The contribution of Amazonian languages to the typology of purpose clauses (original) (raw)
Related papers
CLAUSE LINKAGE AND PURPOSE CLAUSES IN SOUTHERN UTO-AZTECAN LANGUAGES
This paper explores the syntactic and semantic properties of purpose clauses following the Interclausal Relation Hierarchy as proposed by Role and Reference Grammar. Based on data from Southern Uto-Aztecan languages, I show that the way purpose relations are expressed make use of different syntactic linkage types even within the same language. The analysis shows that these linkage types entail different degrees of syntactic tightness, i.e., from nuclear cosubordination and core coordination, to ad-core subordination. A first attempt to establish the logical structure for these purposive linkage types is also proposed.
This dissertation provides a description of the Chácobo language, a southern Pano language spoken by approximately 1200 people who live close to or on the Geneshuaya, Ivon, Benicito and Yata rivers in the northern Bolivian Amazon. The grammatical description emerges out of an ethnographically based documentation project of the language. Chapter 1 contains an overview of the cultural context in which the Chácobo language is embedded and a brief ethnohistory of the Chácobo people. I also discuss the general methodology of the dissertation touching specifically on issues related to data collection. Chapter 2 introduces the phonology of the language focusing on the categories necessary for its description. Chapter 3 provides a discussion of morphosyntactic structures and relations. This chapter provides a discussion of how head-dependent relations and the general distinction between morphology and syntax are understood throughout the dissertation. Parts of speech classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) are also defined and motivated based on semantic and formal criteria. Chapter 4 describes predication and its relationship to clause-typing. Chapter 5 is concerned with constituency which refers to hierarchical structures motivated through distributional properties and relations and the relative degree of contiguity between linguistic categories. Chapter 6 provides an extensive discussion of morphophonology and its relation to constituency. Chapter 7 and 8 are concerned with the language’s alignment and valence-adjusting systems. The next five chapters provide a description of the functional domains relevant to the verbal domain including; Tense (Chapter 9); Temporal distance (Chapter 10); Aspect (Chapter 11); Associated Motion (Chapter 12); Perspective (Chapter 13). The last two Chapters focus on categories in the nominal domain. Chapter 14 provides a description of noun compounding, adjectives and possession. Chapter 15 provides a description of number, quantification and deixis inside and outside the nominal domain.
A typology of frustrative marking in Amazonian languages
This chapter describes the grammatical category labelled ‘frustrative’, which is common in Amazonian languages but little-known outside that area. On the basis of a survey of Amazonian languages, it proposes a cross-linguistically applicable definition of frustrative as a marker of unfulfilled expectation. This definition differs from those offered by previous analysts as it does not make reference to any evaluative component. A description of the extended uses of frustrative includes negative evaluation, aspectual senses, and discourse organisation functions. The final sections present the evidence for frustrative marking as an areal feature of Amazonian languages, addressing the diachronic development of frustrative markers and evidence for diffusion of the category through language contact.
Multilingual imperatives: the elaboration of a category in north-west Amazonia
The Vaupés River Basin in north-west Amazonia is a well-established linguistic area. Its major feature is obligatory societal multilingualism which follows the principle of linguistic exogamy: 'those who speak the same language as us are our brothers, and we do not marry our sisters'. Speakers of East Tucanoan languages, and of one Arawak language, Tariana, participate in the exogamous marriage network, and share the obligatory multilingualism. Long-term interaction between East Tucanoan languages and Tariana has resulted in the rampant diffusion of grammatical and semantic patterns and calquing of categories. A typologically unusual system of eleven imperatives in Tariana bears a strong impact from East Tucanoan languages. But to say that imperative meanings were just borrowed or calqued from East Tucanoan languages would be a simplification. The markers come from different non-imperative categories, via distinct mechanisms. I discuss the mechanisms involved in the development of Tariana multiple imperatives, and then address the crucial question: which factors facilitate the diffusion of commands? International Journal of American Linguistics 74: 189-225.
Sociative causative markers in South-American languages: a possible areal feature
ENS Editions, 2010
Sociative causation is a particular type of causation, where the causer not only makes the causee do an action, but also participates in it. In the typological literature, sociative causation is typically presented as a possible reading of a regular causative construction and rarely as a specific type. In the present paper, based on a preliminary survey of this category in the languages of the world, we first show that specific sociative causative markers are very frequent in South American languages. This leads us to put forward the hypothesis that a specific marker for sociative causation could be an areal feature of this part of the world. A second major finding of our study is that, in addition to being expressed by specific sociative or regular causative markers, the semantics of sociative causation is frequently manifested by applicative morphemes. This suggests an alternative historical origin for the development of the well-known phenomenon of causative / applicative syncretism: while the evolution from causative to applicative is usually postulated in the literature, our data seem to indicate that the evolution path could just as well be from applicative to causative.
Serial verb constructions in Amazonian languages
Serial verb constructions are a sequence of verbs which act together as a single predicate without any over marker of coordination, subordination or syntactic dependency of any sort. Serial verb constructions can be symmetrical, consisting of two or more verbs each chosen from a semantically and grammatically unrestricted class. Or they may be asymmetrical, and include a verb from a grammatically or semantically restricted class. Serial verbs can form one or more than one grammatical word. We focus on the distribution of asymmetrical and symmetrical serial verb constructions of single-word and of multi-word types in the languages of Lowland Amazonia, and discuss their functions, meanings, and origins.
2014
Cross-linguistically, implicit purposive subjects are controlled to an overwhelmingly degree by the matrix subjects (Schmidtke-Bode 2009:56). In fact, little evidence has been found of constructions in which main and dependent events are not performed by the same entity, and no evidence about constructions in which the performer of the main event does not control the realization of the dependent one (Cristofaro 2003:157). Kokama (Amazon) provides a challenge to these generalizations and so constitutes a typological novelty. The language has three positive purpose constructions formed by attaching tara, mira, or tsen to the subordinated verb. In mira constructions, the matrix absolutive controls coreference with the omitted accusative in the purpose clause. In tara constructions, the matrix absolutive controls coreference with the omitted nominative in the purpose clause. In tsen constructions, coreference is free. Overall, tara/mira constructions are syntactically more integrated than tsen constructions. Discourse data shows that syntactic integration correlates with semanticpragmatic parameters: (i) temporal integration between events, (ii) successful outcome of the purposive event, and (iii) whether the omitted argument belongs to the discourse context. [KEYWORDS: Kokama, Amazonian languages, purpose clauses, information structure, subordination]