[Lingtyp] Giver and recipient sharing the same marking, but the direct object is marked differently

[Christoph Holz]

Dear Pun Ho Lui Joe,



Maybe this one also counts: In Tiang (Oceanic, Papua New Guinea), giver and
recipient are core arguments and are marked identically (zero), while the
theme is a peripheral argument and is introduced by the preposition *pâ*
‘with’:



[*imam*]giver       *uâ          tauai*     [*nó*]recipient
[*pâ
ni*]theme

1PL.EXCL            PST        give       2SG                     with
coconut

‘We gave you a coconut.’



(There is also another verb for ‘give’, *lis*, where giver and theme are
core arguments and zero-marked, while the recipient is a peripheral
argument marked with the preposition *si*.)



See p. 140 in:

Holz, Christoph. 2023. *A comprehensive grammar of Tiang*. Cairns: Central
Queensland University dissertation.



Best wishes

Christoph



-- 

*Christoph Holz*

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Naples L'Orientale

Adjunct Research Fellow, Jawun Research Institute, CQU



Website: https://tianglanguage.wordpress.com/

Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7997-4928



Recent publications:

A comprehensive grammar of Tiang
<https://acquire.cqu.edu.au/articles/thesis/A_comprehensive_grammar_of_Tiang/25182350?file=44461052>

Documentation of Konomala <https://www.elararchive.org/dk0759>


On Thu, 19 Feb 2026 at 17:10, Spike Gildea via Lingtyp <
lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:

> In at least 3 Cariban languages, the ergative case-marker/postposition is
> derived historically from the dative, so the two are isomorphic. If you
> include subordinate clause constructions, I would guess that this
> syncretism occurs in at least 15 languages. Here is a quick examples from
> Wayana (Taveres 2005: 441):
>
> [Erg] [Rec]
>
>    Kahulu tëkalëi      Avina ja Pintutu ja.
>
> kahulu t-ëkalë-he      avina ja pintutu ja
>
>     beads      T-give.O-He   Avina Erg  Pintutu Dat
>
> ‘Avina gave the beads to Pintutu.’
>
> Best,
> Spike
>
>
> *From: *Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of
> David Gil via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
> *Date: *Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 1:59 AM
> *To: *Pun Ho Lui <luiph001 at gmail.com>
> *Cc: *lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> >
> *Subject: *Re: [Lingtyp] Giver and recipient sharing the same marking,
> but the direct object is marked differently
>
> This message originated outside the UO email ecosystem.
> Use caution with links and attachments. Learn more about this email
> warning tag
> <https://service.uoregon.edu/TDClient/2030/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=141098>
> .
> Report Suspicious
> <https://us-phishalarm-ewt.proofpoint.com/EWT/v1/C5qS4YX3!NCmHpZ7A5B5Nki6mM5P6Z57qQ0cpdbfRTIWuSnqaddCsLcOyHJPp1O4F5-a6SwaF3aFEscEySFCzorXLX8Z7tHKs6KZdGkn54X2YWbWxtL84ZIbj90V-eDrqCBT3$>
>
> Hi,
>
>
>
> In Riau Indonesian, *sama* may optionally occur on either the agent or
> the recipient, though not the theme, of (unmarked) 'give'.  However, I've
> never observed it to occur on both agent and recipient in the same sentence.
>
>
>
> David
>
>
>
> Gil, David (2004) "Riau Indonesian *sama*, Explorations in
> Macrofunctionality", in M. Haspelmath ed., *Coordinating Constructions*,
> Typological Studies in Language 58, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 371-424.
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 2:12 PM Pun Ho Lui via Lingtyp <
> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:
>
> Dear linguists,
>
> I am wondering if there is any case where in the ditransitive ‘give’
> construction, the agent (giver) and recipient are marked by the same item,
> but the theme (or direct object) is marked differently, e.g.:
>
> 1SG-NOM give 2SG-NOM  pen
> ‘I gave you a pen.’
>
> This pattern does not fit well in the conceptual space for core arguments
> (Croft 2001), so I expect it is not very common across languages.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Warmest,
> Pun Ho Lui Joe
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp__;!!C5qS4YX3!BLaApOiMt6r5clDth6LaRBK83d7Yo-pU6Sf70wNlQqy8jYW4gZ77f7Yv7HRu5ctoop6WwSKQMYF4Ku0QNnEJNg38IphK$>
>
>
>
> --
>
> David Gil
>
> Senior Scientist (Associate)
> Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
> Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
> Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
>
> Email: dapiiiiit at gmail.com
> Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
> Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20260219/b6592663/attachment.htm>