Typologie des Genus im Sorbischen. Die grammatische Kategorie Genus zwischen Referentenbezug und lexikalischer Verfestigung

Abstract

The typology of Gender in Sorbian. The Grammatical Category Gender between Reference Indication and Lexical Classification

In Sorbian, the gender of personal nouns operates between pragmatic-situational reference and lexical classification, which is an indicator of the grammaticalization of gender as an obligatory category of nouns. In this study, we propose a field structure of gender in personal nouns, which is defined by two axes: The functional axis extends between the poles of fully lexicalized gender in equipollent gender contrastive pairs and the pragmatic, reference-based use of gender in nouns of the “genus commune”. The second axis describes the structural contrast between the realization and neutralization of gender relations. The gender affiliation of nouns can remain unexpressed for lexical (epicenes) or pragmatic reasons (generic masculine/feminine). In Sorbian, the pragmatically motivated use of gender is now only present in a residual form. The extent to which the lexical fixation of gender has taken place can be estimated by considering loanwords with inanimate denotation. Especially since the establishment of complete bilingualism among speakers of Sorbian, conflicts between the structural parameters of the case systems in the contact languages are resolved in favour of the model language. Thus, the previously unproductive and marked inflection class of feminine nouns with base form inflection is gaining new productivity in Sorbian by the adoption of loanwords. This process leads also to an expansion of uninflected nouns.