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Abstract
Although AA languages seem to fall neatly into two word order types based on their location, namely verb-medial in Mainland Southeast Asia, verb-final in South Asia, verb-initial structures are found in different groups of AA, especially in peripheral languages. In most cases these structures cannot be accounted for by language contact. Based on the geographical distribution, data from a wide range of AA languages is invoked to claim that verb-initiality or predicate-initiality is inherited from the protolanguage and retained in some languages due to both linguistic and societal factors.
Abstract
Although AA languages seem to fall neatly into two word order types based on their location, namely verb-medial in Mainland Southeast Asia, verb-final in South Asia, verb-initial structures are found in different groups of AA, especially in peripheral languages. In most cases these structures cannot be accounted for by language contact. Based on the geographical distribution, data from a wide range of AA languages is invoked to claim that verb-initiality or predicate-initiality is inherited from the protolanguage and retained in some languages due to both linguistic and societal factors.