[Lingtyp] Clauses without any overt predicative content (and negation)

[Siva Kalyan]

Japanese (which is also aspect-dominated) works similarly; the examples from Western Dani could be translated literally (kawa/chichi wa mada…).

Siva

> On 4 Dec 2021, at 12:19 pm, Mark Donohue <mhdonohue at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Why do we think there's no predicative content here?
> Isn't bado, or awo, a predicate here?
> 
> This sort of thing is very common in many aspect-dominated languages.
> An Indonesian conversation is frequently, depending on which variety you're speaking, full of one word sentences of the form sudah (which translates 'already', and much else besides).
> 
> -Mark
> 
> 
> On Fri, 3 Dec 2021 at 22:03, Bastian Persohn <persohn.linguistics at gmail.com <mailto:persohn.linguistics at gmail.com>> wrote:
> Dear lingtyp members,
> 
> Do you know of any good discussion of how clauses without any overt predicative content are interpreted, especially in regards to polarity?
> 
> I’m thinking of the following type, where bado 'still' becomes its negative equivalent 'not yet' in the absence of overt predicative content, a pattern
> that is attested in many languages around the globe.
> 
> (1) Imerudi kutengenezwa {au bado}?
> it.has.returned be.fixed or still
> ʻHas it (fan) be fixed again or not yet?ʼ
> (Ashton 1947: 392)
> 
> (2) Kwa sasa maji yametoka mtoni (Malulumo) na kufika Mgera {lakini vijiji vingine bado}.
> For now water it.has.come.from at.river M. and arrive M. but villages other still
>  ‘As for now, the water has come from the river (Malulumo) and reached Mgera, but not other villages yet.’
> (Helsinki Corpus of Swahili 2.0)
>  
> Obviously, in (1, 2) the disjunctive context also plays a role, but cf. the Western Dani examples (3, 4).
> Again, variations over the same theme appear to be pretty common.
> 
> (3) Yi awo
> river still
> ʻThe river has not yet been swelled.ʼ
> (Barclay 2008: 440)
> 
> (4) Nin-ogoba awo
> our.father still
> ʻOur father, no!ʼ (Barclay 2008: 441)
> 
> Thanks a lot!
> 
> Best,
> Bastian
> 
> 
> References
> 
> Ashton, Ethel O. 1947. Swahili grammar (including intonation). London: Longmans, Green and Co
> 
> Barclay, Peter. 2008. A grammar of Western Dani. Munich: Lincom.
> 
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