Re: Noun and Pronoun flexion in contemporary English


Joachim Pense wrote:
mb wrote:


As you pointed out, we already have a different form for some subject
pronouns depending on tense/aspect due the contracted verb form (Engl)
or the phonetic change (French). Grammaticalization, though, would mean
that a certain general paradigm follows by analogy or otherwise,
creating a rule. For example [hil] can replace he, or only as subject,
or all pronouns can complete a subject-by-tense paradigm ([Al, jul,
hil, shil, wil, Del / Av, j@v, hiv, shiv / Az, juz, hiz, shiz]...

So extension by analogy is a necessary condition for grammaticalization?
Sounds a bit arbitrary to me, but OK, I'm not the one who defines the
terms...

Neither am I. And no. Analogy was one of many possible examples. What
is necessary (in my mind) would be that the change creates a rule.

Still, back to my question: are there other languages where a state of tense
marking on nouns by inflection is present (and undisputed), and how's it
called?

I don't see any in the very few languages I know that fit precisely
your expectation of a pronoun subject case depending on the tense or
aspect. Others here will know better.
But there are examples of other things that happened. One, off the top
of the head, would be the grammaticalization of a verbal suffix for the
copula ("short form of to be" in teaching materials) attached to nouns
and adjectives in Persian and (differently) Turkish.

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