Roots of syntax: Subordinates and their equivalents in Balochi

International audienceRecordings made with Afro-Baloch informants in South-Eastern Iran show a surprisingly low number of subordinated clauses if “subordination” is understood in the traditional way, as clauses introduced by conjunctions (and/or potentially marked by other overt means). Conversely, passages which invite a translation into English (etc.) by subordination do occur. Particularly clear are procedural text, where the completion of one step is the precondition for the next one. Passages such as this are frequently marked by repetition (Step 1 – Step 1', Step 2) and by a specific intonation. Intonation alone may also mark subordination:As noted by CREISSELS (2006: 185), “Il faut notamment tenir compte du fait que la construction d’une phrase complexe peut reposer uniquement sur l’intonation. Par exemple, en français oral, une intonation particulière suffit pour indiquer qu’un enchaînement tel que Tu as faim, je te donne à manger doit être reconnu comme une phrase complexe avec une relation de type conditionnel entre les deux unités phrastiques (‘si tu as faim, je te donne à manger’) et à l’oral, il est impossible de confondre une telle phrase complexe avec une séquence de deux phrases assertives indépendantes”.Another strategy used in combination with intonation, and sometimes in combination with repetition, is the use of connectives, which introduce either the subordinate or the matrix clause. We will argue that these strategies of subordination are typical for spoken language (while overt marking with conjunctions is typical for written and literary styles). Obviously such patterns cannot be seen in written records of historical languages, but the use of the Hittite connective nu (conate of Bal. nī) for parallel purposes might suggest that we are looking at an inherited phenomenon