Argument structure and aspect: The case of two imperfectives in Malayalam
-
M.T. Hany Babu
Abstract
We look at the two imperfective constructions in Malayalam and show how a rich v tier can account for differences between them. The -ukayaa^6 imperfective is actually a reduced (pseudo)cleft construction (following Mohanan and Mohanan’s 1999 analysis of aa^6 in non-equative constructions). The auxiliaryaa^6 is the focus marker. The reduced material is a tier of v , phonetically manifested as the cey ‘do’ in transitive/causative constructions and an eventivev ‘occur’ in unaccusatives (cf. Marantz 1997). The -unnu^z6 construction (the other imperfective) has neither eventive nor agentive v . The auxiliary u^z6 is an existential operator and it asserts the existence of an event. u^z6 heads the EventP (Harley 1995). Facts from adverb syntax also support the analysis of the-ukayaa^6 construction as focus.
Abstract
We look at the two imperfective constructions in Malayalam and show how a rich v tier can account for differences between them. The -ukayaa^6 imperfective is actually a reduced (pseudo)cleft construction (following Mohanan and Mohanan’s 1999 analysis of aa^6 in non-equative constructions). The auxiliaryaa^6 is the focus marker. The reduced material is a tier of v , phonetically manifested as the cey ‘do’ in transitive/causative constructions and an eventivev ‘occur’ in unaccusatives (cf. Marantz 1997). The -unnu^z6 construction (the other imperfective) has neither eventive nor agentive v . The auxiliary u^z6 is an existential operator and it asserts the existence of an event. u^z6 heads the EventP (Harley 1995). Facts from adverb syntax also support the analysis of the-ukayaa^6 construction as focus.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction xi
- Do verbs have argument structure? 1
- Projecting argument structure: The grammar of hitting and breaking revisited 17
- The argument structure of the dative construction 37
- Syntactic categories and lexical argument structure 49
- Adpositions, particles and the arguments they introduce 63
- Argument structure and aspect: The case of two imperfectives in Malayalam 105
- Argument features, clausal structure and the computation 121
- On theta role assignment by feature checking 159
- Argument prominence and the nature of superiority violations 175
- Look across: The paradigmatic axis and Bangla causatives 213
- Subject index 239
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction xi
- Do verbs have argument structure? 1
- Projecting argument structure: The grammar of hitting and breaking revisited 17
- The argument structure of the dative construction 37
- Syntactic categories and lexical argument structure 49
- Adpositions, particles and the arguments they introduce 63
- Argument structure and aspect: The case of two imperfectives in Malayalam 105
- Argument features, clausal structure and the computation 121
- On theta role assignment by feature checking 159
- Argument prominence and the nature of superiority violations 175
- Look across: The paradigmatic axis and Bangla causatives 213
- Subject index 239
