Lexicalized Verbs in Paraguayan Guarani and Other Tupi-Guarani Languages

In this paper we provide a diachronic characterization of two lexicalization processes in Paraguayan Guarani and their extension across the Tupi-Guarani family involving two prefixes: the middle je‑/ñe‑ and the Old Guarani third person patient index jo‑/ño‑. In both cases lexical semantics explains the distribution of the prefixes in the different verbs. While an animacy constraint underlies jo‑/ño‑ lexicalization, middle situation types are key to understanding je‑/ñe‑ lexicalization. Regarding their reanalysis, jo‑/ño‑ lexicalization followed from changes in the alignment system of dependent verbs that occurred in certain languages. For je‑/ñe‑ lexicalization, semantic shifts alongside lexical replacements ultimately resulted in the lack of transparency of the derived verbs. Finally, we argue the two processes differ in their temporal depth and life cycles, with je‑/ñe‑ lexicalization being older and still ongoing, while jo‑/ño‑ lexicalization is more recent and restricted to only certain Tupi-Guarani languages.