Serial verbs in Wambaya
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Rachel Nordlinger
Abstract
Australian languages are traditionally not thought of as having serial verb constructions (although cf. Goddard 1988; Wilkins 1988), and are therefore rarely discussed in the extensive typological and theoretical literature on verb serialization. However, in recent work Laughren (2009, 2012) has reported on the existence of serial verb constructions in Waanyi, a non–Pama-Nyungan language of northern Australia. In this paper I show that serial verb constructions are also present in Wambaya, another non–Pama-Nyungan language which shares some areal and lexical similarities with Waanyi. I show that the serial verbs in Wambaya exhibit many of the key morphosyntactic and semantic properties described as characteristic for serial verb constructions in the literature (e.g. Sebba 1987; Durie 1997; Aikhenvald 2006a). A particularly interesting property of Wambaya serial verb constructions, and one that is highly unusual cross-linguistically, is that the verbs need not be ordered iconically. I suggest that this anti-iconic ordering may be related to Wambaya’s nonconfigurational clausal structure and its free word order possibilities, highlighting the need for consideration of the full typological range of language structures in the analysis of verb serialization cross-linguistically.
Abstract
Australian languages are traditionally not thought of as having serial verb constructions (although cf. Goddard 1988; Wilkins 1988), and are therefore rarely discussed in the extensive typological and theoretical literature on verb serialization. However, in recent work Laughren (2009, 2012) has reported on the existence of serial verb constructions in Waanyi, a non–Pama-Nyungan language of northern Australia. In this paper I show that serial verb constructions are also present in Wambaya, another non–Pama-Nyungan language which shares some areal and lexical similarities with Waanyi. I show that the serial verbs in Wambaya exhibit many of the key morphosyntactic and semantic properties described as characteristic for serial verb constructions in the literature (e.g. Sebba 1987; Durie 1997; Aikhenvald 2006a). A particularly interesting property of Wambaya serial verb constructions, and one that is highly unusual cross-linguistically, is that the verbs need not be ordered iconically. I suggest that this anti-iconic ordering may be related to Wambaya’s nonconfigurational clausal structure and its free word order possibilities, highlighting the need for consideration of the full typological range of language structures in the analysis of verb serialization cross-linguistically.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Map of Australian languages refferred to in this book vii
- List of contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction 1
- Bibliography of Mary Laughren 15
- Evaluating the Bilingual Education Program in Warlpiri schools 25
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Part 1. Phonology
- Phonological aspects of Arandic baby talk 49
- Prestopping of nasals and laterals is only partly parallel 81
-
Part 2. Morphology
- Liminal pronoun systems 99
- Verbs as spatial deixis markers in Jingulu 123
- The reconstruction of inflectional classes in morphology 153
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Part 3. Syntax
- Marking Definiteness or Specificity, not necessarily both 193
- Theory and experiment in parametric minimalism 217
- Serial verbs in Wambaya 263
- Nominals as adjuncts or arguments 283
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Part 4. Semantics
- The case of the invisible postman 319
- Manner and result 337
-
Part 5. Anthropological Linguistics
- Shifting relations 361
- Language index 383
- Subject index 385
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Map of Australian languages refferred to in this book vii
- List of contributors xi
- Editors’ introduction 1
- Bibliography of Mary Laughren 15
- Evaluating the Bilingual Education Program in Warlpiri schools 25
-
Part 1. Phonology
- Phonological aspects of Arandic baby talk 49
- Prestopping of nasals and laterals is only partly parallel 81
-
Part 2. Morphology
- Liminal pronoun systems 99
- Verbs as spatial deixis markers in Jingulu 123
- The reconstruction of inflectional classes in morphology 153
-
Part 3. Syntax
- Marking Definiteness or Specificity, not necessarily both 193
- Theory and experiment in parametric minimalism 217
- Serial verbs in Wambaya 263
- Nominals as adjuncts or arguments 283
-
Part 4. Semantics
- The case of the invisible postman 319
- Manner and result 337
-
Part 5. Anthropological Linguistics
- Shifting relations 361
- Language index 383
- Subject index 385
