The origin of the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages

Guillaume Jacques (1)

1 CRLAO - Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale

In the Sino-Tibetan family, reflexivity is either not expressed on the verb as in Chinese or Tibetan or expressed by means of a ‘middle' marker as in Dulong or Kiranti languages. Among the morphologically rich languages of this family, only Rgyalrong languages have distinct and unambiguous reflexive and reciprocal markers on the verb. This paper shows that the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages has two possible origins. It could come from a fusion of the third person singular marker and the root meaning ‘self' or alternatively come from the free third person pronoun. Both hypotheses are compatible with our understanding of Rgyalrong historical phonology.

Mots clés: Rgyalrong; Japhug; reflexive; reciprocal; Tangut; Yukaghir; grammaticalization

Domaines: Linguistique

Guillaume Jacques. The origin of the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2010, 73 (2), pp.261 -268. ⟨halshs-00531157⟩