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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Dear typologists,<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Is anybody familiar with a
language that has serial verb constructions of the form<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">(1) A <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>DO/MAKE <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"></span>P <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>VERB.OF.MOTION <span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>G<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">with no additional argument
flagging, and where the resulting meaning is one of those
indicated in (a) and (b) below?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">(a) 'A gave P to G'<o:p></o:p></span><span
lang="EN-US"><br>
(b) 'A took P from G'<o:p></o:p></span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The reason I'm asking:<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am reconstructing
sentences such as in (1) for some languages of western New
Guinea, as a first stage in a possible chain of
grammaticalization, so I am wondering whether similar
constructions are actually attested in any of the world's
languages. (Seems to me that this is something that might
conceivably be found in Mainland Southeast Asia, West Africa, or
Atlantic Creoles.)<br>
</span></p>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
David
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
David Gil
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816
</pre>
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