Non-canonical valency patterns in Basque, variation and evolution
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Denis Creissels
Abstract
In Standard Basque and in most present-day dialects, coding frames that were exceptional in Old Basque are attested by a sizeable proportion of the verbal lexicon, which results in a system characterized by a typologically uncommon type of split intransitivity. In this paper, we discuss the factors that may have played a role in the expansion of ergative encoding and more specifically of the coding frames <erg> and <erg,dat>, which originally were clearly non-canonical. We argue that the situation observed in present-day Basque implies a change in the constraints underlying the organization of the valency properties of Basque verbs or in their relative ranking.
Abstract
In Standard Basque and in most present-day dialects, coding frames that were exceptional in Old Basque are attested by a sizeable proportion of the verbal lexicon, which results in a system characterized by a typologically uncommon type of split intransitivity. In this paper, we discuss the factors that may have played a role in the expansion of ergative encoding and more specifically of the coding frames <erg> and <erg,dat>, which originally were clearly non-canonical. We argue that the situation observed in present-day Basque implies a change in the constraints underlying the organization of the valency properties of Basque verbs or in their relative ranking.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu In Memoriam vii
- Introduction. Issues in contrastive valency studies 1
-
Part I. Argument coding
- Multiple case binding – The principled underspecification of case exponency 27
- Infinitives 83
- A labeling system for valency 109
- Non-canonical valency patterns in Basque, variation and evolution 151
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Part II. Valency rearranging alternations
- Exploring the domain of ditransitive constructions 177
- Cognate constructions in Italian and beyond 219
- Object omission and the semantics of predicates in Italian in a comparative perspective 251
- On animacy restrictions for the null object in Brazilian Portuguese 275
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Part III. Voice and valency changing (uncoded/coded) alternations and markers
- Between Passive and Middle 297
- Valency alternations between inflection and derivation 327
- Pronominal verbs across European languages 375
- Semantic constraints on the reflexive/non-reflexive alternation of Romanian unaccusatives 407
- Circumfixed causatives in Polish against a panorama of active and non-active voice morphology 431
- Language index 471
- Subject index 473
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu In Memoriam vii
- Introduction. Issues in contrastive valency studies 1
-
Part I. Argument coding
- Multiple case binding – The principled underspecification of case exponency 27
- Infinitives 83
- A labeling system for valency 109
- Non-canonical valency patterns in Basque, variation and evolution 151
-
Part II. Valency rearranging alternations
- Exploring the domain of ditransitive constructions 177
- Cognate constructions in Italian and beyond 219
- Object omission and the semantics of predicates in Italian in a comparative perspective 251
- On animacy restrictions for the null object in Brazilian Portuguese 275
-
Part III. Voice and valency changing (uncoded/coded) alternations and markers
- Between Passive and Middle 297
- Valency alternations between inflection and derivation 327
- Pronominal verbs across European languages 375
- Semantic constraints on the reflexive/non-reflexive alternation of Romanian unaccusatives 407
- Circumfixed causatives in Polish against a panorama of active and non-active voice morphology 431
- Language index 471
- Subject index 473
