John Benjamins Publishing Company
Causation in the Australian dialects Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara
Abstract
This paper will look at the phenomenon of causation in two dialects of the Western Desert in Australia, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara (P/Y). The grammar will be discussed under the paradigm of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG), which is intended to be able to be used globally for the description of any language. There is a continuum of causation from direct to indirect involvement, and from compact constructions to purposive or goal oriented actions. We look at lexical, morphological and syntactic marking of causation in P/Y which has a mixed ergative/accusative system and limited polysynthesis. We find that causation is shown lexically, morphologically by the use of suffixes, and syntactically by dependent subclauses. Direct causation through suffixing is linked to intransitive verbs and changes of state rather than to transitive verbs. Characteristic of P/Y is the serial verb participle, which in some cases involves light verbs that imply causation.
Abstract
This paper will look at the phenomenon of causation in two dialects of the Western Desert in Australia, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara (P/Y). The grammar will be discussed under the paradigm of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG), which is intended to be able to be used globally for the description of any language. There is a continuum of causation from direct to indirect involvement, and from compact constructions to purposive or goal oriented actions. We look at lexical, morphological and syntactic marking of causation in P/Y which has a mixed ergative/accusative system and limited polysynthesis. We find that causation is shown lexically, morphologically by the use of suffixes, and syntactically by dependent subclauses. Direct causation through suffixing is linked to intransitive verbs and changes of state rather than to transitive verbs. Characteristic of P/Y is the serial verb participle, which in some cases involves light verbs that imply causation.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Encoding transfer, let/allow and permission in Modern Irish 13
- Degrees of causivity in German lassen causitive constructions 53
- Grammaticalization of ‘give’ in Slavic between drift and contact 107
- ‘Give’ and semantic maps 129
- How Europeans GIVE 147
- Ditransitive constructions in Gan Chinese 177
- The argument realisation of give and take verbs in Māori 195
- GIVE an its arguments in Bohairic Coptic 227
- Giving is receiving 253
- Enabling and allowing in Hebrew 271
- Low-level patterning of pronominal subjects and verb tenses in English 295
- The morphological, syntactic and semantic interface of the verb GIVE in Lithuanian 327
- Rise and fall of the TAKE-future in written Estonian 353
- Causation in the Australian dialects Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara 385
- The fare causative derivation in Italian 425
- Information-structural encoding of recipient in non-canonical alignments of Persian 463
- Index 491
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Encoding transfer, let/allow and permission in Modern Irish 13
- Degrees of causivity in German lassen causitive constructions 53
- Grammaticalization of ‘give’ in Slavic between drift and contact 107
- ‘Give’ and semantic maps 129
- How Europeans GIVE 147
- Ditransitive constructions in Gan Chinese 177
- The argument realisation of give and take verbs in Māori 195
- GIVE an its arguments in Bohairic Coptic 227
- Giving is receiving 253
- Enabling and allowing in Hebrew 271
- Low-level patterning of pronominal subjects and verb tenses in English 295
- The morphological, syntactic and semantic interface of the verb GIVE in Lithuanian 327
- Rise and fall of the TAKE-future in written Estonian 353
- Causation in the Australian dialects Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara 385
- The fare causative derivation in Italian 425
- Information-structural encoding of recipient in non-canonical alignments of Persian 463
- Index 491
