Expression of threat

[Kulikov, L.I.]

Dear Alexander,
 
There is a paper which deals, in particular, with this type of meaning
and the means of its expression --
foremost in Russian, but, also, in some other languages: 
 
Mel'chuk, I.A. "Un affixe derivationnel et un phraseme syntaxique du
russe moderne: Essai de description 
formelle". Revue des etudes slaves 59 (1987): 631-648. 
 
See also some further discussion (and more references) in: 
 
Kulikov, L.I. & N.R. Sumbatova. "Through the looking-glass, and how
causatives look there". In: B.Comrie & M.Polinsky (eds), Causatives and
transitivity. (Studies in language companion series; 23). Amsterdam:
Benjamins, 1993, pp. 330ff. 

 
Best,
Leonid 

________________________________

From: Discussion List for ALT [mailto:LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG]
On Behalf Of Alexander Letuchiy
Sent: maandag 11 januari 2010 14:01
To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
Subject: Expression of threat


Dear colleagues,
 
First of all, I wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And
then, one question.
 
In Russian, my native language, we have a curious construction denoting
threat: in this construction the Subject of the verb, which is
simultaneously the addressee of the threat is moved to the Indirect
Object position and marked with dative, whereas the Subject position is
occupied by the subject of the threat (person who threatens).
It looks like (1), where you can see the basic construction without the
meaning of the threat in (1a) and the construction of threat in (1b):

(1) a.    Ivan          gulja-et           po           nash-emu
sad-u.
           Ivan(NOM)  walk-3SG.PRS   along       our-DAT.SG.M
garden(M)-DAT.SG
           Ivan walks in our garden (usual (basic) construction).
 
     b.    Ja            emu           po-gulja-ju.
           I.NOM       he.DAT        PF-walk-1SG.PRS
           I will make him something bad, because he walks (there) (lit.
'I will walk to him') (construction of threat, where 'I' is the subject
of the threat in the Subject position, and 'him' is the addressee in the
Indirect Object position).
 
I would like to ask you whether you are aware of any similar examples in
your native or non-native languages, namely of examples where the
meaning of threat is marked with an argument change. But in addition, I
would be interested in any examples showing how threat is expressed in
different languages (lexical markers, TAM forms, and so on).
 
Thanks a lot!

Yours sincerely,

Alexander Letuchiy, Moscow


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