<div dir="ltr">There are also the simple Agent/Patient and Active/Stative, which refer to systems that are similar up to a point but not identical. The first distinguishes control/volition/affecteness, etc. while the second distinguishes events from states. This was discussed in <div><br></div><div>Mithun, Marianne. 1991. Active/Agentive case marking and its motivations. <i>Language</i> 67: 510-546, Reprinted 2019 in a Special Issue on Indigenous languages: 20th century perspectives.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Marianne</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, May 12, 2021 at 7:22 AM Van Valin, Robert <<a href="mailto:vanvalin@buffalo.edu">vanvalin@buffalo.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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I meant for this to go to the list, too.<br>
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<div>Begin forwarded message:</div>
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<span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b>From:
</b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif">Robert Van Valin Jr <<a href="mailto:vanvalin@buffalo.edu" target="_blank">vanvalin@buffalo.edu</a>><br>
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<span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b>Subject:
</b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif"><b>Re: [Lingtyp] terminological question about intransitive verbs</b><br>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b>Date:
</b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif">May 12, 2021 at 10:18:15 EDT<br>
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<span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b>To:
</b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif">Martin Haspelmath <<a href="mailto:martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de" target="_blank">martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de</a>><br>
</span></div>
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<div>On May 12, 2021, at 09:24, Martin Haspelmath <<a href="mailto:martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de" target="_blank">martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de</a>> wrote:</div>
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<div>I don't think there's anything wrong with "actor-holding - undergoer-holding", but why not simply "agentive – patientive"?<br>
<br>
The term pair "actor/undergoer" was coined by Foley & Van Valin (1984: §2.1) in order to have a way to generalize over the following kinds of situations:<br>
<br>
<i>Colin (A) killed the taipan (U).</i><br>
<i>The avalanche (A) crushed the cottage (U).</i><br>
<i>The dog (A) sensed the earthquake (U).</i><br>
<br>
Van Valin also used "Actor" and "Undergoer" for two types of Lakota single-argument verbs, but it is well-known that there's a wide range of ways in which languages can have multiple valency constructions for single-argument verbs.</div>
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Francesca Merlan’s paper in the 1985 Nichols & Woodbury (eds) ‘Grammar inside and outside the clause’ volume is very important in this regard, as she shows that languages exhibiting split-intransitivity differ significantly in terms of the markedness of the
two major classes. For example, in Lakhota the so-called ‘active’ class is the smaller, more restricted class (must have an animate argument), while there is no such restriction on the verbs in the larger, unmarked class of so-called ’stative’ verbs. She
argues that in Iroquoian the situation is reversed: the unmarked class is the ‘active’ class, and the smaller, restricted class contains the ’stative’ predicates. Given the diversity she documents, it’s not obvious that terms like ‘actor/undergoer’ or ‘agentive/patientive’
are very useful as general typological labels.<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div><br>
For example, Russian has some single-argument verbs that take an Accusative argument (<i>menja tošnit</i><span> </span>'I.ACC feel sick') and others that take a Dative argument (<i>mne nezdorovitsja</i><span> </span>'I.DAT
feel sick'). Are both these valency classes "undergoer-holding"? Or maybe "actor-holding" because experiencers are sentient and therefore more like agents?<br>
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This example highlights another problem with these terms, namely the lack of clear criteria for assigning them when used outside of a well-defined theoretical framework.<br>
<br>
Best,</div>
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Van<br>
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<div><br>
So for the stereotypical subdivision of single-argument verbs ("active – inactive" in Klimov 1977), maybe "agentive – patientive" is the best choice?</div>
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<div><br>
Best,<br>
Martin<br>
<br>
<br>
<div>Am 12.05.21 um 12:24 schrieb Christian Lehmann:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
The only or direct actant of an intransitive verb may be its actor (<i>run</i>) or its undergoer (<i>die</i>). This may be taken to be a feature of the verb's valency. There are then two valency classes of intransitive verbs. I know of the
following terms for these:<br>
<br>
active - inactive (Klimov)<br>
agentive - non-agentive<br>
unergative - unaccusative (Perlmutter)<br>
<br>
All of these pairs have terminological or conceptual problems (which I can name if desired). I have therefore been looking for better terms. I had called them<br>
actor-oriented - undergoer-oriented.<br>
However, I need the term 'oriented' in verbal grammar in a different sense, so I have to replace these. Currently, I call them<br>
actor-holding - undergoer-holding<br>
Not particularly elegant, are they?<br>
<br>
Are there good terms on the linguistic market (of the past two centuries) for what is meant by the above? Or failing this, brilliant neologisms?<br>
<br>
Grateful for suggestions,<br>
Christian<br>
<div>--<span> </span><br>
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