Complex predication in three dialects of Australia’s Western Desert
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Conor Pyle
Abstract
This chapter looks at complex predicates in three dialects of Australia’s Western Desert, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra. Complex predication involving syntactic and morphological structures as well as internally complex lexical items are analysed within the functional framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG). Based on evidence from written sources, the dialects are found to have both verb compounding and serial verb constructions; complexes may represent a single composite action or a sequence of related actions. Elements in a complex can serve as light verbs, providing tense, aspect or causation to the complex. Nominals may serve as the arguments of one predicate, or as the arguments of the complex predicate as a whole. Furthermore, they may become fused with verbs to provide semantic narrowing. There is productive derivational morphology; derived lexical items and simple lexical predicates can be shown to be internally complex.
Abstract
This chapter looks at complex predicates in three dialects of Australia’s Western Desert, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra. Complex predication involving syntactic and morphological structures as well as internally complex lexical items are analysed within the functional framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG). Based on evidence from written sources, the dialects are found to have both verb compounding and serial verb constructions; complexes may represent a single composite action or a sequence of related actions. Elements in a complex can serve as light verbs, providing tense, aspect or causation to the complex. Nominals may serve as the arguments of one predicate, or as the arguments of the complex predicate as a whole. Furthermore, they may become fused with verbs to provide semantic narrowing. There is productive derivational morphology; derived lexical items and simple lexical predicates can be shown to be internally complex.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Argument realisation in complex predicates and complex events at the syntax-semantic interface 1
- The syntactic realisation of complex events and complex predicates in situations of Irish 13
- Pleonasm in particle verb constructions in German 43
- Serial verb constructions and event structure representations 79
- Non-conventional arguments 117
- Complex predicates in Lithuanian 137
- Serial verb constructions in Estonian 169
- Complex predication in three dialects of Australia’s Western Desert 191
- Complex verbs in Bohairic Coptic 213
- The organizational structure of lexical compound verbs in Japanese 245
- Verb-verb compounds and argument structure in Tepehua 277
- Multi-verb constructions in Cheyenne 305
- Feelings as emotion, attitude, and viewpoints 347
- Nominal predication in Persian 373
- Concept structuring in Persian PP-centric complex predicates 413
- Index 449
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Argument realisation in complex predicates and complex events at the syntax-semantic interface 1
- The syntactic realisation of complex events and complex predicates in situations of Irish 13
- Pleonasm in particle verb constructions in German 43
- Serial verb constructions and event structure representations 79
- Non-conventional arguments 117
- Complex predicates in Lithuanian 137
- Serial verb constructions in Estonian 169
- Complex predication in three dialects of Australia’s Western Desert 191
- Complex verbs in Bohairic Coptic 213
- The organizational structure of lexical compound verbs in Japanese 245
- Verb-verb compounds and argument structure in Tepehua 277
- Multi-verb constructions in Cheyenne 305
- Feelings as emotion, attitude, and viewpoints 347
- Nominal predication in Persian 373
- Concept structuring in Persian PP-centric complex predicates 413
- Index 449
