Feature 1: Do coordinators follow or precede the second coordinand?

LitTEL code: Pos_Coord

The relevant construction

This feature looks for constructions involving neutral coordinative relations. In such constructions, a morph, referred to as the 'coordinator', specifies a 'horizontal' syntactic relationship between two or more constituents (referred to as the 'coordinands'). This relationship is semantically neutral (English 'and'), and does not disjoin ('or') or contrast ('but') the coordinands.

It is sometimes difficult to be sure that a construction is a true instance of neutral coordination. Commonly, the morphs in question will have polysemies involving adverbial functions such as 'also' or 'with'. The principal criterion for distinguishing a true coordinative construction is whether the construction functions as a single constituent (e.g. in terms of triggering plural agreement on its verb).

If attestation allows, this feature should be annotated on the basis of bisyndetic constructions, involving exactly two nominal coordinands without attributes (such as 'mother and father').

Values

	Medial	The coordinative morpheme is placed medially (A and B)
	Postposed	The coordinative morpheme is placed postpositionally (A B-and)
	Change	Change ongoing (only for map)

The feature values

The values of this feature query the ordering of the coordinator with regard to the coordinands, specifically whether it precedes or follows the second coordinand. There do not appear to be any languages which employ the logically conceivable third option, where the coordinator precedes both coordinands (coord A B).

Examples

• English (value = 0): In English, the construction 'A and B' is the most common way to express neutral coordination, and the morph is always placed medially. That is, 'mother and father', never 'mother father and'.
• Latin (value = 1 evolving towards 0): Classical Latin has both medial ('mater et pater') and postposed ('mater paterque') coordinative morphs. However, the medial morph is somewhat more common and has more syntactic and semantic freedom. Increasingly, there is a tendency to restrict '-que' to coordinands which are semantically closely related (as in 'terra marique', for instance). Consequently, Classical Latin (from about -200) is annotated as 0. The earliest epigraphic Latin, conversely, preferred '-que' in all contexts and is annotated as 1 (up to about -300). It is difficult to establish the dominant strategy in the intervening period (the third century BCE).
• Sumerian (value = 1 evolving towards 0): Sumerian uses a comitative marker ('with') as a coordinator and postposes it after the second coordinand. Since this triggers plural agreement on verbs, it should be analysed as a relevant coordinative construction. Later, however, Sumerian borrows a Semitic medial conjunction.

Diachrony

Total number of change events: 20

Average change events per millennium: 0.09645

Symmetry of change: 0

Map of feature change through time