This chapter investigates the expression of associated motion and directional motion in the form of serial verb constructions (SVCs). In a sample of 124 languages with SVCs, 80% have motion SVCs. The most common types are directional SVCs, in which a path-of-motion verb combines with another motion verb, and prior associated motion SVCs expressing motion prior to the activity or state predicated by the other verb in the construction. Concurrent motion and subsequent motion are much less common. In a prior motion SVC, the motion verb nearly always precedes the other verb, and the figure on the path of motion is the subject. In a directional SVC, the path-of-motion verb nearly always follows the other verb, and the grammatical function of the figure on the path of motion can vary according to the semantics of the main verb in the construction.
This article describes two distinct but related grammaticalization paths in Barayin, an East Chadic language. One path is from a first-person plural pronoun to a first-person dual pronoun. Synchronically, the pronominal forms in Barayin with first-person dual number must now be combined with a plural addressee enclitic, nà, to create a first-person plural pronoun. This path is identical to what has been documented in Philippine-type languages. The other path is from a first-person dative suffix to a suffix dedicated to first-person hortative. This path of grammaticalization has not been discussed in the literature. It occurred in several related languages, and each case results in a hortative form with a dual subject. Hortative forms with a plural subject are created by adding a plural addressee marker to the dual form. The plural addressee marker in Chadic languages is derived from a second-person pronominal.
This book contains a Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) analysis of Barayin morphosyntax, with a particular focus on serial verb constructions. Barayin is a Chadic language spoken by about 5000 people in the Guera region of Chad. The core chapters of the book provide analyses of the basic clause, noun phrases, verb phrases, and serial verb constructions. The version of LFG assumed includes two recent innovations. The first is minimal c-structure which results in simpler phrase structure representations. The second is the assumption that glue semantics accounts for argument selection, rejecting the need for a level of a-structure or for Completeness and Coherence in f-structure. This allows argument sharing in serial verb constructions to be modeled in a connected s-structure. This method of modeling semantic composition in complex predicates is extended to directional and associated motion complex predicates in Choctaw and Wambaya, removing the need to appeal to a special mechanism to unite semantic forms in such constructions.
This chapter provides a detailed overview of Lexical-Functional Grammar, and explains the particular version of LFG assumed in the book. Three levels of representation are appealed to: c-structure, f-structure and s-structure. The c-structure analysis applies a recent proposal called “minimal c-structure” which updates the formal representation of phrase structure in LFG (Lowe and Lovestrand 2020). This complex system results in much simpler phrase structure representations. The level of a-structure is explicitly excluded from the architecture following the proposal of Asudeh & Giorgolo (2012). This view is motivated by the ability of glue semantics to account for argument selection, thereby removing the need for Completeness and Coherence in f-structure. This formal apparatus is what enables argument sharing to be modeled in a connected s-structure in Chapters 6 and 7.
X theory was a major milestone in the history of the development of generative grammar. 1 It enabled important insights to be made into the phrase structure of human language, but it had a number of weaknesses, and has been essentially replaced in Chomskyan generativism by Bare Phrase Structure (BPS), which assumes fewer theoretical primitives than X theory, and also avoids several of the latter's weaknesses. However, Bare Phrase Structure has not been widely adopted outside the Minimalist Program (MP), rather, X theory remains widespread. In this paper, we develop a new, fully formalized approach to phrase structure which incorporates insights and advances from BPS, but does not require the Minimalist-specific assumptions that come with BPS. We formulate our proposal within Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG), providing an empirically and theoretically superior model for phrase structure compared with standard versions of X theory current in LFG. 1 We are grateful to the audiences at the University of Oxford Syntax Working Group (8 June 2016), at SE-LFG23 (13 May 2017), and at LFG17 (25 July 2017), where earlier versions of these proposals were presented. In particular we are grateful to Adam Przepiórkowski for insightful criticisms and helpful suggestions. We also thank the editors and anonymous reviewers. All remaining errors are our own.
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