John Benjamins Publishing Company
A diachronic study of the impersonal passive in Ainu
Abstract
This paper provides a diachronic account for the impersonal passive in Ainu which is marked with a(n)= in Saru (Southwestern Hokkaido) and with a(n)= for 3sg/pl.o and ci= for 1sg/pl.o in Ishikari (Northeastern Hokkaido). I have argued that in spite of clearly impersonal origins, neither the a(n)= -marked nor the ci= -marked construction can be regarded as impersonal because of the possibility of the inclusion of an oblique actor phrase and that none of the constructions can be regarded as personal passive because reanalysis of O to S is incomplete: only some topic-related subject properties (word order etc.) have been acquired by O but no single agent-related subject property has been acquired yet. In the context of the discussion of grammaticalization pathway IMPERSONAL > IMPERSONAL PASSIVE > PASSIVE, of special interest is the action nominalization origin of the a(n)= -marked construction. Keywords: Ainu; Saru; Ishikari; impersonal passive; grammaticalization; action nominalization
Abstract
This paper provides a diachronic account for the impersonal passive in Ainu which is marked with a(n)= in Saru (Southwestern Hokkaido) and with a(n)= for 3sg/pl.o and ci= for 1sg/pl.o in Ishikari (Northeastern Hokkaido). I have argued that in spite of clearly impersonal origins, neither the a(n)= -marked nor the ci= -marked construction can be regarded as impersonal because of the possibility of the inclusion of an oblique actor phrase and that none of the constructions can be regarded as personal passive because reanalysis of O to S is incomplete: only some topic-related subject properties (word order etc.) have been acquired by O but no single agent-related subject property has been acquired yet. In the context of the discussion of grammaticalization pathway IMPERSONAL > IMPERSONAL PASSIVE > PASSIVE, of special interest is the action nominalization origin of the a(n)= -marked construction. Keywords: Ainu; Saru; Ishikari; impersonal passive; grammaticalization; action nominalization
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Impersonal constructions
- Towards a typology of impersonal constructions 19
- Overlap and complementarity in reference impersonals 57
- Verbs of motion 91
- On the distribution of subject properties in formulaic presentationals of Germanic and Romance 127
-
Part II. Impersonal constructions
- Impersonal constructions and accusative subjects in Late Latin 169
- From passive to impersonal 189
- Passive to anticausative through impersonalization 229
-
Part III. Cross-linguistic variation in Impersonal constructions
- The Maa (Eastern Nilotic) Impersonal construction 257
- Impersonal constructions in Jóola-Banjal 285
- Impersonal configurations and theticity 307
- Revisiting impersonal constructions in Modern Hebrew 323
- The elephant in the room 357
- Meteorological verbs in Uralic languages – are there any impersonal structures to be found 395
- Impersonal constructions in Ket 439
- Impersonal verbs in Central Alaskan Yupik (Eskimoan) 459
- Impersonals in Innu 489
- A diachronic study of the impersonal passive in Ainu 517
- Referential impersonal constructions in Mandarin 547
- Impersonal constructions in some Oceanic languages 581
- Impersonal constructions in Umpithamu and the Lamalamic languages 607
- Author index 627
- Language index 633
- Language index 637
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Impersonal constructions
- Towards a typology of impersonal constructions 19
- Overlap and complementarity in reference impersonals 57
- Verbs of motion 91
- On the distribution of subject properties in formulaic presentationals of Germanic and Romance 127
-
Part II. Impersonal constructions
- Impersonal constructions and accusative subjects in Late Latin 169
- From passive to impersonal 189
- Passive to anticausative through impersonalization 229
-
Part III. Cross-linguistic variation in Impersonal constructions
- The Maa (Eastern Nilotic) Impersonal construction 257
- Impersonal constructions in Jóola-Banjal 285
- Impersonal configurations and theticity 307
- Revisiting impersonal constructions in Modern Hebrew 323
- The elephant in the room 357
- Meteorological verbs in Uralic languages – are there any impersonal structures to be found 395
- Impersonal constructions in Ket 439
- Impersonal verbs in Central Alaskan Yupik (Eskimoan) 459
- Impersonals in Innu 489
- A diachronic study of the impersonal passive in Ainu 517
- Referential impersonal constructions in Mandarin 547
- Impersonal constructions in some Oceanic languages 581
- Impersonal constructions in Umpithamu and the Lamalamic languages 607
- Author index 627
- Language index 633
- Language index 637
