Dative Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This article deals with the loss of the affected possessor construction (external possessor construction, sympathetic dative) in the history of English. First it is shown that Old English made a formal and semantic distinction between... more

This article deals with the loss of the affected possessor construction (external possessor construction, sympathetic dative) in the history of English. First it is shown that Old English made a formal and semantic distinction between coding the possessor noun-phrase externally in the dative and noun-phrase internally in the genitive, as all other old Indo-European languages do, and as German does to the present day. [Sie schlug ihm (dative) den Kopf ab ‘she cut off his head (he: a living person)’ vs. Sie schlug seinen (genitive) Kopf ab (he/it: a corpse, a statue, etc.)’. Then the loss of this distinction in Middle English is demonstrated. Several possible reasons for this development are discussed and rejected, and the fact is pointed out that the only other languages spoken in Europe (beside Lezgian and Turkish) not making the distinction are the Insular Celtic languages. This leads to the conclusion that English lost the distinction because the Celtic substrate population did not acquire it in the language shift to Anglo-Saxon. Finally the question how Insular Celtic itself lost the distinction is answered analogously, viz. by the Semitic substrate population’s not learning to make the distinction in the language shift to Celtic (which then still made the inherited distinction), all the old Semitic languages only knowing the internal genitive possessor construction.

The status of basic grammatical relations such as 'subject-of'has been a matter of some controversy in current linguistic theory. While Keenan has argued that they are squishy of 'cluster'concepts, Johnson and others... more

The status of basic grammatical relations such as 'subject-of'has been a matter of some controversy in current linguistic theory. While Keenan has argued that they are squishy of 'cluster'concepts, Johnson and others have taken the position that they must be analyzed as discrete entities. This paper provides empirical evidence to decide between the two opposing positions. The syntax and semantics of the so-called Dative Subject Construction in South Asian languages demonstrate that the underlying subject is different ...

This paper discusses the possible reasons for and implications of marking possession explicitly when it is already marked by Dativus Sympatheticus (DS) in Macedonian. The term 'Dativus Sympatheticus' denotes a dative construction that... more

This paper discusses the possible reasons for and implications of marking possession explicitly when it is already marked by Dativus Sympatheticus (DS) in Macedonian. The term 'Dativus Sympatheticus' denotes a dative construction that implies a possessive relationship between the dative referent and another participant in the situation. The DS/explicit possessive variation illuminates the specific construal that each of the two structures imposes on the possessive relation expressed. Since the dative object already implies possession, the introduction of an explicit possessive marker in the DS construction has been deemed as superfluous and anomalous. 1 However, such constructions have been attested frequently, both in Macedonian and crosslinguistically. 2 It is argued here that the double marking of possession is motivated pragmatically, i.e. by the need of the speaker to present the possessive relationship from the perspective of the possessor (thus the dative object is chosen), and at the same time to highlight the possessed (which triggers the possessive pronoun). It will be demonstrated that the establishment of the construction is supported by structural and semantic factors: with certain verbs that require a dative object the pragmatic goal to put the focus on the possessed results in double marking, as the omission of the dative either produces an ungrammatical clause or affects the meaning considerably. The application of such doubling to contexts that would equally accept either DS or a possessive pronoun produces an effect that is clearly different from the meanings of either of the structures taken separately.

In several Romance languages, including Catalan, Spanish, Asturian and Neapolitan, several verbs ('phone', 'answer', 'shoot', 'rob', among others) can take a dative-or accusative-marked complement. I argue that this alternation is indeed... more

In several Romance languages, including Catalan, Spanish, Asturian and Neapolitan, several verbs ('phone', 'answer', 'shoot', 'rob', among others) can take a dative-or accusative-marked complement. I argue that this alternation is indeed a transition from dative to accusative; that is, it is a process of syntactic change, with different stages of evolution depending on the dialectal or even idiolectal variety. The relevant verbs, being a priori dative-taking intransitive verbs, are analyzed as unergatives, made up of a light verb and a nominal, 'phone = do+phone call'. When the complement 'to somebody' is added, a ditransitive structure is obtained, where I assume that the direct ('phone call') and the indirect ('to somebody') objects are related via an applicative head. The properties of this functional applicative head allow me to explain the change from dative to accusative case in the first stages of syntactic change. Likewise, I show that the completion of the syntactic change results in a true transitivization of the structure.

The paper is devoted to non-canonical subject marking in Russian. I argue that the criterion of role opacity generally raising for checking subjecthood and subject properties does not non-canonical subject marking in languages like Modern... more

The paper is devoted to non-canonical subject marking in Russian. I argue that the criterion of role opacity generally raising for checking subjecthood and subject properties does not non-canonical subject marking in languages like Modern Russian. Minor sentence patterns always exhibit special role and reference properties triggered by the choice of a non-canonic subject. Russian has a default nominative-accusative alignment with subject -verb agreement. In finite clauses, the nominative subject is an agreement controller which to a certain extent is true for at least one type of non-canonical subjects - the so called 'Mel'cuk's zeroes' i.e. zero subject pronouns in 3 Sg with inflexional features and characteristic role-and-reference properties. In infinitive clauses where the infinitive is the predicate head, there is no (overt) agreement the subject is case-marked with dative (DIS structures). There is no one-to-one correspondence of role properties and case-marking, since dative subjects in finite clauses with a nominal non-agreeing predicative (DPS structures) convey different semantics.
I argue that all kinds of of grammatical subjects in Russian must be classified into two groups - strong and weak subjects. Strong grammatical subjects - standard nominative NP/DPs, datives subjects of DIS and Mel'cuk's zeros - do not combine and do not compete with any other expressions with subject-like properties. Weak subjects - dative subjects of DPS, expletive non-referential pronoun eto and sentional argument show selectional restrictions and can compete for the unique subject position.

Le datif en français : un cas structural 1

Since the prepositive article cannot be considered part of the Genitive form, the difference between Genitive and Dative is definitely abolished. There is no Dative case in Modern Albanian, but there is only Genitive case instead. The... more

Since the prepositive article cannot be considered part of the Genitive form, the difference between Genitive and Dative is definitely abolished. There is no Dative case in Modern Albanian, but there is only Genitive case instead.
The Alblative case has been also disintegrated in Modern Albania and reinterpreted within the Nominal system as Genitive form.

Este trabajo investiga la alternancia causativa y su compatibilidad con diversos tipos de argumentos dativos. Se desarrolla un análisis constructivista de la alternancia según el cual tanto la construcción transitiva causativa (Pablo... more

Este trabajo investiga la alternancia causativa y su compatibilidad con diversos tipos de argumentos dativos. Se desarrolla un análisis constructivista de la alternancia según el cual tanto la construcción transitiva causativa (Pablo rompió la radio) como la intransitiva incoativa (Se rompió la radio) son construcciones igualmente complejas, bi-eventivas, que comparten el estado resultante (la radio rota) y se diferencian por el tipo de evento superior. Se propone que existen dos tipos de predicados transitivos (causativos y simples -no causativos) y dos tipos de predicados inacusativos (incoativos y simples) que participan en construcciones sintácticas distintas y, por derivación, diferenciadas semánticamente. La propuesta ilumina el análisis de los argumentos dativos y permite dar cuenta de contrastes sistemáticos en las propiedades sintácticas y semánticas de argumentos dativos con verbos transitivos e inacusativos simples, por un lado, y causativos e incoativos, por el otro. Se muestra cómo la interacción entre los dos análisis ilumina la relación entre sintaxis y semántica.

Questo articolo è frutto di un progetto di ricerca sui verbi pronominali svoltosi nell'ambito del mio assegno di ricerca presso il Dipartimento di Linguistica dell'Università Roma Tre (A.A. 2007/2008). Ringrazio sentitamente Edoardo... more

Questo articolo è frutto di un progetto di ricerca sui verbi pronominali svoltosi nell'ambito del mio assegno di ricerca presso il Dipartimento di Linguistica dell'Università Roma Tre (A.A. 2007/2008). Ringrazio sentitamente Edoardo Lombardi Vallauri, Davide Ricca, Raffaele Simone e Anna M. Thornton per aver letto e commentato una versione precedente di questo lavoro. Sono inoltre grata ai partecipanti del XLII Congresso Internazionale di Studi della SLI per le loro utili osservazioni. Rimango naturalmente responsabile per ogni errore e omissione. 1 In questo lavoro ho adottato la distinzione, proposta da Berretta (1985), tra "clitici deittici", con funzione puramente anaforica, e "clitici grammaticali", che fungono invece da marche grammaticali di qualche tipo. Secondo questa definizione il si riflessivo viene comunque classificato come grammaticale in quanto argomento debole del verbo e portatore di significato grammaticale. Gli usi puramente deittici dei clitici non vengono qui presi in considerazione: mi soffermerò pertanto solo sulle CVP con clitici grammaticali (debolmente e non argomentali). in stampa -in Bertinetto, P. M. et alii Atti del XLII Congresso Internazionale di Studi della Società di Linguistica Italiana (SLI) Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore (25-27 settembre 2008) in stampa -in Bertinetto, P. M. et alii Atti del XLII Congresso Internazionale di Studi della Società di Linguistica Italiana (SLI) Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore (25-27 settembre 2008)

E ssyste 2001 Bibliotheksund Information m der Universität Oldenburg Einleitender Teil Winfr ied Boeder, Oldenburg Uberblick Variation ist trotz einer langen sprachwissenschaftlichen Tradition, die eher kategorische Unterscheidungen... more

E ssyste 2001 Bibliotheksund Information m der Universität Oldenburg Einleitender Teil Winfr ied Boeder, Oldenburg Uberblick Variation ist trotz einer langen sprachwissenschaftlichen Tradition, die eher kategorische Unterscheidungen bevorzugt, offen oder verdeckt ein allgegenwärtiges Phänomen in der Sprachbeschreibung. In Anbetracht der unterschiedlichen Bezugsrahmen, in denen Variabilität gefaßt oder auch weginterpretiert wird, ist es immer wieder notwendig, sich über den Inhalt der geläuhgsten einschlägigen Begriffe zu verständigen. Deshalb diskutiert G. Hentschel in seinem einleitenden Beitrag einige definitorische Fragen, die sich mit dem Terminus "Markierungsvariation von Nominalgruppen" oder "Variierenden Markierungen von Nominalgruppen" stellen. Erstens kann eine Variante nicht ohne eine entsprechende Konstante gedeutet werden. Mit anderen Worten, es stellt sich die Frage nach dem Tertium comparationis bzw. die Frage, auf welcher Ebene dieses Tertium comparationis, das als Konstante der Variation (oder: den Varianten) unterliegt, gesucht werden soll: auf einer ontologisch-situativen Ebene, einer universal-kognitiven oder einer oder mehreren Ebenen der innersprachlichen Strukturierung in einer Sprache? Es ist offensichtlich, daß eine Antwort aufdiese Frage nur aufdem Hintergrund einer Sprachtheorie bzw. eines Sprachmodells möglich ist.

This paper analyzes two Russian constructions, verbal impersonals in 3Sg ~ 3Pl and dative-predicative structures with a non-agreeing predicative and discusses the problem of lexical-syntactic interface and the borderline between lexicon... more

This paper analyzes two Russian constructions, verbal impersonals in 3Sg ~ 3Pl and dative-predicative
structures with a non-agreeing predicative and discusses the problem of lexical-syntactic interface
and the borderline between lexicon and grammar. Productive constructions are defined as bilateral units and
analyzed in the perspective of selective conditions imposed on lexical extension, not in the perspective of idiomaticity
or non-compositionality. Languages with similar morphosyntax can develop similar constructions
with one and the same underlying semantics but these constructions often show different scenarios of the
lexicon-vs-grammar interaction. Modern Russian takes an intermediate position between languages where
verbal impersonals and predicative structures are grammaticalized and languages where these constructions belong to the lexicon. The distribution of the impersonal patterns in 3Sg and 3Pl in Modern Russian encodes a non-trivial interaction of lexicon and grammar. The key factor in the stability of Russian dative-predicative.
structures is the distinction between three classes of adjectival stems and the preservation of stems blocking
the derivation of predicates which denote inner states.
Keywords: constructions, Germanic languages, grammar, impersonals, lexicon, predicatives, Russian,
Slavic languages, s-selection, zero subjects
For citation: Zimmerling A. V. Impersonal constructions and dative-predicative structures in Russian.
Voprosy Jazykoznanija. 2018. No. 5. Pp. 7–33. DOI: 10.31857/S0373658X0001394-2.

Este capítulo apresenta uma análise sociolinguística da variação na expressão do dativo na variedade falada de Montevidinha, comunidade quilombola do município de Santa Maria da Vitória, Bahia. Nos 439 dados encontrados, o envelope para... more

Este capítulo apresenta uma análise sociolinguística da variação na expressão do dativo na variedade falada de Montevidinha, comunidade quilombola do município de Santa Maria da Vitória, Bahia. Nos 439 dados encontrados, o envelope para tal variação foi: a) dativo nulo (71%); b) dativo preposicionado (16%); c) dativo sem preposição (6%); d) clítico dativo (7%). Utilizando o programa GoldVarb X, foram feitas duas rodadas binárias, considerando dativo nulo versus dativo realizado e dativo não-preposicionado versus dativo preposicionado. Favorecem o dativo nulo os verbos de transferência verbal. Já os verbos de transferência material e movimento favorecem o dativo realizado. Favorecem o dativo sem preposição os verbos de transferência material e de transferência verbal e favorecem o dativo preposicionado os verbos de movimento. A estrutura sintática V DAT (OD) favorece o dativo sem preposição, ao passo que a estrutura V OD DAT favorece o dativo preposicionado. Sobre os condicionamentos sociais, os falantes mais jovens e os que estiveram mais tempo fora da comunidade favorecem o dativo preposicionado, enquanto os falantes mais velhos e os que se mantêm mais isolados preferem o dativo sem preposição. Os resultados apontam para a importância de estudos sobre a população quilombola na descrição do português brasileiro.

"This dissertation is about the elements that build verbs, the elements that introduce arguments, and how these elements interact to determine the interpretation of arguments and events. A theory of argument structure is a theory how... more

This thesis examines the distinction between syntactic case and semantic case, part of a broader distinction between lexical and functional elements. Several tests, involving predication, nominalization, and iteration are proposed for... more

This thesis examines the distinction between syntactic case and
semantic case, part of a broader distinction between lexical and
functional elements. Several tests, involving predication,
nominalization, and iteration are proposed for determining the
semantic status of particular case functions. The results of these tests
show that only subject and direct object markers are syntactic, all
other cases being semantic. Further, semantic cases behave like
adpositions, and should therefore be placed in the same syntactic
category as them. This enables one to defend a structural account of
restrictions on predication. The tests also indicate that English has
underlying semantic cases, which are related, but not identical, to
theta roles.
The small number of syntactic cases is consistent with my claim that their content consists of one binary feature value, while the content of semantic cases is not necessarily so limited.

Одной из специфических, хотя и не уникальных, черт русского языка является наличие моделей предложения, где семантический субъект оформлен дательным падежом . Наиболее продуктивны трехчастная структурная схема Ndat — Vlink — Pred с... more

Одной из специфических, хотя и не уникальных, черт русского языка является наличие моделей предложения, где семантический субъект оформлен дательным
падежом . Наиболее продуктивны трехчастная структурная схема Ndat — Vlink — Pred с дат.п. лица, связкой и именным несогласуемым предикативом (словом Категории
Состояния в терминах Л.В.Щербы), ср. рус. Мне грустно, Васе стало тревожно и двухчастная структурная схема Ndat — Vinf с дат.п. одушевленного/неодушевленного
субъекта и инфинитивом — ср. рус. (а) Всем встать! (б) Вася эту кашу заварил, Васе и расхлебывать, (в) Фургону тут не развернуться, (г) Некому работать и т.п. В статье показано, что данные типы предложений несводимы друг другу и имеют разные структурные свойства.

Dativus ethicus is one of the meaning of the dative case which occurs with the first and second person and the reflexive pronoun. The use of ethical dative is largely pragmatic, and is usually used in speech acts and colloquial style. It... more

Dativus ethicus is one of the meaning of the dative case which occurs with the first and second person and the reflexive pronoun. The use of ethical dative is largely pragmatic, and is usually used in speech acts and colloquial style. It adds expressive force to the sentence by indicating that the person in the dative is especially concerned about the action. In this paper I will attempt to point out the similarities and differences between uses of ethical dative in Croatian and Polish. Special atention is given to translation problems and stilistic value dativus ethicus.

Dative experiencer predicates in Hungarian investigates the argument structure and the syntax of appeal to- and important-type predicates in Hungarian. Couched in terms of Reinhart’s (2000, 2002) Theta System, the thesis presents... more

Dative experiencer predicates in Hungarian investigates the argument structure and the syntax of appeal to- and important-type predicates in Hungarian. Couched in terms of Reinhart’s (2000, 2002) Theta System, the thesis presents arguments for the need to resort to the lexicon in setting up systematic generalizations concerning the licensing and the basic syntactic behavior of dative experiencers.
Dative experiencer predicates are distinct both conceptually and thematically from subject- and object-experiencers, and the three classes of predicates cannot be collapsed at any level of representation. Dative experiencers themselves can be of three distinct grammatical types. Appeal to-type predicates have dative experiencer arguments, but important-type predicates license dative thematic adjuncts, which are optional and which have distinctive semantic, morphological, and syntactic properties. A general account of thematic adjuncts is developed. Non-thematic datives are distinguished as a third type of dative experiencers. These can freely be inserted into any clause as regular adjuncts.
A fresh look is taken from this perspective at the syntax of dative experiencer constructions in Hungarian. Hungarian dative experiencer predicates are shown to be non-quirky. Their peculiar syntactic behavior is the consequence of their special thematic properties. In addition, the argument - thematic adjunct distinction helps the author to reconsider the role dative phrases play in agreement-marked infinitival constructions in Hungarian.
This thesis is of relevance to scholars working on experiencer predicates, dative case, and quirky subjects in particular; and to scholars interested in argument structure, lexicalist theories, and the argument - adjunct distinction in general.

This paper addresses affective ("experiencer") constructions in the Tsezic languages (Nakh-Daghestanian), which represent the most frequent type of non-canonical subject constructions in these languages. They differ from transitive... more

This paper addresses affective ("experiencer") constructions in the Tsezic languages (Nakh-Daghestanian), which represent the most frequent type of non-canonical subject constructions in these languages. They differ from transitive constructions in a number of ways that go far beyond case marking and affect various domains of grammar (e.g. inflectional morphology, complex clause structures, reflexive and reciprocal binding, etc.). In this paper, we explore morphological, syntactic and semantic features of Tsezic affective constructions from a typological perspective. We investigate variation, stability and change between the constructions in the various Tsezic languages and try to give explanations for the observed patterns of variation.

Our study deals with dative constructions in German. They have been studied in detail within the framework of projectionist theories, but the results of these studies vary according to the researchers (see Draye 1996; Hole 2014; Schmid... more

Our study deals with dative constructions in German. They have been studied in detail within the framework of projectionist theories, but the results of these studies vary according to the researchers (see Draye 1996; Hole 2014; Schmid 1988; Schöfer 1992; Wegener 1985, to name just a few). One of the major difficulties for the description of datives results from the fact that structures with phrases in the dative diverge from each other from a semantic point of view in spite of their formal similarity. There are also some classification problems. For instance in German structures with so-called freie Dative (‘free datives’), i.e. a phrase in the dative case which does not belong to the valency frame of the verb, can have the same syntactic pattern as structures with a valency-based dative object which is a well-defined argument of the verb. The description of structures with free datives is a challenging enterprise for projectionist theories like Valency Grammar.
The chapter first describes the variety of structures with datives in a projectionist model like Valency Grammar and then in the framework of Goldberg’s Construction Grammar (1995, 2006) (see also the paradigmatic perspective described in the introduction of this volume). It addresses issues related to the possible semantic roles that can be expressed with the dative objects, but also the difference between valency-dependent dative objects and free datives which appear in usage. The postulate of abstract schematic constructions and of the lexicon-syntax continuum in Goldberg’s constructionist model (1995, 2006) offers new avenues for a unified description of constructions with datives, both for valency-dependent and free datives and even for phraseologisms with a dative object. But German being a morphologically complex language, we further show that the constructionist model cannot do without describing the valency properties of the verbs in the constructions (see also Herbst 2011, 2014; Stefanowitsch 2011). Finally, the study provides evidence for the interconnected character of the different constructions with a datives and the claim that they build a family of constructions according to Wittgenstein’s (1984) concept of family resemblance.

Abstract. We analyze the language-internal variation in the class of dative predicatives in Bulgarian and Russian. For each language, a test questionnaire was prepared. The stimuli were grouped into 15 thematic classes for Russian and 19... more

Abstract. We analyze the language-internal variation in the class of dative predicatives in Bulgarian and Russian. For each language, a test questionnaire was prepared. The stimuli were grouped into 15 thematic classes for Russian and 19 thematic classes for Bulgarian and tested on native speakers. Their responses provide a sample of stimuli ranked according to the approval rate. The same set of stimuli was tested on Russian National Corpus and Bulgarian National Corpus, which provided the second ranked sample. The volume and structure of the class of dative predicatives was established by the ratio of these ranked samples.
Keywords: Russian, Bulgarian, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, variation, lexicon, grammar, predicatives.

Two external possessor constructions occur in ancient Indo-European languages: the dative external possessor construction, and the double case construction. They both indicate adnominal possession by means of syntactically independent... more

Two external possessor constructions occur in ancient Indo-European languages: the dative external possessor construction, and the double case construction. They both indicate adnominal possession by means of syntactically independent NPs, and basically refer to inalienable possession. In the paper, I analyze the two constructions, describe their meaning and their syntactic properties, and review the comparative evidence for each of them. Neither construction is uniformely attested throughout the Indo-European language family. In addition, the dative external possessor construction seems to be quite unstable over time. Based on the data, I conclude that the former can be reconstructed as an original Proto-Indo-European construction, while the latter must be regarded as a language specific construction, with different properties in the languages in which it occurs.

A semantic analysis of corpus data suggests that there are four major usage patterns of the Croatian dative: transfer and related patterns (e.g. ...[ona] mi je dala svoju haljinu), assessment patterns (e.g. meni je tamo bilo jako lijepo),... more

A semantic analysis of corpus data suggests that there are four major usage patterns of the Croatian dative: transfer and related patterns (e.g. ...[ona] mi je dala svoju haljinu), assessment patterns (e.g. meni je tamo bilo jako lijepo), reference-point/affectedness patterns (e.g. Roditelji su mu stanovali u Selešu) and allative and related patterns (e.g. [oni] se … ne mogu vratiti kući). The aim of this paper is to show that there are two primary organizing principles of the Croatian dative: the shift from patterns without mental contact to patterns with obligatory mental contact, and the shift from relatively objective to more subjective configurations. More specifically, we will show that these two factors are reflected in the distribution of nouns, non-clitic and clitic pronouns between the patterns and in some semantic and structural characteristics of each configuration. Based on our results, we propose a new term, search dominion, to cover non-affected reference point patterns (such as allatives), and a redefinition of the term dominion to include only affected reference points. The term “search dominion” suggest that the dative is used to locate the trajector (covered by the “search” part of the term), but it may be used non-spatially (hence the “dominion” part). It also suggests that the dative may be human (hence “dominion”), but that no mental contact between the dative and the trajector is required (hence “search”). This term allows us to make a systematic distinction between non-affected and affected reference-point phenomena. The Croatian allative is a non-affected reference point, along with the genitive case and possessive pronouns. They allow the conceptualizer to locate a thematic entity on the basis of an objective connection — directedness/movement or possession. This relatedness may be one of the factors which allows some prepositions that traditionally require the dative (such as nasuprot ‘opposite, ’ nadomak ‘close to’ and usprkos ‘despite’) to increasingly appear with the genitive case. The variation in subjectification is much less systematic than the variation in mental contact, which suggests that subjectification is a local phenomenon.

I try to show that some datives in Russian constructions with predicatives are similar to those used with corresponding adjectives (мальчику нужно, cf. нужный мальчику), others seem to be are derived / demoted (мальчику весело, cf.... more

I try to show that some datives in Russian constructions with predicatives are similar to those used with corresponding adjectives (мальчику нужно, cf. нужный мальчику), others seem to be are derived / demoted (мальчику весело, cf. веселый мальчик) and still others are specific to predicatives (мальчику холодно, cf. *холодный мальчику, #холодный мальчик). I argue for a constructional "target-oriented" generalization.

The widespread assumption that serializing languages use serial verb constructions (SVCs) to code three-participant situations and therefore lack three-place predicates and three-place mono-verbal constructions is shown not to be valid... more

The widespread assumption that serializing languages use serial verb constructions (SVCs) to code three-participant situations and therefore lack three-place predicates and three-place mono-verbal constructions is shown not to be valid for West African serializing languages. Using Ewe (Gbe), Likpe (Na-Togo) and Akan (Tano) as exemplars, I demonstrate that these languages have trivalent predicates and various constructions in which a single verb hosts three arguments in a clause. The languages deploy three-place predicate, adpositional, SVC, and adnominal strategies to code three-participant situations. I argue that there are semantic differences between the various constructions. The hyper-transitivity of these languages might account for the presence of three-place predicate constructions.

Abstract: This article aims to discuss the loss of the applicative head in Afro-Brazilian Portuguese, expressed morphologically in European Portuguese by the preposition dummy a and third-person dative clitics. The analysis has as main... more

Abstract: This article aims to discuss the loss of the applicative head in Afro-Brazilian Portuguese,
expressed morphologically in European Portuguese by the preposition dummy a and third-person dative
clitics. The analysis has as main argument the shortage and the ambiguity of inputs in the situation of
contact between languages occurred during the colonial period in Brazil. Based on the theories of L2
acquisition, I affirm that the Portuguese contact with bantu-based varieties (Kimbundu, quicongo and
umbundu) is the main reason for the emergence of a new expression of the dative case observed in AfroBrazilian Portuguese. Finally, the methodology is based on the Labovian assumptions, in order to carry
out the quantitative statistical survey of the data.
Keywords: Morphological mark of dative; Preposition a; Third-person clitic; Acquisition of L2; AfroBrazilian Portuguese

Old Icelandic is a language with rich morphology and is usually considered as having archaic syntax. Meanwhile, many morphosyntactic features of Old Icelandic including the stability of the four-case system and the productivity of dative... more

Old Icelandic is a language with rich morphology and is usually considered as having archaic syntax. Meanwhile, many morphosyntactic features of Old Icelandic including the stability of the four-case system and the productivity of dative case marking on the grammatical subject and grammatical object is arguably a result of innovation. Basing on the productivity of Dative - Predicative Structures with a copular element and a non-agreeing predicate, the author predicts that Old Icelandic is developing a class of nominal predicatives corresponding in their morphosyntax to Slavic Category of State forms

In this paper we will consider a construction with a preposition na (on) and an addressee of speech with verbs govorit’ (to speak) and skazat’ (to say) in some Southern Russian and Western Russian dialects. In standard Russian, the... more

In this paper we will consider a construction with a preposition na (on) and an addressee of speech with verbs govorit’ (to speak) and skazat’ (to say) in some Southern Russian and Western Russian dialects. In standard Russian, the semantic role of the addressee of speech is marked with the dative case. We will focus on the examples from Russian dialects that use a different marker of the addressee of speech: the preposition na with the accusative case. The research is based on the data extracted from several dialectal corpora, including the Rogovatka corpus (Starooskolsky district, Belgorod region), the Malinino corpus (Khlevinsky district, Lipetsk region), and the Opochka corpus (Opochecky district, Pskov region). Thus, we analyzed Western Russian (Opochka corpus) and Southern Russian data (Rogovatka and Malinino corpus). Constructions with the preposition na can have several meanings that can be distinguished into 2 groups: contexts with invectives and contexts that contain an impulse (motivation) to action. In the paper, we will consider these two groups of meanings as three stages of a semantic shift. We can suggest that the metaphorical
transition of the construction occurs as follows: 1. A surface of a real
physical object; 2. A sound wave on a surface, in which the addressee of speech acts with a component of aggression; 3. Influence and control of this addressee.

В настоящей статье рассматривается вопрос о подъёме в русском языке. Хотя русский язык не относится к типичным «языкам с подъёмом», как, например, английский, есть случаи, где соблазнительно усмотреть подъём. Это конструкции, где... more

В настоящей статье рассматривается вопрос о подъёме в русском языке. Хотя русский язык не относится к типичным «языкам с подъёмом», как, например, английский, есть случаи, где соблазнительно усмотреть подъём. Это конструкции, где некоторый элемент, на поверхности принадлежащий к главному предложению, получает разумную интерпретацию (например, в терминах сферы действия или семантической роли) в том случае, если мы считаем, что порождается он в придаточном предложении. Наш анализ во многом использует методы и данные работ Minor (2013), Kholodilova (2015), Бурукина (2017). Однако мы добавляем и другие конструкции к анализируемым этими авторами и основываемся на других критериях. Для нас центральным будет критерий прономинализации: сферы действия неопределённых и отрицательных местоимений в главной клаузе и возможности прономинализации подчинённой клаузы с помощью местоимения это.

Publicado en Studies in Language, 25, No. 1, pp. 1-47.

The possibility that the Linear B term to-ko-do-mo = *τοιχοδόμοι(ς): “wall-builders” could be a dative plural on line 11 of the new text PY An 7 + Fn 1427, edited by Melena after a join of two fragments (see Minos 31-32, 1996-1997,... more

The possibility that the Linear B term to-ko-do-mo = *τοιχοδόμοι(ς): “wall-builders” could be a dative plural on line 11 of the new text PY An 7 + Fn 1427, edited by Melena after a join of two fragments (see Minos 31-32, 1996-1997, 171-176), is here discussed through an analysis of the internal arrangement of this tablet and the graphic features of its scribe, Hand 3 of Pylos. Without going into the general discussion about the dative plural of the o-stems in Mycenaean Greek, if the hypothesis that there is at least one form in –o for a thematic dative plural in Linear B were certain, this would involve that the two endings attested for this case in alphabetic Greek, i.e, -οισι and –οις, were be already in use in Mycenaean times for the same case, at least to the end of the period of the Linear B inscriptions (ca. 1200 BC).

In this paper, we analyze some contexts related to the use of the prepositions a and para introducing dative DPs in the dialect of Helvécia. We discuss some of the strongest motives for the use of these prepositions, such as VP structure,... more

In this paper, we analyze some contexts related to the use of the prepositions a and para introducing dative DPs in the dialect of Helvécia. We discuss some of the strongest motives for the use of these prepositions, such as VP structure, semantic type of the verb, age and educational/literacy level.

e study deals with the archaic syntactic construction of the dative absolute which has been well analysed especially in Old Church Slavonic and in the Church Slavonic literary works of Czech origin as well. ese constructions are also... more

e study deals with the archaic syntactic construction of the dative absolute which has been well analysed especially in Old Church Slavonic and in the Church Slavonic literary works of Czech origin as well. ese constructions are also known from Old Czech texts, although their frequency is not high. erefore, an overview of the records obtained from the Old Czech database is given fi rst and then possible interpretations of the occurrence of the dative absolute in Old Czech are suggested. e analysis is focused on testing three hypotheses: the instances of the dative absolute might have arisen as occasional innovations created ad hoc by Old Czech authors; the dative absolute can be regarded as a relic of an earlier grammatical feature or it can be interpreted as one of the elements that Old Czech inherited from the Church Slavonic period.

This article aims at to presenting the main results of the sociolinguistic analysis of the (non) use of the dative prepositions "a" and "para" in Afro-Brazilian communities (Helvécia, Sapé, Rio de Contas and Cinzento), considering some... more

This article aims at to presenting the main results of the sociolinguistic analysis of the (non) use of the dative prepositions "a" and "para" in Afro-Brazilian communities (Helvécia, Sapé, Rio de Contas and Cinzento), considering some syntactico-semantic and social contexts. The methodology of data description and analysis is based on the Labovian approach, in order to obtain results based on statistical survey. The analysis shows that not all contexts of realization of the prepositional dative introduced by "para" are the same if it is compared to the use of non-prepositional dative or prepositional dative introduced by "a". It is argued that the emergence of the preposition "para" in the context of datives in dynamic ditransitive verbs could have suffered relexification, as a result of the influence of Bantu languages, during the period of intense language contact that characterizes the socio-historical formation of these communities.

This paper deals with the question of which factors constrain the merging of possessive dative in Spanish. In particular, I will check to what extent the most important explanations of the construction, such as the affectedness condition... more

This paper deals with the question of which factors constrain the merging of possessive dative in Spanish. In particular, I will check to what extent the most important explanations of the construction, such as the affectedness condition as well as the structural approaches of this phenomenon, account for the employment of possessive dative in contemporary Spanish. My aim in this paper will be to demonstrate that the merging of possessive dative is related to several factors, among which the saliency of the possessor and its resemblance with semantic controllers seem to play an important role. 1 The accusative and the dative are isomorphic forms in first person and second person clitics. Clitics are distinguished formally for accusative and dative in the case of third person pronouns, and only in certain areas. The third person accusative clitic is lo for singular masculine, los for plural masculine, la for singular feminine, and las for plural feminine.