → Pd, Yes → Pe)
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Whether a paradigm has horizontal homophony (singular = non-singular).
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Whether a paradigm has singular homophony (between singular categories).
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Whether a paradigm has vertical homophony (between non-singular categories, excluding the first person complex internal structure).
Cysouw §10.1.6: "the various kinds of homophony between the categories of the first person complex are not included under this heading." So we only check mergers between the first person complex and {2+3, 3+3}, or between 2+3 and 3+3.
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Explicitness level of a paradigm.
Measures how many person oppositions are grammaticalized in the paradigm. Higher = more explicit (more distinct morphemes).
- singularHomophony : ExplicitnessLevel
- verticalHomophony : ExplicitnessLevel
- unifiedWe : ExplicitnessLevel
- inclusiveExclusive : ExplicitnessLevel
- minimalAugmented : ExplicitnessLevel
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Compute the explicitness level of a paradigmatic structure.
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Horizontal Homophony Hierarchy.
If horizontal homophony occurs, it follows the person hierarchy 1 > 2 > 3: first attested in 3rd person, then 2nd, then 1st (exclusive).
- none_ : HorizHomophonyLevel
- third : HorizHomophonyLevel
- second : HorizHomophonyLevel
- exclusive : HorizHomophonyLevel
- first : HorizHomophonyLevel
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Addressee Inclusion Implication I: Exclusive → Inclusive. If there is a specialized exclusive morpheme, there is also a specialized inclusive morpheme.
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Split Inclusive Implication: Split inclusive → Exclusive. If the inclusive is split into minimal and augmented, then the exclusive is specialized.
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Homophony Implication: Singular homophony → inflectional paradigm.
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Latin (Sa, Pd): all singular distinct, inclusive/exclusive. 1sg -ō, 2sg -s, 3sg -t, 1+2/1+2+3 -mus, 1+3 -mus, 2+3 -tis, 3+3 -nt Note: Latin has no incl/excl distinction, unified 'we' = 1pl -mus.
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English verbal inflection (Sb, Pb): 2=3 homophony in present tense, no specialized 'we' (English has -s for 3sg, zero elsewhere → 1=2 in terms of overt marking, but the paradigm structure is actually Sb-type when we consider the pronoun paradigm: I/you/he-she-it). Actually in the verbal inflection: walk/walk/walks → 1=2 vs 3 = Sd type. For the independent pronouns: I ≠ you ≠ he/she → Sa, unified-we.
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English verbal inflection (Sd type): walk/walk/walks → 1=2 vs 3.
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Dutch verbal inflection (Sb type): loop/loopt/loopt → 1 vs 2=3. No incl/excl distinction, unified plural -en.
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Spanish verbal inflection (Sc type): hablo/hablas/habla → 1=3 homophony in subjunctive (hable/hables/hable). Indicative present = Sa. Using the subjunctive as the classic Sc example.
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French verbal inflection (Se type): parle/parles/parle → 1=2=3 (phonologically identical in spoken French for -er verbs).
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Mandara (Chadic): independent pronouns with inclusive/exclusive (Pd). yá/ká/á (1/2/3), má (1+2/1+2+3), ŋá (1+3), kwá (2+3), tá (3+3).
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Ilocano: minimal/augmented system (Pe). co (1sg), ta (1+2 minimal), tayo (1+2+3 augmented), mi (1+3 exclusive), mo (2sg), yo (2+3), na (3sg), da (3+3).
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Maká (Mataco-Guaicuruan, Paraguay): only-inclusive (Pc). hoy- (1sg/1+3), xi(t)- (1+2/1+2+3), other forms for 2, 3, 2+3, 3+3.
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Mura Pirahã: no-we (Pb). Only 3 singular pronouns, no group marking.
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Toda (Dravidian): Tupí-Guaraní-type with 3=3+3 horizontal homophony.
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Czech independent pronouns: Sa (all singular distinct), unified-we (Pa).
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Finnish verbal inflection (Sa type): puhun/puhut/puhuu — all singular
distinct (suffixes: -n, -t, -V). No inclusive/exclusive distinction,
unified 'we' (Pa): puhumme (-mme). Person marking is inflectional.
Singular person distinction confirmed by the negative auxiliary paradigm
from Fragments.Finnish.Negation: en/et/ei are all distinct.
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All language data.
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Singular homophony type verification #
First person complex type verification #
Five singular types are exhaustive over our data #
All five first-person complex types are attested #
Addressee Inclusion Implication holds for all paradigms: exclusive specialized → inclusive specialized. (Cysouw 3.23)
Split Inclusive Implication holds for all paradigms: min.incl ≠ aug.incl → exclusive specialized. (Cysouw 3.24)
Homophony Implication holds for all paradigms: singular homophony → inflectional paradigm. (Cysouw 10.4)
Independent pronouns → no singular homophony (contrapositive of 10.4).
Ilocano (Pe/minimal-augmented) is the most explicit.
Mandara (Pd/inclusive-exclusive) is one step below.
English pronouns (Pa/unified-we) are at unified-we level.
French inflection (Se/singular homophony) is least explicit.
The Explicitness Hierarchy is respected in our data: more explicit paradigms distinguish more categories.
Toda has horizontal homophony (3sg = 3+3).
English pronouns have horizontal homophony (you.sg = you.pl).
Latin has no horizontal homophony.
Pirahã has maximal horizontal homophony (all singular = group).
The First Person Hierarchy: no-we < unified-we < only-inclusive < inclusive/exclusive < minimal/augmented
Verified: the hierarchy corresponds to increasing number of forms for 'we'. We count the distinct morpheme classes among {1+2, 1+2+3, 1+3}.
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The First Person Hierarchy is respected: Pb (no-we) < Pa (unified) < Pd (incl/excl) < Pe (min/aug) measured by number of specialized 'we' forms.
Bridge 3: English Fragment Pronouns ↔ Paradigmatic Structure #
Connect the English pronouns fragment (Fragments/English/Pronouns.lean) to Cysouw's classification. English independent pronouns are Sa (all singular distinct) with unified-we (Pa).
English pronoun paradigmatic structure is Sa (all distinct in singular).
English pronoun paradigmatic structure is Pa (unified 'we').
English has horizontal homophony: you.sg = you.pl (2 = 2+3). This is visible in the Fragment: Fragments.English.Pronouns.you and you_pl share the same surface form "you".
Bridge 4: Czech Fragment ↔ Paradigmatic Structure #
Czech pronouns (já/ty/on/my/vy/oni) are Sa with unified-we.
Bridge 5: Morphological status ↔ Explicitness #
@cite{cysouw-2009} shows that inflectional paradigms correlate with lower explicitness. Our data confirms: all inflectional paradigms have explicitness ≤ unified-we (i.e., singular or vertical homophony, or unified-we).
Inflectional paradigms in our data are all at or below unified-we on the Explicitness Hierarchy.
Independent pronoun paradigms show greater explicitness: none have singular homophony.
Number opposition stages (@cite{cysouw-2009}, Fig 10.8).
Hierarchical tree of number oppositions, from no number marking (N₁) to full number marking with restricted groups (N₃/N₄).
- N1 : NumberStage
- N2 : NumberStage
- N3 : NumberStage
- N4 : NumberStage
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- Phenomena.Agreement.Typology.instBEqNumberStage.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)
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Classify a paradigm's number stage by checking singular/group opposition.
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Person differentiation stages (@cite{cysouw-2009}, Fig 10.9).
Measures how finely person is distinguished in non-singular categories.
- P0 : PersonStage
- P1 : PersonStage
- P2 : PersonStage
- P3 : PersonStage
- P4 : PersonStage
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- Phenomena.Agreement.Typology.instBEqPersonStage.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)
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Classify a paradigm's person differentiation stage.
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Position in Cysouw's cognitive map (Fig 10.6), combining the number-of-forms-for-'we' with the paradigm type.
- numberStage : NumberStage
- personStage : PersonStage
- singularType : SingularType
- firstPersonComplexType : FirstPersonComplexType
- weFormCount : Nat
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- Phenomena.Agreement.Typology.instBEqCognitiveMapPosition.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false
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Compute the full cognitive map position of a paradigm.
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Finnish singular person distinction confirmed by the Fragment's negative auxiliary paradigm: the three singular forms (en/et/ei) are all distinct.