 | Referential Effects on the Expression of Three-Participant Events across Languages - An Introduction in Memory of Anna Siewierska
by Eva van Lier (PDF - 670k) Introduction to special issue on Referential Effects on the Expression of Three-Participant Events across Languages The Effects of Referential Factors in Mojeno Trinitario Derived and Non-Derived Ditransitive Verbs
by Francoise Rose (PDF - 585k) This paper investigates the effects of
referential factors (more specifically the person hierarchy) in non-derived and
derived three-participant constructions of Mojeno Trinitario, an Arawak
language of Bolivia. The basic effect of referential properties in the
three-participant constructions is that only one object may be indexed on the
verb, and it is has to be a speech act participant. Referential factors thus
indirectly create a competition between the two non-agentive arguments for the
object status. The person value of the two non-agentive arguments is thus
conditioning a construction alternation between a double-object and an
indirective alignment based on a semantic role hierarchy P / T > R / Causee.
Differences along four tests of objecthood can be observed among the three types
of three-participant constructions (ditransitive verb 'give', causativized and
applicative-marked monotransitive roots). The clearest conclusion is that
derived ditransitive verbs do not behave like non-derived three-participant
verbs. Ditransitive Alignment in Yakima Sahaptin
by Joana Jansen (PDF - 700k) The grammatical coding of monotransitive and ditransitive clauses in Sahaptin (Plateau Penutian) demonstrates sensitivity to a range of factors, including animacy, person, topicality and number. The language over-codes participants throughout transitive paradigms, violating principles of economy in both flagging and indexing patterns. For example, a third person agent argument of any monotransitive or ditransitive verb may be case marked in one of three ways, depending on the properties of other participants. In this paper I discuss the categories of ditransitive clauses and describe the multiple ditransitive alignment patterns in the Yakima dialect of Sahaptin. Referential Hierarchies in Three-Participant Constructions in Blackfoot: The Effects of Animacy, Person, and Specificity
by Lena Russell, Inge Genee, Eva van Lier and Fernando Zuniga (PDF - 912k) This paper discusses alignment patterns in three-participant constructions in Blackfoot (Western Algonquian; Canada, USA). We demonstrate the effects of referential hierarchies relating to animacy, person and specificity. Blackfoot verbs stem are subcategorized for transitivity and the animacy of S (for intransitives) and P(atient), R(ecipient), T(heme), or B(eneficiary) (for (di)transitives), showing crossreference with at most two participants. Nonspecific participants are never crossreferenced, resulting in the possibility of constructions with three or even four participants, only one of which is crossreferenced on the verb. Even when all participants in a three-participant construction are specific, only two can be crossreferenced on the verb: the A and what is generally called the ‘primary object’ in Algonquian studies (T, R or B depending on the specific stem in question). Any remaining participants are not crossreferenced on the verb, irrespective of their specificity status. Whether T, R or B is chosen to be the primary object is lexically determined by the verbal stem, and more in particular by the so-called ‘final’, a derivational morpheme which closes every verb stem in Blackfoot. While Algonquian languages are often thought to display only secundative alignment, in line with the overwhelming importance of animacy in their grammars, we show that some stems require indirective alignment, while others allow for both configurations. Cross-referencing of A and B occurs as a result of applicativization with a benefactive final, which downgrades any potentially present T and/or R participants to noncrossreferenced objects. Finally, Blackfoot allows for a form of marking additional participants by a preverbal element called a ‘relative root’, which licenses a participant without influencing crossreferencing patterns and without indicating the specificity or animacy of the licensed participant. The Expression of Three-Participant Events in Movima
by Katharina Haude (PDF - 556k) In Movima (isolate, Amazonian
Bolivia), the structure of transitive clauses is determined by referential
properties of the core arguments: the encoding of an argument depends on the
relative position of its referent on a referential hierarchy. Movima has no
ditransitive constructions. Three-participant events are expressed by
monotransitive clauses, with one of the non-Agent participants having the status
of an argument and the other that of an adjunct. In three-participant clauses
there are no reference effects, i.e., there is no competition for argument
status between the two non-Agent participants based on their relative
referential properties. Instead, the choice of which non-Agent participant is
encoded as an argument and which as an adjunct is determined by the lexical or
derivational properties of the predicate. Ditransitive Alignment and Referential Hierarchies in Araki
by Alexandre Francois (PDF - 860k) Since Bossong (1985), referential hierarchies have proven useful in
accounting for patterns of differential object marking (DOM) in
mono‑transitive clauses. More recent studies (Siewierska 1998; Haspelmath
2005; Bickel 2008; papers in this volume) have also shown the relevance of such
hierarchies in explaining the alignment patterns of ditransitive verbs –
that is, how languages treat formally the Theme and the recipient or Goal.
Araki, a highly endangered Oceanic language of Vanuatu, not only shows DOM with
its transitive verbs, but is also sensitive to referential properties of
arguments in its handling of ditransitive alignment. On a hierarchy defined by
the features [±local] (i.e. speech-act participant) and [±human], the
higher-ranking participant receives the status of object, while the other one is
demoted to a peripheral role. The result is a pattern of regular alternation
between indirective and secundative alignment, depending on the relative
properties of the Theme and the Goal. The present article will describe these
patterns, and discuss cases of variation. Ultimately, rules of ditransitive
alignment in Araki can be explained functionally as a competition between
non-agent participants on a scale of affectedness. Referential Hierarchies in Three-Participant Constructions in Vera'a
by Stefan Schnell (PDF - 738k) This paper explores the relevance of referential hierarchies for different types of three-participant constructions in Vera'a, an endangered Oceanic language of
North Vanuatu. In Vera’a, animacy, information structure and referential
status of discourse participants interact in complex ways to influence the
realization of goals/recipients in two different types of construction that both
exhibit indirective argument alignment. The choice between a prepositional and a
possessive-like construction is determined by semantic factors, namely whether a
caused motion or a caused possession interpretation is intended. Referential
hierarchies are relevant for the choice of referential expression for theme and
goal/recipient argument, and these different types of expression are amenable
for different positions in each type of three-participant construction. Word
order variation does, however, not bring about a change of alignment which is
indirective in all possible constructional variants. This is even true for cases
where a pronominal recipient argument is incorporated into the verbal predicate,
resembling the realization of pronominal P arguments. Referential Hierarchy Effects in Yakkha Three-Participant Constructions
by Diana Schackow (PDF - 966k) Yakkha (Kiranti language family, Nepal) has several constructions
where speech act participants (SAP) and third persons are not treated alike.
Such effects are found in the treatment of agents and patients of
two-participant constructions, but also in the treatment of theme and goal
arguments of three-participant constructions. This paper explores the
referentiality effects on case marking and verbal agreement of theme and goal
arguments. Crucially, most effects are scenario-based, i.e. they are conditioned
not only by the properties of one argument, but by the relation between theme
and goal. Besides the distinction between SAP and third person, the animacy of
arguments can play a role, so that the argument realization in one construction
is often conditioned by an interplay of several factors. Apart from alternations
in case and agreement, Yakkha exhibits a serialization pattern that is related
to an atypically high animacy of theme arguments. After analyzing these
alternations and their conditions, the paper discusses how the findings match
predictions that have been made about argument realization in three-participant
constructions. 'Give' Constructions in the Papuan Languages of Timor-Alor-Pantar
by Marian Klamer and Antionette Schapper (PDF - 1053k) This paper describes three-participant ‘give’
constructions in ten Papuan languages of the Timor-Alor-Pantar (TAP) family.
Generally lacking a class of simple ditransitive root verbs, TAP languages
express ‘give’ events by means of biclausal constructions
(‘take X then give Y’), serial verb constructions (‘take X
give Y’), or particle-verb constructions originating in serial verb
constructions. In this paper, we focus on the syntactic treatment of the gift
(T), since it, unlike the other participants in ‘give’
constructions, displays considerable diversity across the TAP languages. Through
the study of the synchronic variation in TAP ‘give’ constructions,
we reconstruct the syntactic constructions from which the various modern
constructions have developed, and sketch the grammaticalization paths that have
led to them. A Corpus Study of Mexican Spanish Three-Participant Constructions with and without Clitic Doubling
by Chiyo Nishida (PDF - 735k) In Spanish verbs associated with three participants –
Agent, Theme and Recipient – may appear in alternating constructions,
where the 3rd person recipient argument is realized as a
prepositional phrase (PP) (Pedro envió una carta
a María
‘Peter sent a letter to Mary’) or as one doubled by a clitic (Pedro
le envió una carta
a María ‘Pedro sent Mary a
letter’), the latter being referred to as an indirect object (IO). This
paper provides a corpus-based study of the distributional patterns of the two
constructions that includes both give-type and send-type verbs. The analysis of
PPs and IOs in terms of referential properties shows that both have a strong
tendency to be [+definite]. However, the distribution of the IO is more
constrained than the PPs in terms of certain referential properties, although
there are some lexical differences observed among the verbs. The PP, on the
other hand, is free of any restrictions. One important contribution of this
study is that it provides empirical evidence that the IO associated with the
role of Recipient behaves very differently from the one assuming other roles:
clitic doubling, which has become the norm for the latter, is still very
restricted for the former, contrary to what has been commonly assumed. |
