Which MATter matters in PATtern borrowing? The direction of case syncretisms

Abstract

This study addresses the question of which case-marker (i.e. MATter) is privileged in case realignment (i.e. PATtern borrowing) by examining two mixed varieties in northern Australia, which have borrowed either a locative or allative case marker, but not both, from a traditional Australian language. In Gurindji Kriol, the Gurindji locative case suffix has been borrowed and generalised to functions marked by the allative in Gurindji, whereas in Wumpurrarni English, realignment has occurred in the opposite direction, with the borrowed Warumungu allative suffix spreading to functions marked by the locative in Warumungu. In both cases, the development of a single marker of spatial relations has most likely occurred as the result of contact with Kriol, which has one preposition langa that marks all spatial relations, whether static or movement-orientated. The question of why the locative has been extended in one situation, and the allative in another is addressed in this paper.