[Lingtyp] Query: Habitual serial verb constructions

Mon Apr 17 13:54:24 UTC 2023

A:gulu: 'jump, fly' doesn't seem to be used prefixally, but perhaps the
form wvl(a)- 'completely' is derived from it etymologically? There are a
large number of derivations with wvl(a)- prefix.

Jess Tauber

On Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 8:26 AM Jess Tauber <tetrahedralpt at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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.
>
> 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).
>
> 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.
>
> Jess Tauber
>
> On Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 6:55 AM VITTRANT Alice <alice.vittrant at cnrs.fr>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Eva and Sune,
>>
>> Burmese (Sino-tibetan) uses serial verb constructions, and does have a
>> SVC to express habitual meaning. This SVC contains the verb တတ် /taʔ/
>> that appears after another verb.
>> The verb တတ် /taʔ/ outside of the construction means ‘be skilled, know’.
>>
>> Examples could be found in my chapter on Burmese (Vittrant 2019 : 58), or
>> in Vittrant (2006) or (2012 <https://journals.openedition.org/lidil/3246>)
>>  on SVC in Burmese.
>> See also Jenny & Hnin Tun (2016:209)
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Alice
>>
>>
>> Vittrant, A.
>> <http://www.ddl.cnrs.fr/Annuaires/Index.asp?Langue=FR&Page=Alice%20VITTRANT>,
>> 2019, "Burmese", in *The Mainland Southeast Asia Linguistic Area*,
>> Vittrant, A. & Watkins, J. (eds), Berlin, De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 56-130
>> Vittrant, A.
>> <http://www.ddl.cnrs.fr/Annuaires/Index.asp?Langue=FR&Page=Alice%20VITTRANT>,
>> 2012, "How typology allows for a new analysis of the verb phrase in
>> Burmese", *Lidil*, 46, pp. 101-126
>> Vittrant, A.
>> <http://www.ddl.cnrs.fr/Annuaires/Index.asp?Langue=FR&Page=Alice%20VITTRANT>,
>> 2006, "Les constructions en série : une autre approche du syntagme verbal
>> en birman", *Bulletin de la Société de linguistique de Paris*, CI,
>> pp. 305-368
>>
>> M. Jenny & San San Hnin Tun, *Burmese: A comprehensive grammar*,  New York:
>> Routledge, 2016.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Le 17 avr. 2023 à 10:20, Sune Gregersen <s.gregersen at isfas.uni-kiel.de>
>> a écrit :
>>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> 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 *taw* can be combined with another verb to
>> express a habitual situation. Outside of this construction, the verb
>> *taw* means 'know', as in (2):
>>
>> (1) Papuan Malay (Kluge 2023: 8)
>> *dong taw maing foli*
>> 3PL know play volleyball
>> 'they habitually play volleyball'
>>
>> (2) Papuan Malay (Kluge 2023: 7)
>> *mama de blum taw tempat itu*
>> mother 3SG not.yet know place DISTAL.DEM
>> 'mother doesn’t yet know that place'
>>
>> 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".
>>
>> 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 *čakwi*, literally 'carry', gives the
>> habitual meaning 'would kill'. However, 'carry' may also be used as an
>> independent verb, as shown in (4):
>>
>> (3) Northern Paiute (Thornes 2003: 266)
>> *nɨnmi kammɨ koi-čakwi *
>> 1.EXCL jackrabbit kill.PL-carry
>> 'We would kill jackrabbits.'
>>
>> (4) Northern Paiute (Snapp et al. 1982: 68)
>> *baa-huu-na i gunna pa-to-ǰakwi-kɨ-kwɨnai-hu*
>> water-flow-SUBORD my wood water-shoulder-carry-APPLIC-away-PUNCTUAL
>> 'The flood carried away my wood.'
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> With all best wishes,
>> Eva van Lier (Amsterdam) and Sune Gregersen (Kiel)
>>
>>
>> REFERENCES
>>
>> Haspelmath, Martin. 2016. The serial verb construction: Comparative
>> concept and cross-linguistic generalizations. Language and Linguistics
>> 17(3). 291–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/2397002215626895
>>
>> Kluge, Angela. 2023. Serial verb constructions in Papuan Malay: Forms,
>> functions and indeterminacy. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics
>> Society 16(1). 1–36. http://hdl.handle.net/10524/52507
>>
>> 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.
>> https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/8593
>>
>> Thornes, Timothy Jon. 2003. A Northern Paiute grammar and texts. Doctoral
>> dissertation, University of Oregon.
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>>
>> *Alice Vittrant*
>> Professeur des Universités
>> Université Lyon 2 - DYNAMIQUE DU LANGAGE (CNRS DDL - UMR 5596)
>> 14 avenue Berthelot - MSH - Bât C
>> 69363 Lyon Cedex 07
>> *Site* :
>> http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/AliceVittrant
>>      http://irasia.cnrs.fr/alice-vittrant/
>>
>> *Mail* : alice.vittrant at cnrs.fr
>>    alice.vittrant at univ-lyon2.fr
>>
>>
>>
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