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Non-canonical subject marking

Genitive subjects in Classical Armenian

Abstract

Classical Armenian shows genitive case-marking of the subject of transitive predicates based on the participle ending in -eal, while the subject of intransitive predicates has nominative case marking. In the passive construction, which uses the same participle, the subject is also marked as nominative. The genitive-subject construction is unusual in itself given that Armenian has nominative case marking of the subject of both transitive and intransitive predicates not based on the participle ending in -eal (i.e. in the present/imperfect and the aorist). Following Meillet and others, it can be argued that the basis of this construction is a possessive construction with a verbal noun that was integrated into the verbal paradigm as a participle and gradually lost nominal features.

Abstract

Classical Armenian shows genitive case-marking of the subject of transitive predicates based on the participle ending in -eal, while the subject of intransitive predicates has nominative case marking. In the passive construction, which uses the same participle, the subject is also marked as nominative. The genitive-subject construction is unusual in itself given that Armenian has nominative case marking of the subject of both transitive and intransitive predicates not based on the participle ending in -eal (i.e. in the present/imperfect and the aorist). Following Meillet and others, it can be argued that the basis of this construction is a possessive construction with a verbal noun that was integrated into the verbal paradigm as a participle and gradually lost nominal features.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Part I. Rise of non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
  6. Non selected dative arguments in Spanish anticausative constructions 3
  7. The rise of animacy-based differential subject marking in Dutch 35
  8. The rise of oblique subjects in Russian 55
  9. Non-canonical subject marking 73
  10. The rise of non-canonical subjects and semantic alignments in Hindi 91
  11. Part II. Historical changes in constructions with non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
  12. Experiencers and psychological noun predicates 121
  13. Between Finnic and Indo-European 139
  14. On the historical expansion of non-canonically marked ‘subjects’ in Spanish 163
  15. Part III. From non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques to canonical subjects
  16. Subjects in Scandinavian 187
  17. The me pudet construction in the history of Latin 203
  18. Diachrony of experiencer subject marking 231
  19. Obliqueness, quasi-subjects and transitivity in Baltic and Slavonic 257
  20. Rise of canonical subjecthood 283
  21. Synthesis
  22. The diachronic typology of non-canonical subjects and subject-like obliques 313
  23. Language index 361
  24. Subject index 363
The Diachronic Typology of Non-Canonical Subjects
This chapter is in the book The Diachronic Typology of Non-Canonical Subjects
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.140.04kol

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Part I. Rise of non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
  6. Non selected dative arguments in Spanish anticausative constructions 3
  7. The rise of animacy-based differential subject marking in Dutch 35
  8. The rise of oblique subjects in Russian 55
  9. Non-canonical subject marking 73
  10. The rise of non-canonical subjects and semantic alignments in Hindi 91
  11. Part II. Historical changes in constructions with non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
  12. Experiencers and psychological noun predicates 121
  13. Between Finnic and Indo-European 139
  14. On the historical expansion of non-canonically marked ‘subjects’ in Spanish 163
  15. Part III. From non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques to canonical subjects
  16. Subjects in Scandinavian 187
  17. The me pudet construction in the history of Latin 203
  18. Diachrony of experiencer subject marking 231
  19. Obliqueness, quasi-subjects and transitivity in Baltic and Slavonic 257
  20. Rise of canonical subjecthood 283
  21. Synthesis
  22. The diachronic typology of non-canonical subjects and subject-like obliques 313
  23. Language index 361
  24. Subject index 363
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