Pui Yiu Szeto

Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Faculty Member

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Na'ama Pat-El

The University of Texas at Austin

Albert Bastardas-Boada

Universitat de Barcelona

Tamás Tölgyesi

University of Vienna

Louis de Saussure

University of Neuchâtel

Armando Marques-Guedes

UNL - New University of Lisbon

Eitan Grossman

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Martin Haspelmath

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Wolfgang Behr

University of Zurich, Switzerland

Mehrdad Naghzguy-Kohan

Bu-Ali Sina University

Lenore Grenoble

University of Chicago

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Article by Pui Yiu Szeto

Disposal constructions in Chaoshan Southern Min: An apparent time study of the Chenghai dialect

Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale, 2023

This study examines the use of various types of disposal constructions in the Chenghai dialect of... more This study examines the use of various types of disposal constructions in the Chenghai dialect of Chaoshan Southern Min. Based on the distinction between head-marking and dependent-marking grammar, we identify four types of disposal constructions, depending on the position of the marker. We performed the fruit cart task to elicit disposal constructions from 30 native speakers of this dialect. Our results indicate that zero-marking is the most dominant construction type, where topicalization represents the most common subtype; this observation is in line with Southern Min's strong tendency towards topicalized structures. Nonetheless, despite its dominance at present, the frequency of this construction type increases with age, which suggests that it may be losing ground. Notably, according to our preliminary observation, another topicalized structure in Chenghai Southern Min also seems falling into disfavour, suggesting that the declining use of topicalization in this Chaoshan dialect may be systemic.

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Revisiting the Amdo Sprachbund: Genes, languages, and beyond

Himalayan Linguistics, 2021

This paper attempts to discuss the convergence phenomena in the Amdo Sprachbund in the light of g... more This paper attempts to discuss the convergence phenomena in the Amdo Sprachbund in the light of genetic and cultural/religious factors. As an ethnolinguistically diverse region, the Amdo Sprachbund constitutes a natural laboratory for the study of language contact and human interaction at large. Unsurprisingly, populations within the Amdo Sprachbund show considerable signs of genetic admixture which sometimes result in disagreement between genetic structure and linguistic affiliation. More remarkably, their languages appear to show varying degrees of structural convergence towards Amdo Tibetan depending on their religious practice. To wit, syllable-initial consonant clusters and a three-term evidential system, two features which are clearly attributable to Tibetic influence, are only found in languages whose speakers practise(d) Tibetan Buddhism. These observations suggest that genetic and various sociohistorical factors should be taken into account in the study of areal linguistics.

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Establishing a Sprachbund in the Western Lingnan region: Conceptual and methodological issues

Folia Linguistica, 2021

It is well-known that Tai-Kadai languages have affected the typological profiles of Southern Sini... more It is well-known that Tai-Kadai languages have affected the typological profiles of Southern Sinitic varieties. For example, compared with their northern sisters, Southern Sinitic varieties display a stronger tendency towards head-initial structures, as in the N-N compounds for expressing the sex of animals and in post-verbal temporal adverbs. Given that the Tai-Kadai languages in China have been in contact with Sinitic for over two millennia, it is quite natural to find signs of Sinitic influence therein. Most remarkably, pre-verbal adjunct phrases and prenominal relative clauses, which are extremely atypical of VO languages but distinctive of Sinitic, are attested in some Tai-Kadai languages in Southern China. The prevalence of such typologically unusual traits among different linguistic groups in the Lingnan region of Southern China provides strong support for its status as a linguistic area. Devising and adopting a 'mutualist' approach, we analyse the typological data of over 280 language varieties, which we believe illustrates and strongly supports the idea that Western Lingnan qualifies as a linguistic area in its own right according to criteria widely recognized by areal linguists. The approach proposed in this study can be applied to other putative linguistic areas around the world to study the mechanisms and outcomes of contact-induced change under a specific set of ecological conditions.

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Sinitic as a typological sandwich: Revisiting the notions of Altaicization and Taicization

Linguistic Typology, 2021

Decades of works dedicated to the description of (previously) lesser-known Sinitic languages have... more Decades of works dedicated to the description of (previously) lesser-known Sinitic languages have effectively dispelled the common myth that these languages share a single "universal Chinese grammar". Yet, the underlying cause of their grammatical variation is still a matter for debate. This paper focuses on typological variation across Sinitic varieties. Through comparing the typological profiles of various Sinitic languages with those of their Altaic and Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) neighbors, we discuss to what extent the variation within the Sinitic branch can be attributed to areal diffusion. Taking into account over 360 language varieties of seven different genetic affiliations (Sinitic, Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic) and 30 linguistic features, we conduct a typological survey with the aid of the phylogenetic program NeighborNet. Our results suggest that convergence towards their non-Sinitic neighbors has likely played a pivotal role in the typological diversity of Sinitic languages. Based primarily on their degree of Altaic/MSEA influence, the Sinitic varieties in our database are classified into four areal groups, namely 1) Northern, 2) Transitional, 3) Central Southeastern, 4) Far Southern. This classification scheme reflects the intricate interplay between areal convergence, regional innovations, and retention of archaic features.

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Pidgin and Creole ecology and evolution

The Routledge handbook of Pidgin and Creole languages, 2020

This chapter outlines a research framework in which pidgin and Creole languages (PCL) are concept... more This chapter outlines a research framework in which pidgin and Creole languages (PCL) are conceptualized as adaptive systems with inherent idiolectal variation, a prerequisite to evolutionary change. Although such variation is present in all languages, PCL evolve in highly heterogeneous and multilingual ecologies characterized by certain sociohistorical contexts. This basic fact about PC ecology has significant methodological and theoretical implications. First, despite the connection between transfer in second language (L2) acquisition and substrate influence in PC genesis, PCL cannot be simply viewed as L2 varieties of their lexifiers because of the complex transmission scenarios in a typical PC ecology. Second, we need to abandon the assumption that Creoles necessarily descend from a pidgin antecedent, and, consequently, are “simpler” than their lexifier language. Instead, not unlike other cases of language change, the structural outcome of a contact situation must be largely determined by the nature of the input systems involved.

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(De-)Altaicisation as convergence and divergence between Japonic and Koreanic languages

Japanese/Korean Linguistics 27, Jul 2020

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Altaicization and De-Altaicization of Japonic and Koreanic

International Journal of Eurasian Linguistics, 2020

This article discusses 40 grammatical features in Japonic and Koreanic in relation to their neigh... more This article discusses 40 grammatical features in Japonic and Koreanic in relation to their neighbouring languages in Northeast Asia. The data comprise 66 modern language varieties of 13 different linguistic affinities, and 12 historical languages (including Old and Middle Japanese and Old and Middle Korean). The results generated from a computational phylogenetic tool show a significant distance in the typological profiles of three main clades: Northeast Asian, Japonic-Koreanic, and Sinitic spheres. Typologically, the Japonic and Koreanic languages form a common grammatical type by sharing up to 26/40 features. By tracing their attestation in the historical languages we can see that the converged grammars are likely to be results of typological Altaicization and de-Altaicization. The combination of linguistic and historical evidence points to a chronology in which Japonic and Koreanic had mutually converged by Altaicization and de-Altaicization, respectively, during the 1st millennium BC and AD before eventually diverging in the 2nd millennium AD.

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Creole typology is analytic typology

Language Ecology, 2019

This paper reviews a number of specific features typical of analytic languages, in an attempt to ... more This paper reviews a number of specific features typical of analytic languages, in an attempt to investigate whether Creole languages can indeed be grouped, at least structurally, with other languages of the analytic (or isolating) type. Based on Sybesma et al. (forthcoming), a study of the nature of analyticity, we select eight features which constitute rather obvious structural parallels between two unrelated groups, namely Sinitic and Kwa. In terms of Creole languages, these eight features can be also clearly located within the APiCS (Michaelis et al. 2013). Contrary to works like Bakker et al. (2011) which argue for the existence of a “Creole Prototype”, our results show that Creole languages do not cluster with each other against other non-Creole languages. Instead, various Creoles clearly owe their grammatical profile to the languages that dominate the typological environment in which they are formed.

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Multiple Correspondence and Typological Convergence in Contact-Induced Grammaticalization

Journal of Language Contact, 2017

This paper examines the emergence of perfective aspect in Cantonese-English bilingual children fr... more This paper examines the emergence of perfective aspect in Cantonese-English bilingual children from the perspective of contact-induced grammaticalization, focusing on the novel use of already. Although the adverbial already seems to serve a function similar to that of the Cantonese perfective marker zo2 in the bilingual children, other model constructions suggest that the function of already may combine those of several Cantonese particles such as the sentence-final particle laa3. The results suggest that in contact-induced grammaticalization, it is possible to develop a new category in the replica language based on multiple different but related categories in the model language. Adopting an evolutionary approach to language transmission (Mufwene, 2001), we discuss why grammaticalization in the Cantonese-English bilingual children does not seem to involve coevolution of form and meaning, why the grammaticalization phenomena in the bilingual children are only transient, and how the study of bilingual acquisition can contribute to contact linguistics.

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Typological variation across Mandarin dialects: An areal perspective with a quantitative approach

Linguistic Typology, 2018

This study explores the range and diversity of the typological features of Mandarin, the largest ... more This study explores the range and diversity of the typological features
of Mandarin, the largest dialect group within the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. Feeding the typological data of 42 Sinitic varieties into the phylogenetic program NeighborNet, we obtained network diagrams suggesting a north-south divide in the Mandarin dialect group, where dialects within the Amdo Sprachbund cluster at one end and those in the Far Southern area cluster at the other end, highlighting the impact of language contact on the typological profiles of various Mandarin dialects.

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Bilingual children as “laboratories” for studying contact outcomes: Development of perfective aspect

Linguistics, 2019

This paper examines the close parallels between the contact phenomena in Cantonese-English biling... more This paper examines the close parallels between the contact phenomena in Cantonese-English bilingual children and Southeast Asian creoles, especially in the domain of perfective aspect marking. 'Already' is a cross-linguistically common lexical source of perfective aspect markers given its conceptual link with the sense of perfectivity. In contact scenarios involving a European lexifier and Southeast Asian substrates, the development of 'already' into a perfective marker is further triggered by the incompatibility between the verbal morphology of the former and the isolating typology of the latter. Adopting an ecological approach to language transmission and creole genesis, we discuss how the transient grammaticalization phenomena in the bilingual children can be compared to decreolization, and how the study of bilingual acquisition can contribute to contact linguistics. Despite the prevalence of unpredictable factors in contact scenarios, we argue that bilingual children can still serve as powerful "laboratories" for studying contact outcomes at the communal level.

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Papers by Pui Yiu Szeto

On the raison d’être of the notion of Sprachbund, with special reference to languages in China

Journal of Chinese Linguistics

語言聯盟(Sprachbund)泛指沒有親緣關係(或關係疏遠)的語言之間，在同一區域長期接觸下產生的結構趨同現象。雖然學界不乏關於語言聯盟的研究，但以往的研究未有具體及劃一的標準去界定何謂語... more 語言聯盟(Sprachbund)泛指沒有親緣關係(或關係疏遠)的語言之間，在同一區域長期接觸下產生的結構趨同現象。雖然學界不乏關於語言聯盟的研究，但以往的研究未有具體及劃一的標準去界定何謂語言聯盟。因此，語言聯盟的概念時而模糊不清，甚至令人質疑其存在意義。有見及此，本文建議以歷史證據為基礎，去建立清晰嚴謹的標準來辨識語言聯盟。以此方法界定的語言聯盟具有相似的形成背景，從而確保彼此之間的可比性，令學者得以將研究重心置於語言接觸的機制及結果。中國歷史悠久、地大物博、族群紛雜、語種繁多，為語言聯盟的研究提供了一個重要平台。目前，中國境內最少有兩個符合嚴格標準的語言聯盟，分別為華南地區的西嶺南語言聯盟，以及西北地區的安多語言聯盟。區域內各語言族群間的密切接觸互動，不僅導致語言結構和文化風俗上的相互滲透，甚至對群體遺傳結構造成一定程度的影響。此等發現反映了語言聯盟內的族群互動現象複雜多變，故對語言學及人類學等學科皆有重大研究價值，非常值得深入探索。

Brombal, D., Szeto, P.Y., & Conti, S. (2023). Unveiling the language of ideology in China's environmental planning: Pilot ecolinguistic analysis of an Environmental Impact Assessment. Annali di Ca' Foscari. Serie Orientale, 59, 475-506.

Unveiling the language of ideology in China's environmental planning: Pilot ecolinguistic analysis of an Environmental Impact Assessment, Aug 29, 2023

While predominantly seen as a technical process, environmental planning is in fact largely shaped... more While predominantly seen as a technical process, environmental planning is in fact largely shaped by cultural and ideological factors. Ecolinguistics offers a coherent approach to analyse these elements, by unearthing their linguistic traces and exposing how they naturalize social-ecological goals. So far, limited efforts have gone into developing tools for a systematic ecolinguistic analysis of Chinese texts informing environmental decision-making. This paper seeks to address this gap, by introducing a novel ecolinguistic framework and the results of its application on a Chinese Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.

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Disposal constructions in Chaoshan Southern Min

Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale

This study examines the use of various types of disposal constructions in the Chenghai dialect of... more This study examines the use of various types of disposal constructions in the Chenghai dialect of Chaoshan Southern Min. Based on the distinction between head-marking and dependent-marking grammar, we identify four types of disposal constructions, depending on the position of the marker. We performed the fruit cart task to elicit disposal constructions from 30 native speakers of this dialect. Our results indicate that zero-marking is the most dominant construction type, where topicalization represents the most common subtype; this observation is in line with Southern Min’s strong tendency towards topicalized structures. Nonetheless, despite its dominance at present, the frequency of this construction type increases with age, which suggests that it may be losing ground. Notably, according to our preliminary observation, another topicalized structure in Chenghai Southern Min also seems falling into disfavour, suggesting that the declining use of topicalization in this Chaoshan dialect...

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The Effect of Mutual Mate Choice on Sex Differences in Speech Content

Language can be viewed as sexual displays from an evolutionary perspective. As both sexes in huma... more Language can be viewed as sexual displays from an evolutionary perspective. As both sexes in humans contribute significantly to parental care, we can expect that both males and females use language to display their favourable qualities in order to attract potential mates. In this study, 50 participants (22 male, 28 female) rated 30 vignettes, in which a male or female protagonist attempted to impress an opposite sex friend in a conversation. In both male-female and female-male flirtations, conversations revealing the speaker’s positive character traits were the most highly rated while those explicitly showing the speaker’s sexual interest in the potential partner were the most poorly rated. Despite the similarities, there were significant sex differences in the ratings of some individual vignettes and item-groups. Such differences would be chiefly discussed from an evolutionary perspective

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东亚海岸语言区域及群体制图

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Establishing a Sprachbund in the Western Lingnan region: conceptual and methodological issues

Folia Linguistica, 2021

It is well-known that Tai-Kadai languages have affected the typological profiles of Southern Sini... more It is well-known that Tai-Kadai languages have affected the typological profiles of Southern Sinitic varieties. For example, compared with their northern sisters, Southern Sinitic varieties display a stronger tendency towards head-initial structures, as in theN–Ncompounds for expressing the sex of animals and in post-verbal temporal adverbs. Given that the Tai-Kadai languages in China have been in contact with Sinitic for over two millennia, it is quite natural to find signs of Sinitic influence therein. Most remarkably, pre-verbal adjunct phrases and pre-nominal relative clauses, which are extremely atypical ofVOlanguages but distinctive of Sinitic, are attested in some Tai-Kadai languages in Southern China. The prevalence of such typologically unusual traits among different linguistic groups in the Lingnan region of Southern China provides strong support for its status as a linguistic area. Devising and adopting a ‘mutualist’ approach, we analyse the typological data of over 280 l...

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Pidgin and Creole ecology and evolution

Sinitic as a typological sandwich: revisiting the notions of Altaicization and Taicization

Linguistic Typology, 2021

Decades of works dedicated to the description of (previously) lesser-known Sinitic languages have... more Decades of works dedicated to the description of (previously) lesser-known Sinitic languages have effectively dispelled the common myth that these languages share a single “universal Chinese grammar”. Yet, the underlying cause of their grammatical variation is still a matter for debate. This paper focuses on typological variation across Sinitic varieties. Through comparing the typological profiles of various Sinitic languages with those of their Altaic and Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) neighbors, we discuss to what extent the variation within the Sinitic branch can be attributed to areal diffusion. Taking into account over 360 language varieties of seven different genetic affiliations (Sinitic, Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic) and 30 linguistic features, we conduct a typological survey with the aid of the phylogenetic program NeighborNet. Our results suggest that convergence towards their non-Sinitic neighbors has likely played a pivotal role in th...

Grammaticalization in isolating languages and the notion of complexity

Grammaticalization from a Typological Perspective, 2018

This chapter consists of four related arguments. We first review the claims about the nature of g... more This chapter consists of four related arguments. We first review the claims about the nature of grammaticalization in isolating languages, specifically those of East and Mainland Southeast Asia (EMSEA); based on this, we present a view that suggests that grammaticalization is indeed a type-specific, or areal, phenomenon. Following on that, we propose that morphological elaboration is likewise type- or area-specific; and to conclude we discuss the significance of this in terms of language evolution. Our arguments lead us to posit that elaboration of morphological structure only happens in a certain type of languages, and cannot be taken as an overall diagnostic of age across the world?s languages. In other words, ‘mature’ linguistic phenomena are not necessarily morphologically complex, nor are all morphologically free languages ‘young’.

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