On the top-down direction of complementizer borrowings. Evidence from Cimbrian and other languages

What we will focus on in this paper is the Cimbrian complementation system, which is of particular interest for its hybrid nature. After briefly reviewing the state of the art on this phenomenon we will proceed in three steps: first, we take into account the “double” nature of the Cimbrian subordination system describing two different classes of complementizers, i.e. the az-type and the ke-type: the former gives rise to an asymmetry in word orders between main and embedded clauses, the latter does not; second, we will show that the twofold system of complement clauses carries over to adverbial clauses as well. In a third step, we delve into a particular subclass of adverbial clauses, namely causal clauses, introduced by the complementizer umbromm ‘because’ and discussing the possible implications of (what might be viewed as) contact-induced grammatical change. As concluding remarks we will tentatively propose two generalizations on a theoretical approach to language contact, also basing on contact situations outside the Indo-European languages.