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Yes, and I think this argues for the use of "agentive – patientive"
when a language has a valency class that includes verbs like 'talk',
'sing', 'dance', 'work', and another class that includes verbs like
'die', 'fall', 'sink', 'wilt'. It seems that all other cases simply
don't fit into this stereotypical dichotomy.<br>
<br>
Incidentally, I have suggested that only patientive single-argument
verbs (like 'die' and 'fall') should be taken into account for
determining the S-argument (analogous to the A-argument, which is
defined by the coding properties of 'kill' and 'break'; <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://zenodo.org/record/225843">Haspelmath
2011</a>). <br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Martin<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Am 12.05.21 um 16:22 schrieb Van Valin,
Robert:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:BFE3AE82-43A1-44FC-A76D-20E47852279A@buffalo.edu">
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I meant for this to go to the list, too.<br class="">
<div><br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">Begin forwarded message:</div>
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<span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica
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class=""><b class="">From:
</b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font,
Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Robert
Van Valin Jr <<a href="mailto:vanvalin@buffalo.edu"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">vanvalin@buffalo.edu</a>><br
class="">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica
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class=""><b class="">Subject:
</b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font,
Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><b
class="">Re: [Lingtyp] terminological question about
intransitive verbs</b><br class="">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica
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class=""><b class="">Date:
</b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font,
Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">May 12,
2021 at 10:18:15 EDT<br class="">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica
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class=""><b class="">To:
</b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font,
Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Martin
Haspelmath <<a
href="mailto:martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de</a>><br
class="">
</span></div>
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<div class="">On May 12, 2021, at 09:24, Martin
Haspelmath <<a
href="mailto:martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">martin_haspelmath@eva.mpg.de</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div class="">I don't think there's anything wrong
with "actor-holding - undergoer-holding", but why
not simply "agentive – patientive"?<br class="">
<br class="">
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 class="">
<br class="">
<i class="">Colin (A) killed the taipan (U).</i><br
class="">
<i class="">The avalanche (A) crushed the cottage
(U).</i><br class="">
<i class="">The dog (A) sensed the earthquake (U).</i><br
class="">
<br class="">
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>
</div>
</blockquote>
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 class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
For example, Russian has some single-argument verbs
that take an Accusative argument (<i class="">menja
tošnit</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>'I.ACC
feel sick') and others that take a Dative argument (<i
class="">mne nezdorovitsja</i><span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </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 class="">
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
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
class="">
<br class="">
Best,</div>
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text-decoration: none;" class="">
Van<br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
So for the stereotypical subdivision of
single-argument verbs ("active – inactive" in Klimov
1977), maybe "agentive – patientive" is the best
choice?</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
Best,<br class="">
Martin<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Am 12.05.21 um 12:24
schrieb Christian Lehmann:<br class="">
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:39ec677e-81d1-0b25-0476-44bf7f217c44@Uni-Erfurt.De"
class="">
The only or direct actant of an intransitive verb
may be its actor (<i class="">run</i>) or its
undergoer (<i class="">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 class="">
<br class="">
active - inactive (Klimov)<br class="">
agentive - non-agentive<br class="">
unergative - unaccusative (Perlmutter)<br class="">
<br class="">
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 class="">
actor-oriented - undergoer-oriented.<br class="">
However, I need the term 'oriented' in verbal
grammar in a different sense, so I have to replace
these. Currently, I call them<br class="">
actor-holding - undergoer-holding<br class="">
Not particularly elegant, are they?<br class="">
<br class="">
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
class="">
<br class="">
Grateful for suggestions,<br class="">
Christian<br class="">
<div class="moz-signature">--<span
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<p class="" style="font-size:
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Martin Haspelmath
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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Martin Haspelmath
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