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Can a verb have a benefactive marker (applicative marker or index)?
Summary
This question concerns a phonologically bound verbal marker that signals that the verb has a beneficiary. The marker could be analyzed in the language-specific case as voice, indexing or a 'bound pronoun'. In some languages, applicative markers may be used to topicalize, focalize or background a beneficiary. This type of marking also counts for this feature. The marker does not have to index the beneficiary. Autobenefactive markers do not count and serial verb constructions that include a benefactive verb (typically 'give') do not count.
Procedure
- Look up the sections on verbal morphology, indexing and argument structure, and adverbial modifiers.
- If there are no such sections, search for the words 'give', 'receive', 'recipient', 'benefactive' and 'applicative'.
- If the language has a way to index a beneficiary on verbs, code 1.
- If the language has a way to mark on the verb that an action has a beneficiary, code 1.
- If the language does not have a benefactive marker on verbs and does not index beneficiaries on verbs, code 0.
- If the grammar comprehensively describes verbal morphology but does not mention the coding of beneficiaries, code 0.
- If there is not enough information in the grammar to understand how beneficiaries are coded, code ?.
Examples
Arabana (ISO 639-3: ard, Glottolog: arab1267)
In Arabana, the general transitivizer -la- functions, amongst others, as a benefactive marker. Arabana is coded 1.
Thudni-la-thira
cry-BEN-PUNCT
‘(They) cry over someone.’ (Hercus 1994: 150)
Thanta wirra-la-rnda
stuff buy-BEN-PRS
‘(Father) buys dress material for (them).’ (Hercus 1994: 150)
Jina (ISO 639-3: jia, Glottolog: jina1244)
In Jina, a bound beneficiary pronoun may co-occur in a clause with a co-referential full noun phrase. Jina is coded 1 for this feature.
Adam val-nara arga kə Falmata
Adam give-3SG.F.BEN ring DAT Falmata
‘Adam gave falmata a ring.’ (Schmidt, Odden & Holmberg 2002: 111)
In continuous aspect clauses, indirect object pronouns are infixed inside a reduplicated verb (reduplication marks continuous aspect). This counts as indexing.
na zal-ama-cə-zala
1SG REDUP:CONT-2SG.F.BEN-3SG.F-send
‘I am sending her to you.’ (Schmidt, Odden & Holmberg 2002: 111)
Further reading
Haspelmath, Martin & Müller-Bardey, Thomas. 2004. Valency change. In Geert E. Booij, Christian Lehmann, Joachim Mugdan & Stavros Skopeteas (eds), Morphology: An international handbook on inflection and word-formation. Vol. 2, 1130–1145. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Peterson, David A. 2007. Applicative constructions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Polinsky, Maria. 2013. Applicative constructions. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Zúñiga, Fernando & Seppo Kittilä. 2019. Grammatical voice (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics, 59.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
References
Hercus, Luise A. 1994. A grammar of the Arabana-Wangkangurru language, Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia. (Pacific Linguistics: Series C, 128.) Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
Schmidt, Bodil Kappel, David Odden & Anders Holmberg. 2002. Some aspects of the grammar of Zina Kotoko. (LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics, 54.) Munich: Lincom Europa.
Related Features
- GB104 Can a verb have an instrumental marker (applicative marker or index)?
- GB108 Is there directional or locative morphological marking on verbs?
- GB114 Is there a phonologically bound reflexive marker on the verb?
- GB115 Is there a phonologically bound reciprocal marker on the verb?
Patron
Jakob Lesage