Introduction to Overt Markers and Discontinuous Exponence

While many languages combine person and number in a single morphological marker, a significant number of languages use separate overt markers for these grammar features. This is known as discontinuous exponence, where person and number agreement in subject-verb relationships is marked by distinct morphemes. A thorough understanding of these languages can provide insights into the possible structure of human language agreements.

Examples from Around the World

Georgian exemplifies this phenomenon. The verb 'be' in Georgian inflects for person and number, with different distributions for each person:

tFirst Person: v-ar 'I am', v-ar-t 'we are' tSecond Person: x-ar 'you are', x-ar-t 'y’all are' tThird Person: ar-is 'he is', ar-ian 'they are'

In the third person, a single suffix combines both person and number, exemplifying continuous exponence. However, the first and second persons use a person prefix and a number suffix, showcasing discontinuous exponence.

Linguistic Typology: Types of Discontinuous Exponence

Linguist Amy Campbell (Berkeley dissertation) has categorized discontinuous exponence into three main types:

1. Coreferential Exponence

Coreferential exponence involves a set of feature categories, such as person and number, being combined into a single morpheme. However, in these languages, those features are separately marked in the verb. For example, in Georgian, the first person singular and plural are marked with different prefixes and suffixes, which are not combined.

2. Combinatorial Exponence

With combinatorial exponence, a single feature category is realized by multiple morphemes, each with a different value. For instance, in Hupa, a small number of speakers in California, the plural number is marked by one affix, while the first person singular is marked by a different affix that does not specifically denote plural number.

3. Multiple Exponence

In cases of multiple exponence, identical or related features are marked in multiple places within a morpheme. An example from Tonkawa (an extinct isolate language of Texas) is a verb form where the same feature is repeated in different locations, making the structure complex and rich.

Additional Examples and Linguistic Insights

European Isolate: Basque, languages such as Turkana, a Nilo-Saharan language from Kenya, and Ket, a Paleo-Siberian language from Siberia, exemplify discontinuous exponence. These languages use distinct morphemes for person and number, although some show variations like other combinations (e.g., person and gender, number and gender).

Discontinuous exponence is a rare yet fascinating phenomenon that provides clues about the possible systems of agreement in human languages. It is a reflection of how language particles evolve and become grammaticalized into single words, leading to the complexity of verbal agreement structures.