Wdzenczny Dibella. The case for fewer cases in pre-chukotko-kamchatkan: Grammaticalization and semantics in internal reconstruction

Eastern Michigan University, 2011. — 113 p.This work internally reconstructs the case system of Pre-Chukotko-Kamchatkan from the comparative reconstruction of Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan. Using the comparative and etymological dictionaries by Fortescue (2005), Mudrak (2000), and Zhukova & Kurebito (2004), I demonstrate that in many instances, groups of cases in Proto-Chukotko-Kamchatkan have developed from a single case. I outline the paths of grammaticalization that led to the expanded case system in Proto-Chukotko- Kamchatkan, and I use semantic typology to support the plausibility of these developments. Examples of similar phenomena in other language families are used for comparison as well. I conclude that six grammatical cases (and a more regular case system) can be reconstructed in Pre-Chukotko-Kamchatkan, which has evolved and expanded into the comparatively reconstructed system of eleven cases in Proto- Chukotko-Kamchatkan presented in Fortescue (2005).