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On non-finiteness and canonical imperatives

  • Bernd Heine
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Finiteness and Nominalization
This chapter is in the book Finiteness and Nominalization

Abstract

Imperatives exhibit cross-linguistically a wide range of structures, which makes it difficult to generalize about them or to propose a structural definition that would apply to all or at least to most of them. This article is concerned with canonical imperatives, that is, information units that have an (implicit) second person singular subject referent as a hearer (or reader or signee) and express commands or requests directed at the hearer. Canonical imperatives have been called extragrammatical or extrasyntactical forms; they resemble nominalized verb forms in being non-finite. But non-finiteness appears to possess a different quality here from what it has, for example, in participial, infinitival, or other non-finite verb forms or clause types. Building on recent work on Discourse Grammar (Kaltenböck et al. 2011, Heine et al. 2013), the article attempts to account for this difference by looking at the role that imperatives play in structuring discourse.

Abstract

Imperatives exhibit cross-linguistically a wide range of structures, which makes it difficult to generalize about them or to propose a structural definition that would apply to all or at least to most of them. This article is concerned with canonical imperatives, that is, information units that have an (implicit) second person singular subject referent as a hearer (or reader or signee) and express commands or requests directed at the hearer. Canonical imperatives have been called extragrammatical or extrasyntactical forms; they resemble nominalized verb forms in being non-finite. But non-finiteness appears to possess a different quality here from what it has, for example, in participial, infinitival, or other non-finite verb forms or clause types. Building on recent work on Discourse Grammar (Kaltenböck et al. 2011, Heine et al. 2013), the article attempts to account for this difference by looking at the role that imperatives play in structuring discourse.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Finiteness and nominalization 1
  5. PART I. Finiteness, nominalization and information structure
  6. Finiteness, nominalization, and information structure 13
  7. Exploring finiteness and non-finiteness in Pima Bajo (Uto-Aztecan) 43
  8. PART II. Correlation between continuum of finiteness and scale from dependent to independent clause
  9. Finiteness in Haruai 71
  10. Non-finite chain-medial clauses on the continuum of finiteness in Purepecha 83
  11. PART III. Nominalization structures and their relation to the scale of finiteness
  12. The evolution of grammatical nominalizations in Cahita languages 107
  13. On the tightrope between infinitives and action nouns 141
  14. Referential markers in Oceanic nominalized constructions 171
  15. The role of nominalization in theticity 205
  16. On non-finiteness and canonical imperatives 243
  17. PART IV. Diachronic process: re-finitization and finitization
  18. Nominalization and re-finitization 271
  19. Shifting finiteness in nominalization 297
  20. The Manner converb in Beja (Cushitic) and its refinitization 323
  21. On finitization 345
  22. Language Index 371
  23. Name Index 373
  24. Subject Index 377
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.113.10hei

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Finiteness and nominalization 1
  5. PART I. Finiteness, nominalization and information structure
  6. Finiteness, nominalization, and information structure 13
  7. Exploring finiteness and non-finiteness in Pima Bajo (Uto-Aztecan) 43
  8. PART II. Correlation between continuum of finiteness and scale from dependent to independent clause
  9. Finiteness in Haruai 71
  10. Non-finite chain-medial clauses on the continuum of finiteness in Purepecha 83
  11. PART III. Nominalization structures and their relation to the scale of finiteness
  12. The evolution of grammatical nominalizations in Cahita languages 107
  13. On the tightrope between infinitives and action nouns 141
  14. Referential markers in Oceanic nominalized constructions 171
  15. The role of nominalization in theticity 205
  16. On non-finiteness and canonical imperatives 243
  17. PART IV. Diachronic process: re-finitization and finitization
  18. Nominalization and re-finitization 271
  19. Shifting finiteness in nominalization 297
  20. The Manner converb in Beja (Cushitic) and its refinitization 323
  21. On finitization 345
  22. Language Index 371
  23. Name Index 373
  24. Subject Index 377
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