On distinguishing between ‘recipient’ and ‘beneficiary’ in Finnish
-
Seppo Kittilä
Abstract
Seppo Kittilä’s paper discusses the (formal and semantic) distinction between recipient and beneficiary in Finnish. The paper shows that the allative case is strongly associated with the notion of reception. This means that whenever a participant can be regarded as a recipient, the allative case is used in its encoding. The participant in question may also have beneficial traits, but if there is any reception involved, the allative case is used for its coding. On the other hand, Beneficiary coding (which uses different adpositions), is possible only if the notion of reception is lacking together and the participant in question is a pure beneficiary. This paper is of special interest to functional linguists and typologists working on similar phenomena in and across different languages.
Abstract
Seppo Kittilä’s paper discusses the (formal and semantic) distinction between recipient and beneficiary in Finnish. The paper shows that the allative case is strongly associated with the notion of reception. This means that whenever a participant can be regarded as a recipient, the allative case is used in its encoding. The participant in question may also have beneficial traits, but if there is any reception involved, the allative case is used for its coding. On the other hand, Beneficiary coding (which uses different adpositions), is possible only if the notion of reception is lacking together and the participant in question is a pure beneficiary. This paper is of special interest to functional linguists and typologists working on similar phenomena in and across different languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations & transcription symbols vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- An introduction to Finnish spatial relations 11
-
Part I: Space and location
- Spatial axes in language and conceptualisation 21
- “I woke up from the sofa” 41
- Metonymy in locatives of state 67
-
Part II: The human perspective
- Body part names and grammaticalization 101
- On distinguishing between ‘recipient’ and ‘beneficiary’ in Finnish 129
- Oblique mentions of human referents in Finnish conversation 153
-
Part III: Person
- Person in Finnish 173
- Zero person in Finnish 209
- Passive — personal or impersonal? 233
- References 257
- Index of terms 277
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Abbreviations & transcription symbols vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- An introduction to Finnish spatial relations 11
-
Part I: Space and location
- Spatial axes in language and conceptualisation 21
- “I woke up from the sofa” 41
- Metonymy in locatives of state 67
-
Part II: The human perspective
- Body part names and grammaticalization 101
- On distinguishing between ‘recipient’ and ‘beneficiary’ in Finnish 129
- Oblique mentions of human referents in Finnish conversation 153
-
Part III: Person
- Person in Finnish 173
- Zero person in Finnish 209
- Passive — personal or impersonal? 233
- References 257
- Index of terms 277
