Bernat BARDAGIL
Ghent University
DOI : https://doi.org/10.56551/YPFW3713
Abstract: In this paper I discuss the diachrony of case marking alignment in Jê
languages (Brazil). Jê languages conform a medium-sized family with a rich pattern of
case marking: an accusative-ergative alignment split, which is a by-product of
nominalization strategies, and a split-S pattern in the accusative portion of the case
marking split. The one exception is Panará, a polysynthetic language where case
marking is uniformly ergative. In this paper I lay out empirical evidence for a general
decline of ergative case marking in the Northern Jê branch, and I put forward that this
is a consequence of a progressive shift in the functional load of case exponence
towards clausal position, resulting in a decline of morphological case marking, namely
a loss of morphological marking, and a conflation of ergative and nominative case
marking. Lastly, I argue that in Panará a true alignment shift occurred, giving rise to a
new sort of ergative case marking.