Multiple exponence in Basque and its diachronic sources

Multiple exponence, a discomforting phenomenon for several theoretical approaches to morphology, has an unexpectedly significant presence in Basque inflection. On the one hand, all the main types of multiple exponence identified by Harris (2017) are attested in Basque. On the other, and thanks to its historical records spanning from the mid-16th century to the present, Basque offers a unique opportunity to observe the evolution of morphological constructions involving multiple exponence and gain thereby insights into the mechanisms and the dynamics of change leading to the emergence of multiply marked inflectional forms and also, occasionally, to their loss. This paper discusses and accounts for both synchronic and diachronic data concerning multiple exponence in Basque (in the standard language as well as in various dialects). On the basis of certain structural idiosyncrasies of the language, and also on general grounds, it suggests in addition some possible refinements of Harris’s typology of multiple exponence. The diachronic analysis, in turn, demonstrates that multiple exponence in Basque is far from being a receding or marginal morphological property that speakers would be eager to dispense with.