Biactantial agreement in the Gongduk transitive verb in the broader Tibeto-Burman context
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George L. van Driem
Abstract
The Gongduk language is spoken in an enclave in south central Bhutan comprising several villages and hamlets in the mountains west of the Kurichu. The language occupies a distinct phylogenetic position within the Tibeto-Burman language family. The intransitive verb agrees for person and number with the subject, and the transitive shows biactantial agreement for person and number with both agent and patient. A morphological analysis has identified the individual agreement morphemes, their precise grammatical meaning and their patterns of allomorphy. The cognacy of the greater part of the desinences of the Gongduk verb with morphemes identifiable in the biactantial agreement systems of other Tibeto-Burman languages supports the view that at least a portion of such conjugational morphology must be reconstructed to the common ancestral language.
Abstract
The Gongduk language is spoken in an enclave in south central Bhutan comprising several villages and hamlets in the mountains west of the Kurichu. The language occupies a distinct phylogenetic position within the Tibeto-Burman language family. The intransitive verb agrees for person and number with the subject, and the transitive shows biactantial agreement for person and number with both agent and patient. A morphological analysis has identified the individual agreement morphemes, their precise grammatical meaning and their patterns of allomorphy. The cognacy of the greater part of the desinences of the Gongduk verb with morphemes identifiable in the biactantial agreement systems of other Tibeto-Burman languages supports the view that at least a portion of such conjugational morphology must be reconstructed to the common ancestral language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction ix
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Part I. Typological studies
- Non-aprioristic typology as a discovery tool 3
- Chorophorics, or the difference between place as an entity and place as a position in space 27
- On the diachrony of the ‘Ethical Dative’ 43
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Part II. Contributions to historical linguistics
- Biactantial agreement in the Gongduk transitive verb in the broader Tibeto-Burman context 69
- The dinguist’s dilemma 83
-
Part III. TAME and case alignment
- Person-sensitive TAME marking in Galo 107
- Agent case marking in Sahaptian 131
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Part IV. Multi-clause constructions
- The Kurtöp - si construction 155
- Verb serialization in Ede from a diachronic perspective 179
- Tense-aspect morphology from nominalizers in Newar 195
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Part V. Functional motivation and extension
- Predicting reference form 223
- Causation as “functional sink” in Northern Paiute 237
- The challenge of Maa ‘Away’ 259
- Name index 283
- Language index 287
- Subject index 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction ix
-
Part I. Typological studies
- Non-aprioristic typology as a discovery tool 3
- Chorophorics, or the difference between place as an entity and place as a position in space 27
- On the diachrony of the ‘Ethical Dative’ 43
-
Part II. Contributions to historical linguistics
- Biactantial agreement in the Gongduk transitive verb in the broader Tibeto-Burman context 69
- The dinguist’s dilemma 83
-
Part III. TAME and case alignment
- Person-sensitive TAME marking in Galo 107
- Agent case marking in Sahaptian 131
-
Part IV. Multi-clause constructions
- The Kurtöp - si construction 155
- Verb serialization in Ede from a diachronic perspective 179
- Tense-aspect morphology from nominalizers in Newar 195
-
Part V. Functional motivation and extension
- Predicting reference form 223
- Causation as “functional sink” in Northern Paiute 237
- The challenge of Maa ‘Away’ 259
- Name index 283
- Language index 287
- Subject index 291
