Chapter 14. A typological study of tail-head linkage constructions

Abstract

This paper explores tail-head linkage constructions in a convenience sample of 58 languages. Special attention is paid to recapitulative constructions in which reported speech clauses are omitted and only the quotative verb is recapitulated and summary constructions composed of a light verb accompanied by a deictic and dependency marker. These strategies are more frequent in East Tucanoan languages in the sample. Interestingly, neighboring languages not genetically related to East Tucanoan have both strategies. It is proposed that the most obvious explanation seems to be language contact. This is because: (1) the languages are spoken in the same region, (2) they are not genetically related, and (3) the probability of chance resemblance is low given the rarity of the strategies.