John Benjamins Publishing Company
Overlap and complementarity in reference impersonals
Abstract
This paper is concerned with two kinds of so-called R-impersonals, i.e. impersonals triggered by a reduction in referentiality, namely third-person plural impersonals (3pl-imps) and man-constructions (man-imps). In the languages of Europe, both of these impersonal constructions display a wide range of uses including referential uses and therefore enter into competition with topicality and definiteness based-impersonals. Building on the work of Giacalone Ramat & Sansò (2008), the current paper maps out the distribution of 3pl-imps relative to man-imps and relates these patterns to an important typological factor in the European context, namely the formal realization of pronominal subjects (see e.g. Holmberg 2005; Cabredo Hofherr 2006; Siewierska 2007). This relationship will, however, be argued to be somewhat more nuanced that has been previously assumed. Keywords: generic; episodic; existential; passive; agentivity; pro-drop; voice
Abstract
This paper is concerned with two kinds of so-called R-impersonals, i.e. impersonals triggered by a reduction in referentiality, namely third-person plural impersonals (3pl-imps) and man-constructions (man-imps). In the languages of Europe, both of these impersonal constructions display a wide range of uses including referential uses and therefore enter into competition with topicality and definiteness based-impersonals. Building on the work of Giacalone Ramat & Sansò (2008), the current paper maps out the distribution of 3pl-imps relative to man-imps and relates these patterns to an important typological factor in the European context, namely the formal realization of pronominal subjects (see e.g. Holmberg 2005; Cabredo Hofherr 2006; Siewierska 2007). This relationship will, however, be argued to be somewhat more nuanced that has been previously assumed. Keywords: generic; episodic; existential; passive; agentivity; pro-drop; voice
Chapters in this book
- 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
Chapters in this book
- 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
