Volume 5, Issue 1 - Special Issue: Typological perspectives on complex predicates in South Asian languages, Guest-Editor: Chaithra Puttaswamy

In this article we show, in the light of Bengali data, how verbal constructions known as Complex predicates can be handled in grammar. These constructions are generally described as constituted of two items, the former chosen among various categories of words: noun, verbal forms, adjective, preposition, etc., and the latter, a normally inflected verb. We argue that such constructions are words, and it is preferable to handle them exclusively in morphology. We assume, in the light of Whole Word Morphology, that a Word Formation Strategy may become part of the morphological module of a speaker-hearer if her lexica contains a set of semantically related word-pairs based on the same (i) formal contrast and (ii) categorial affiliation. Hence the individual mental lexica of Bengali speaker-hearers contain sets of pairs of words constituted of simple and complex predicates (such as likhe ‘he writes’ ~ likhejay ‘he continues to write’, etc.). These pairs license particular WFSs (such as /X e / v, 3 sg prs ↔ /X ejay / v, 3 sg prs ) which can be activated as needed, to form, remember or retrieve other complex predicates such as bolejay ‘he continues to speak’. Therefore, there is no need to list each one of them separately in a mental lexicon.

This paper discusses various types of complex predicates found in Betta Kurumba, a South Dravidian language spoken in southern India. The constructions discussed include causativising and valency-modifying affixes, phrasal compound verbs, and compound verb stems. Compound verb stems are unusual for the language area, as they combine verb roots word-internally rather than as independent words, and have undergone varying degrees of grammaticalization. The origin of the compound verb stem construction is investigated, with the paper demonstrating that this construction was also originally a phrasal structure containing separate verb words. In addition, the history of valency modification and compound verb stem formation is shown to have contributed to the structure of simplex verb words in this language.

This paper discusses the classification of verbal constructions in Malto based on functions expressed through the co-occurrence of verb words at various levels within clauses. Multi-verb constructions in Malto are discussed within the framework of the theories of juncture and nexus proposed by Van Valin, Robert D, and Randy J LaPolla. 1997. Syntax: Structure, Meaning and Function . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The functional classes of multi-verb constructions in Malto discussed in this paper include explicator compound verbs, conjunctive participle constructions, and reduplicated verbs. Rank-defining properties where the inflectional properties relate to the concept of finiteness in verbs are compared with rank shift in Malto. This includes several possibilities such as two clauses coalescing into a single core, category change where nominals are derived from verbs by attaching a nominaliser, or verbs functioning as adverbials by virtue of their position relative to a finite verb.