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Studies.AlokBhalla2026

Alok and Bhalla (2026): allocutivity and the syntax of honorifics #

A review of allocutive marking — verbal encoding of the addressee's features — and of honorifics as syntactic features. Allocutive markers come in three morphosyntactic kinds (agreement morphemes, addressee-hosting heads, clitic pronouns), distribute over clause types in three ways (root only, embedded-root contexts, freely in finite clauses), and are sourced from three loci where the discourse participants are represented (the speech-act phrase, the finiteness phrase, an applicative-like addressee phrase). Honorific features are relational: [iHON] on a nominal phrase orders the speaker against the referent, so every phrase in a clause sets its own level.

The marker kinds, distributions and loci are recorded per language as the review reports them, and the example rows check the distributional claims through each language's assignment. The Magahi rows check the fused subject/addressee suffixes against the Fragment's paradigm, the honorific levels of their pronouns against the Fragment's, the matching of second-person pronouns with the marker, and the independence of third-person levels; the Hindi rows check the plural-agreement route to subject honorification.

References #

Languages #

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inductive AlokBhalla2026.Language :
Type

The allocutive languages the review discusses at the level of marker type and distribution.

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    @[instance_reducible]
    instance AlokBhalla2026.instDecidableEqLanguage :
    DecidableEq Language
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    def AlokBhalla2026.instReprLanguage.repr :
    Language → ℕ → Std.Format
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      @[instance_reducible]
      instance AlokBhalla2026.instReprLanguage :
      Repr Language
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      def AlokBhalla2026.Language.glottocode :
      Language → String
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        def AlokBhalla2026.languageOf :
        String → Option Language

        The language of a row, for the languages with a profile.

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          The morphosyntax of the marker #

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          inductive AlokBhalla2026.MarkerType :
          Type

          An allocutive marker is an agreement reflex on a functional head, a head that itself hosts the addressee, or a clitic spelling out the addressee.

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            @[instance_reducible]
            instance AlokBhalla2026.instDecidableEqMarkerType :
            DecidableEq MarkerType
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            def AlokBhalla2026.instReprMarkerType.repr :
            MarkerType → ℕ → Std.Format
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              @[instance_reducible]
              instance AlokBhalla2026.instReprMarkerType :
              Repr MarkerType
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              def AlokBhalla2026.analyses :
              Language → List MarkerType

              The analyses the review reports for each language; Basque and Japanese are contested.

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                def AlokBhalla2026.levelOf :
                String → Option Magahi.Grade

                The Magahi honorific grade named by a row's honorific feature.

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                  theorem AlokBhalla2026.magahi_fusion_rows (row : Datum) :
                  row ∈ Examples.all → row.language = "maga1260" → ∀ m ∈ row.feature? "marker", ∀ s ∈ (row.feature? "subject").bind levelOf, ∀ a ∈ (row.feature? "addressee").bind levelOf, toString (Magahi.Pronouns.allocutive s a) = m

                  Magahi's suffixes are composites of the subject's and the addressee's honorific features (exx 2–6, 42–43): every row's marker is the Fragment's fused form for its two levels.

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                  theorem AlokBhalla2026.marker_rows (row : Datum) :
                  row ∈ Examples.all → ∀ m ∈ row.feature? "marker", (row.language = "soul1243" → ∃ (g : Basque.Grade) (x : Gender), Option.map toString (Basque.Pronouns.allocutive g x) = some m) ∧ (row.language = "gali1258" → m ∈ List.map (fun (x : Morphology.Morph) => x.form) Galician.Pronouns.allocutiveClitics) ∧ (row.language = "tami1289" → m = Tamil.Pronouns.pluralSuffix)

                  The Souletin markers of ex 1 and the Galician clitics are the Fragments'.

                  Distribution and loci #

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                  inductive AlokBhalla2026.Distribution :
                  Type

                  A marker occurs in root clauses only, also in embedded-root contexts (complements of saying, reason clauses), or freely in finite embedded clauses.

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                    @[instance_reducible]
                    instance AlokBhalla2026.instDecidableEqDistribution :
                    DecidableEq Distribution
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                    @[instance_reducible]
                    instance AlokBhalla2026.instReprDistribution :
                    Repr Distribution
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                    def AlokBhalla2026.instReprDistribution.repr :
                    Distribution → ℕ → Std.Format
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                      def AlokBhalla2026.distribution :
                      Language → Distribution
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                        inductive AlokBhalla2026.Locus :
                        Type

                        The discourse participants are represented in the speech-act phrase, the finiteness phrase, or an applicative-like addressee phrase whose licensing is language-specific.

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                          @[instance_reducible]
                          instance AlokBhalla2026.instDecidableEqLocus :
                          DecidableEq Locus
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                          def AlokBhalla2026.instReprLocus.repr :
                          Locus → ℕ → Std.Format
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                            @[instance_reducible]
                            instance AlokBhalla2026.instReprLocus :
                            Repr Locus
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                            def AlokBhalla2026.loci :
                            Language → List Locus

                            The loci the review's sources assign; Tamil's two marker positions support two loci, Japanese's complementizer-sensitive embedding an addressee phrase.

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                              inductive AlokBhalla2026.Context :
                              Type

                              A clause context.

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                                @[instance_reducible]
                                instance AlokBhalla2026.instDecidableEqContext :
                                DecidableEq Context
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                                def AlokBhalla2026.instReprContext.repr :
                                Context → ℕ → Std.Format
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                                  @[instance_reducible]
                                  instance AlokBhalla2026.instReprContext :
                                  Repr Context
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                                  def AlokBhalla2026.Distribution.Admits :
                                  Distribution → Context → Prop

                                  The contexts each distributional type admits.

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                                    @[instance_reducible]
                                    instance AlokBhalla2026.instDecidableRelDistributionContextAdmits :
                                    DecidableRel Distribution.Admits
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                                    theorem AlokBhalla2026.sa_only_restricted (l : Language) (h : loci l = [Locus.sa]) :
                                    distribution l ≠ Distribution.free

                                    The speech-act phrase is available only in root and embedded-root contexts; languages sourced from it alone are at most of the embedded-root type.

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                                    def AlokBhalla2026.contextOf :
                                    String → Option Context

                                    The context an embedding feature names.

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                                      theorem AlokBhalla2026.distribution_rows (row : Datum) :
                                      row ∈ Examples.all → ∀ l ∈ languageOf row.language, ∀ ctx ∈ (row.feature? "embedding").bind contextOf, ctx ≠ Context.nonfinite → (row.judgment = Judgment.acceptable ↔ (distribution l).Admits ctx)

                                      In the embedded rows, a marker in the embedded clause is grammatical exactly where the language's distributional type admits the context (exx 12–18, 21, 30–31); rows whose alternatives add the marker are read through those alternatives.

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                                      theorem AlokBhalla2026.nonfinite_rows (row : Datum) :
                                      row ∈ Examples.all → ∀ l ∈ languageOf row.language, row.feature? "embedding" = some "nonfinite" → (row.judgment = Judgment.acceptable ∧ row.alternatives = [] ↔ Locus.addr ∈ loci l) ∧ ∀ alt ∈ row.alternatives, alt.2 = Judgment.acceptable ↔ Locus.addr ∈ loci l

                                      Nonfinite complements carry the marker exactly in languages with an addressee phrase below the finiteness phrase: Galician's infinitives (ex 32) against Magahi's nonfinite clauses (ex 30), where the finiteness locus demands a finite clause.

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                                      theorem AlokBhalla2026.japanese_complementizer_rows (row : Datum) :
                                      row ∈ Examples.all → row.language = "nucl1643" → ∀ c ∈ row.feature? "embedding", c ∈ ["koto", "yooni", "to"] → (row.judgment = Judgment.acceptable ↔ c ≠ "to")

                                      Japanese -mas- in nonroot complements is sensitive to the complementizer: licensed under koto and yooni, not under to (ex 33).

                                      Honorific features #

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                                      inductive AlokBhalla2026.Status :
                                      Type

                                      The ordering [iHON] presents between the speaker and a referent, ⟦iHON⟧ = λx. S ≺ x with ≺ one of ≥, <, <<. In the analysis of Magahi the review reports, its nonhonorific, honorific and high honorific grades present the three orderings in turn.

                                      • atLeast : Status

                                        The speaker is at least the referent's equal, S ≥ x.

                                      • below : Status

                                        The speaker is below the referent, S < x.

                                      • farBelow : Status

                                        The speaker is far below the referent, S << x.

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                                        @[instance_reducible]
                                        instance AlokBhalla2026.instDecidableEqStatus :
                                        DecidableEq Status
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                                        @[instance_reducible]
                                        instance AlokBhalla2026.instReprStatus :
                                        Repr Status
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                                        def AlokBhalla2026.instReprStatus.repr :
                                        Status → ℕ → Std.Format
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                                          def AlokBhalla2026.statusOf :
                                          String → Option Status

                                          The ordering a row's status feature names.

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                                            def AlokBhalla2026.portnerParticle :
                                            Status → Bool → Option String

                                            [PPZ19]'s Korean speech-style particles as bundles of the speaker–addressee status and discourse formality (ex 34).

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                                              theorem AlokBhalla2026.korean_particle_rows (row : Datum) :
                                              row ∈ Examples.all → ∀ o ∈ (row.feature? "status").bind statusOf, ∀ f ∈ row.feature? "formal", portnerParticle o (decide (f = "+")) = row.feature? "particle"

                                              The Korean rows with status and formality features carry the particle the bundle realizes (exx 8a, 8b, 8d).

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                                              theorem AlokBhalla2026.magahi_second_person_rows (row : Datum) :
                                              row ∈ Examples.all → row.language = "maga1260" → row.judgment = Judgment.acceptable → ∀ p ∈ row.feature? "pronoun2", (∀ q ∈ row.feature? "pronoun2Other", q = p) ∧ ∀ a ∈ row.feature? "addressee", a = p

                                              Second-person pronouns in a Magahi clause share one level, and match the allocutive marker's addressee level (exx 41–43).

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                                              theorem AlokBhalla2026.magahi_pronoun_rows (row : Datum) :
                                              row ∈ Examples.all → row.language = "maga1260" → ∀ kt ∈ [("pronoun2", Magahi.Pronouns.secondSingular), ("pronoun3", Magahi.Pronouns.thirdSingular), ("pronoun3Other", Magahi.Pronouns.thirdSingular)], ∀ v ∈ row.feature? kt.1, ∃ (l : Magahi.Grade), levelOf v = some l ∧ ∃ (c : Magahi.Case), (kt.2 c l).form ∈ List.map String.toLower row.surfaceTokens

                                              The pronouns of the Magahi rows are the Fragment's at the grades the rows name. For each grade a row names for a second- or third-person pronoun, the Fragment's singular table gives a form at that grade, in some case, among the row's words (exx 39–45).

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                                              theorem AlokBhalla2026.magahi_mismatch_row (row : Datum) :
                                              row ∈ Examples.all → ∀ p ∈ row.feature? "pronoun2", ∀ q ∈ row.feature? "pronoun2Other", q ≠ p → row.judgment = Judgment.ungrammatical

                                              A mismatch between two second-person pronouns is out (ex 41).

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                                              theorem AlokBhalla2026.third_person_independent :
                                              (∃ r ∈ Examples.all, ∃ s ∈ Examples.all, r.feature? "pronoun3" = some "nh" ∧ s.feature? "pronoun3" = some "h" ∧ r.feature? "subject" = s.feature? "subject" ∧ r.judgment = Judgment.acceptable ∧ s.judgment = Judgment.acceptable) ∧ ∃ r ∈ Examples.all, r.feature? "pronoun2" = some "hh" ∧ r.feature? "pronoun3" = some "nh" ∧ r.feature? "pronoun3Other" = some "h" ∧ r.judgment = Judgment.acceptable

                                              Third-person levels are set independently: the same nonhonorific-subject verb hosts a nonhonorific and an honorific object pronoun (ex 44), and one clause carries three distinct levels (ex 45) — the case for [iHON] on every nominal phrase rather than one status feature per clause.

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                                              theorem AlokBhalla2026.hindi_plural_rows (row : Datum) :
                                              row ∈ Examples.all → row.language = "hind1269" → (row.feature? "agreement" = some "pl" ↔ row.feature? "subjectNumber" = some "pl" ∨ row.feature? "subjectHon" = some "h")

                                              Hindi has no allocutive marking; an honorific subject co-opts plural agreement (ex 48).