<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>Dear colleagues,<br>
</p>
<p>In connection with an investigation of habitual markers, we are
looking for information on languages which use serial verb
constructions (SVCs) to express habitual meaning, i.e. for
customarily or typically recurring situations. An example of this
is seen in (1), from Papuan Malay [ISO 639-3: pmy], where the verb
<i>taw</i> can be combined with another verb to express a habitual
situation. Outside of this construction, the verb <i>taw</i>
means 'know', as in (2):<br>
<br>
(1) Papuan Malay (Kluge 2023: 8)<br>
<i>dong <b>taw</b> maing foli</i><br>
3PL know play volleyball<br>
'they habitually play volleyball'<br>
<br>
(2) Papuan Malay (Kluge 2023: 7)<br>
<i>mama de blum <b>taw</b> tempat itu</i><br>
mother 3SG not.yet know place DISTAL.DEM<br>
'mother doesn’t yet know that place'<br>
<br>
We adhere to the definition of SVC offered by Haspelmath (2016:
296): "a monoclausal construction consisting of multiple
independent verbs with no element linking them and with no
predicate–argument relation between the verbs".<br>
<br>
That the verbs must be "independent" means that they must be able
to occur on their own in a non-elliptical utterance (see
Haspelmath [2016: 302–304] for details). This does not exclude the
possibility that the verbs in a SVC are pronounced as a single
phonological word. Hence the definition also covers some
constructions which may be termed differently in grammars, e.g.
"verb incorporation", "verbal compounds", or "secondary verbs". An
example of such a SVC is seen in (3) from Northern Paiute [pao].
The combination of 'kill' with<i> </i><i>čakwi</i>, literally
'carry', gives the habitual meaning 'would kill'. However, 'carry'
may also be used as an independent verb, as shown in (4):<br>
<br>
(3) Northern Paiute (Thornes 2003: 266)<br>
<i>nɨnmi kammɨ koi-<b>čakwi </b></i><br>
1.EXCL jackrabbit kill.PL-carry<br>
'We would kill jackrabbits.'<br>
<br>
(4) Northern Paiute (Snapp et al. 1982: 68)<br>
<i>baa-huu-na i gunna pa-to-<b>ǰakwi</b>-kɨ-kwɨnai-hu</i><br>
water-flow-SUBORD my wood
water-shoulder-carry-APPLIC-away-PUNCTUAL<br>
'The flood carried away my wood.'<br>
<br>
Apart from Papuan Malay and Northern Paiute, we have examples from
the following languages so far: Anamuxra [imi], Dumo [vam],
Kwomtari [kwo], Lao [lao], Sezo [sze], Tariana [tae], and Yace
[ekr]. We would be most grateful for any information on other
habitual serial verb constructions, including verbal compounds, in
any language of the world.</p>
<p>With all best wishes,<br>
Eva van Lier (Amsterdam) and Sune Gregersen (Kiel)</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>REFERENCES</p>
<p>Haspelmath, Martin. 2016. The serial verb construction:
Comparative concept and cross-linguistic generalizations. Language
and Linguistics 17(3). 291–319.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2397002215626895">https://doi.org/10.1177/2397002215626895</a><br>
<br>
Kluge, Angela. 2023. Serial verb constructions in Papuan Malay:
Forms, functions and indeterminacy. Journal of the Southeast Asian
Linguistics Society 16(1). 1–36. <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://hdl.handle.net/10524/52507">http://hdl.handle.net/10524/52507</a><br>
<br>
Snapp, Allen, John Anderson & Joy Anderson. 1982. Northern
Paiute. In Ronald W. Langacker (ed.), Studies in Uto-Aztecan
grammar 3: Uto-Aztecan grammatical sketches, 1-92. Dallas: Summer
Institute of Linguistics.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/8593">https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/8593</a><br>
<br>
Thornes, Timothy Jon. 2003. A Northern Paiute grammar and texts.
Doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon.<br>
</p>
</body>
</html>