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Dear Ferenc,</div>
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Two phenomena in Russian seem to be related </div>
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to your question.</div>
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The first of them is so-called "spontaneous" ("stixiynaya" construction with unmarked transitive verbs. Though no dedicated marker is used, the verb can change subject marking from nominative to instrumental, and this is only possible with natural (and some
other, but mainly non-controlled) forces:</div>
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Possible:<br>
Vzryv otbrosil ego na sto metrov</div>
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explosion.NOM threw.out him on 100 meters</div>
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'The explosion threw him 100 meters away.'</div>
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or</div>
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Vzryv-om ego otbrosilo na sto metrov</div>
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explosion-INS him threw.out on 100 meters</div>
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'The explosion threw him 100 meters away.'</div>
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Possible:</div>
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Vasja otbrosil myach na sto metrov</div>
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Vasja.NOM threw.out ball on 100 meters</div>
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'Vasja threw out the ball 100 meters away.'</div>
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Impossible:</div>
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Myach otbrosilo Vas-ej na sto metrov</div>
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ball threw.out Vasja-INS on 100 meters</div>
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'Vasja threw out the ball 100 meters away' (the instrumental marking of agentive subject is ungrammatical).</div>
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Best regards,</div>
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<br>
Alexander Letuchiy, Moscow</div>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000" style="font-size:11pt"><b>From:</b> Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Havas Ferenc <hfz@iif.hu><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 30, 2020 12:37 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org <lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Lingtyp] non-agentive transitives</font>
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<a name="x__Hlk30867244"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Dear Colleagues,</span></a></p>
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<span style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">My question is about the differential marking of agentive and non-agentive subjects in transitive sentences. It is well known that in some languages,
called active or agentive, the marking of the subject of intransitive verbs (whether by a case or by agreement) differs depending on whether the subject is agentive or patient-like. As Marianne Mithun puts it: “ln all of these languages one case is used for
semantic agents of most transitive verbs and the single argument of some intransitives while a different case is used for the semantic patients of most transitive verbs and the single argument of other intransitives. The sets of verbs occurring with each case
are largely the same from one language to the next. Most verbs in the first set denote events performed, effected, instigated and controlled by their participants (’jump', 'go', 'catch'). Most verbs in the second set denote state significantly affecting their
participants ('be sick', 'be tired', 'be caught’)”. (Language 1991, 67/3, 523)</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
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<a name="x__Hlk30867746"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">So much about subjects of intransitive predicates. Less light seems to have been cast on transitive subjects in the dedicated languages,
though the pattern exists. Consider e.g. these Kaddoan sentences (selected from the same paper, 525–528):</span></a></p>
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<span style=""><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">ci-hahyúnčah</span></i></span><span style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> 'I'm going to go home.’</span></span></li><li class="x_MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:17.35pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; line-height:normal">
<span style=""><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">ku-táyʡayah</span></i></span><span style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> 'I'm tired, disgusted, fed up.'</span></span></li></ol>
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<span style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="">(3)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">ci-kíʡčah</span></i></span><span style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> 'I'm going to kill him.'</span></span></p>
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<span style=""><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">kú-ʡnutah</span></i></span><span style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> ’I like it.’</span></span></li></ol>
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<span style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">(1) and (2) show that agentive and non-agentive subjects of intransitive sentences have distinct verbal prefixes:
<i>ci-</i> versus <i>ku-.</i> (3) and (4) in turn illustrate the differential marking of agentive and non-agentive subjects in transitive sentences with the very same prefixes as in intransitive sentences.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">So my questions are</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">a) WHICH SUBJECTS?<br>
Which subjects are non-agentively marked in transitive sentences? I would expect them to be passive experiencers (of verbs like ’see’, ’hear’ as opposed to ‘look at’, ‘listen to’), recipients (’get’, ’inherit’), possessors (’have’), undergoers of unintentional
mental processes (’remember’, ’forget’), emotions (’like’, ’dislike’, ’hate’).<br>
<br>
b) UNIFORM MARKING?<br>
If a language has splits in both transitive and intransitive sentences, are the agentive and non-agentive markers of the same form in the two types of sentences?</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At the end of the day, the central issue is whether the agentive – non-agentive split does or does not work the same way in intransitive and transitive sentences.
If it did, the mere “split intransivity” concept of agentive languages would be worth reconsidering.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Thank you for your assistance.<br>
<br>
Ferenc Havas</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Professor Emeritus of Linguistics</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">ELTE University, Budapest</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%; font-family:"Times",serif"></span></p>
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