<div dir="ltr">Serial verbs were commonly utilized in Yahgan, a recently extinct Native American language from Tierra del Fuego, which I've studied for the past quarter century. Unusually, Yahgan is a differential case-marking language (nominative-accusative alignment) with a general SVO morphosyntax, though there are traces of former SOV habit (which is the norm in the region's other languages). Aspectual notions normally are expressed by use of posture-based copular verbs suffixed to the main verb or verb string. The degree of contact with the substrate seems to determine where in the aspect spectrum the particular posture verb is. -(w)i:a 'lie (down), sg.' (colon marks tenseness of the vowel preceding it) has the greatest contact, -mu:tu: 'sit, sg.' has a bit less contact, -mvni 'stand, sg.' (v schwa) even less, and a:gulu: 'jump, fly' the minimum amount of contact. There are also terms for being similarly in or out of the water also used aspectually (the the evidence is less complete from dictionary glosses and the three biblical texts we have). And we also have suffixed dual and inherent plural verbs for these senses used aspectually. <div><br></div><div>With the spectrum of substrate contact (spatiotemporally) explained, we can see that this system is somewhat iconic in terms of its motivation, though not phonosemantically (Yahgan has only a tiny handful of onomatopes, and no ideophones dealing with other semantic domains). </div><div><br></div><div>Being ready or able to start a new activity as needs or opportunities arise takes -mvni 'stand, sg.', while more regular or habitual activity takes -mu:tu: Complete immersion in some activity takes -(w)i:a 'lie, sg.'. Note that these appear as SUFFIXES to the verb. Curiously, when used PREFIXALLY on the verb, we get inverted senses. Mvni- marks being habitually involved, while ya- means to plan, prepare for, or begin, but not complete, an activity. And the prefixal and suffixal forms can appear together on the same verb.</div><div><br></div><div>Jess Tauber</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 6:55 AM VITTRANT Alice <<a href="mailto:alice.vittrant@cnrs.fr">alice.vittrant@cnrs.fr</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">
<div>
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Dear Eva and Sune,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Burmese (Sino-tibetan) uses serial verb constructions, and does have a SVC to express habitual meaning. This SVC contains the verb တတ် /<span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";font-size:14px">taʔ</span>/ that appears after another
verb.</div>
<div>The verb တတ် /<span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";font-size:14px">taʔ</span>/ outside of the construction means ‘be skilled, know’.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Examples could be found in my chapter on Burmese (Vittrant 2019 : 58), or in Vittrant (2006) or <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/lidil/3246" target="_blank">(2012</a>) on SVC in Burmese.</div>
<div>See also Jenny & Hnin Tun (2016:209)</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Best regards, </div>
<div>Alice</div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="13" valign="top"></td>
<td>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><font face="HelveticaNeue"><a href="http://www.ddl.cnrs.fr/Annuaires/Index.asp?Langue=FR&Page=Alice%20VITTRANT" target="_blank">Vittrant, A.</a>, 2019, "Burmese", in
<i>The Mainland Southeast Asia Linguistic Area</i>, Vittrant, A. & Watkins, J. (eds), Berlin, De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 56-130</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><font face="HelveticaNeue"><a href="http://www.ddl.cnrs.fr/Annuaires/Index.asp?Langue=FR&Page=Alice%20VITTRANT" target="_blank">Vittrant, A.</a>, 2012, "How typology allows for a new analysis of the verb
phrase in Burmese", <i>Lidil</i>, 46, pp. 101-126</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="13" valign="top"></td>
<td>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><font face="HelveticaNeue"><a href="http://www.ddl.cnrs.fr/Annuaires/Index.asp?Langue=FR&Page=Alice%20VITTRANT" target="_blank">Vittrant, A.</a>, 2006, "Les constructions en série : une autre approche
du syntagme verbal en birman", <i>Bulletin de la Société de linguistique de Paris</i>, CI, pp. 305-368</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><font face="HelveticaNeue"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;color:windowtext"><br>
</span></font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><font face="HelveticaNeue"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;color:windowtext">M. Jenny & San San Hnin Tun, </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;color:windowtext">Burmese:
A comprehensive grammar</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt">, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;color:windowtext">New York: Routledge, 2016.</span>
</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div>
<div><br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>Le 17 avr. 2023 à 10:20, Sune Gregersen <<a href="mailto:s.gregersen@isfas.uni-kiel.de" target="_blank">s.gregersen@isfas.uni-kiel.de</a>> a écrit :</div>
<br>
<div>
<div>
<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 href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2397002215626895" target="_blank">
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 href="http://hdl.handle.net/10524/52507" target="_blank">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 href="https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/8593" target="_blank">
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>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
Lingtyp mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br>
<a href="https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp" target="_blank">https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp</a><br>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<div>
<div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="font-family:Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:22px">
<span style="font-family:verdana"><span style="font-size:14px"><b>Alice Vittrant</b></span><em style="font-size:11px"> </em></span></div>
<div style="line-height:22px">
<div style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt">
<div style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt">
<div style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt"><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;font-size:13.3333px">Professeur des Universités</span></div>
<div style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt"><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;font-size:13.3333px">Université Lyon 2 - </span><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;font-size:10pt">DYNAMIQUE
DU LANGAGE (CNRS DDL - UMR 5596)</span></div>
<div style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt"><font color="#666666" face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" size="2">14 <span>avenue</span> Berthelot - MSH - Bât C</font></div>
<div style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt"><font color="#666666" face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" size="2">69363 Lyon Cedex 07</font></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
</span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="margin:0px;display:inline"><font style="font-size:10px;font-family:Tahoma"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:12px"><b>Site</b> : </span></font></div>
<a href="http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/AliceVittrant" target="_blank">http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/AliceVittrant</a></span></div>
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"> <span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span> <a href="http://irasia.cnrs.fr/alice-vittrant/" target="_blank">http://irasia.cnrs.fr/alice-vittrant/</a> </div>
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
<div style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<font face="Tahoma"><b>Mail</b> : </font><a href="mailto:alice.vittrant@cnrs.fr" target="_blank">alice.vittrant@cnrs.fr</a></div>
<div style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px">
<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"></span> <a href="mailto:alice.vittrant@univ-lyon2.fr" target="_blank">alice.vittrant@univ-lyon2.fr</a></div>
</span></div>
</span></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
Lingtyp mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">Lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br>
<a href="https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp</a><br>
</blockquote></div>