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Chapter 15. Indirect antipassive in Circassian

  • Peter M. Arkadiev and Alexander Letuchiy
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Antipassive
This chapter is in the book Antipassive

Abstract

The article focuses on antipassive formation in Adyghe and Kabardian (Circassian < West Caucasian), polysynthetic languages with ergative alignment of basic morphosyntax. The Circassian antipassive is typologically unusual in several respects. First, it is derived not only from transitive, but also from intransitive verbs: in these cases, it eliminates the indirect object. Thus, antipassive in Circassian targets an object argument, but not necessarily the direct object, contradicting the general ergative patterning. Second, the Circassian antipassive is expressed by the change of the root-final vowel, which complicates the determination of the direction of the valency change. Third, although the Circassian antipassive mainly fulfils the semantic functions typologically associated with antipassives, sometimes the syntactic type of the argument (i.e. nominal vs. clause) is relevant for the choice of the valency frame as well.

Abstract

The article focuses on antipassive formation in Adyghe and Kabardian (Circassian < West Caucasian), polysynthetic languages with ergative alignment of basic morphosyntax. The Circassian antipassive is typologically unusual in several respects. First, it is derived not only from transitive, but also from intransitive verbs: in these cases, it eliminates the indirect object. Thus, antipassive in Circassian targets an object argument, but not necessarily the direct object, contradicting the general ergative patterning. Second, the Circassian antipassive is expressed by the change of the root-final vowel, which complicates the determination of the direction of the valency change. Third, although the Circassian antipassive mainly fulfils the semantic functions typologically associated with antipassives, sometimes the syntactic type of the argument (i.e. nominal vs. clause) is relevant for the choice of the valency frame as well.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. The multifaceted nature of the antipassive construction 1
  4. Part 1. Lexical semantics and event representation of antipassive constructions
  5. Chapter 2. Antipassive propensities and alignment 43
  6. Chapter 3. Antipassive in the Cariban family 65
  7. Chapter 4. Aspect and modality in Pama-Nyungan antipassives 97
  8. Chapter 5. Antipassive constructions in Oceanic languages 149
  9. Chapter 6. Antipassive and the lexical meaning of verbs 177
  10. Chapter 7. Unspecified participant 213
  11. Part 2. Antipassive marking
  12. Chapter 8. Variation in the verbal marking of antipassive constructions 249
  13. Chapter 9. Antipassive derivation in Soninke (West Mande) 293
  14. Chapter 10. Explaining the antipassive-causative syncretism in Mocoví (Guaycuruan) 315
  15. Chapter 11. Polyfunctional vanka- in Nivaĉle and the antipassive category 349
  16. Part 3. Diachrony of antipassive constructions
  17. Chapter 12. The antipassive and its relationship to person markers 385
  18. Chapter 13. Antipassive derivations in Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan and their sources 427
  19. Chapter 14. The profile and development of the Maa (Eastern Nilotic) antipassive 447
  20. Part 4. Fuzzy boundaries
  21. Chapter 15. Indirect antipassive in Circassian 483
  22. Chapter 16. Antipassives in Nakh-Daghestanian languages 515
  23. Chapter 17. Antipassive and antipassive-like constructions in Mayan languages 549
  24. Chapter 18. When an antipassive isn’t an antipassive anymore 579
  25. Chapter 19. Antipassivization in Basque revisited 621
  26. Index 641
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.130.15ark

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. The multifaceted nature of the antipassive construction 1
  4. Part 1. Lexical semantics and event representation of antipassive constructions
  5. Chapter 2. Antipassive propensities and alignment 43
  6. Chapter 3. Antipassive in the Cariban family 65
  7. Chapter 4. Aspect and modality in Pama-Nyungan antipassives 97
  8. Chapter 5. Antipassive constructions in Oceanic languages 149
  9. Chapter 6. Antipassive and the lexical meaning of verbs 177
  10. Chapter 7. Unspecified participant 213
  11. Part 2. Antipassive marking
  12. Chapter 8. Variation in the verbal marking of antipassive constructions 249
  13. Chapter 9. Antipassive derivation in Soninke (West Mande) 293
  14. Chapter 10. Explaining the antipassive-causative syncretism in Mocoví (Guaycuruan) 315
  15. Chapter 11. Polyfunctional vanka- in Nivaĉle and the antipassive category 349
  16. Part 3. Diachrony of antipassive constructions
  17. Chapter 12. The antipassive and its relationship to person markers 385
  18. Chapter 13. Antipassive derivations in Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan and their sources 427
  19. Chapter 14. The profile and development of the Maa (Eastern Nilotic) antipassive 447
  20. Part 4. Fuzzy boundaries
  21. Chapter 15. Indirect antipassive in Circassian 483
  22. Chapter 16. Antipassives in Nakh-Daghestanian languages 515
  23. Chapter 17. Antipassive and antipassive-like constructions in Mayan languages 549
  24. Chapter 18. When an antipassive isn’t an antipassive anymore 579
  25. Chapter 19. Antipassivization in Basque revisited 621
  26. Index 641
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