Euskal inesibo singularraren diakronia eta berreraiketa-metodoaren dibulgazio-saio bat
- 1 Euskaltzaindia
ISSN: 1130-5738
Year of publication: 2019
Issue: 111
Pages: 41-51
Type: Article
More publications in: Uztaro: giza eta gizarte-zientzien aldizkaria
Sustainable development goals
Abstract
In consonant-ending words the Basque inessive suffix presents an irregular epenthetic -e- in definite singular phrases (cf. lanean, hitzean...). Jacobsen (1977) provided a solution to this problem by reconstructing the inessive marker as -gan. This article gathers evidence against this proposal and propounds an alternative hypothesis based on the grammaticalization of demontratives. It also establishes a methodological parallel with a well-known problem in the field of astronomy: the analysis of some irregularities in Uranus’ orbit lead to the discovery of Neptune. This article highlights the methodological value of irregularity even in very different scientific domains.