UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics Title An Updated Typology of Causative Constructions: Form-function Mappings in Hupa (California Athabaskan), Chungli Ao (Tibeto-Burman) and Beyond Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4556v4g6 Author Escamilla, Ramón Publication Date 2012 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California An Updated Typology of Causative Constructions: Form-Function Mappings in Hupa (California Athabaskan), Chungli Ao (Tibeto-Burman) and Beyond By Ramón Mahew Escamilla, Jr. A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Eve Sweetser, Chair Professor Richard A. Rhodes Professor Johanna Nichols Fall 2012 Abstract An Updated Typology of Causative Constructions: Form-Function Mappings in Hupa (California Athabaskan), Chungli Ao (Tibeto-Burman) and Beyond by Ramón Mahew Escamilla, Jr. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics University of California, Berkeley Professor Eve Sweetser, Chair Taking up analytical issues raised primarily in Dixon (2000) and Dixon & Aikhenvald (2000), this dissertation combines descriptive work with a medium-sized (50-language) typological study. Chapter 1 situates the dissertation against a concise survey of typological-functional work on causative constructions from the last few decades, and outlines the major research questions. Chapter 2 presents a case study of causative encoding in Hupa (California Athabaskan). I describe the morphosyntax and semantics of the Hupa syntactic causative construction, and analyze its distribution with respect to Dixon’s (2000) proposals for a typology of causative constructions. I demonstrate that causee control (Dixon’s parameter 3) over the caused microevent is a significant semantic factor in licensing this construction. I show that Næss’ (2007) model of transitivity as a set of semantic prototypes, as applied to causative event participants, nicely accounts for other aspects of the distribution--particularly, why some events can be encoded in a causative construction, while other, quite similar, events must be encoded in a result clause or purpose clause. I end with an examination of how Hupa encodes causal chains within single lexical items, bringing together a small corpus study and a case study of Hupa encoding of cutting and breaking events. Chapter 3 presents a case study of causative encoding in Chungli Ao (Tibeto-Burman). I offer a description of Chungli Ao’s morphological and periphrastic causative constructions, and analyze their distribution with respect to Dixon’s (2000) model, showing that directness of causer action (Dixon’s parameter 6) can determine the choice between a lexical causative (where one is available), and a non-lexical causative construction. I present an in-depth case study of Chungli Ao encoding of cutting and breaking events, including a discussion of the semantics and distribution of several lexical suffixes and the elements of the causal chain they encode. Also discussed are syntactic alternations systematically available to CUT-class verbs and BREAK-class verbs, respectively. Chapter 4 moves away from language-specific case studies, and turns to crosslinguistic research in order to address some broader research questions about universal tendencies in the encoding of causative relationships. I bring a new, larger body of empirical evidence to bear specifically on 1 Dixon’s (2000) account of the formal and semantic factors influencing (or forcing) a speaker’s choice of one causative construction over another. Dixon’s (2000) claims about prototypical patternings of compact vs. less compact constructions are not well-supported: in order for the claims to be well-supported, the values of Dixon's nine parameters would have to be correlated in individual languages at a statistically significant frequency. Parameter 5 (partially versus completely affected causee) was not found to be crucially encoded at all in a sample of 114 constructions from 50 languages. Parameters 7 (causer intentionality), 8 (naturalness of causer action) and 9 (causer accompanying or not accompanying causee) nearly always occur in isolation. The one instance of a solid correlation among parameter values (with a sample of more than 10 relevant pairing events) was that between parameters 3 (causee control) and 4 (causee willingness). These two parameters were correlated: they were encoded together at particular values (both low or both high), or were both systematically absent, at a statistically significant frequency. Since, in general, Dixon’s proposed semantic parameters tend not to co-occur, the study shows that it is not feasible to model the distribution of causative constructions around notions of semantic prototypicality. A much larger sample may show Dixon to be correct in his proposal regarding correlations between values of semantic parameters, but the current findings suggest that his nine parameters are not likely to pattern together in subgroups. I conclude the chapter by presenting a series of constructions, encountered in the course of compiling the typological sample, that obligatorily encode other semantic information along with causativity. I note potential patterns and propose questions for research to build on my typological study. Chapter 5 summarizes the contributions of the dissertation, and recapitulates various proposals for further study. 2 To rational thought, and linguistic diversity. i Acknowledgements I begin by acknowledging the generous funding I have received over the years. My research on Hupa has been supported in part by an Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP) grant in 2008 (Fieldwork Grant #FTG0162); an Endangered Language Fund (ELF) grant (in 2008); an award from the Robert L. Oswalt Graduate Student Support Endowment for Endangered Language Documentation in 2010; and a grant from the A. Richard Diebold, Jr. Fellowship Endowment in Linguistics, in 2012. I have also received money from various sources through the Department of Linguistics, including the Ray A. Rodriguez Memorial Fellowship (2007-2008). I am grateful for all of these. In addition, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the following people: My committee. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with each of you. Eve, for your straight talk and support, for the tea and the good politics. You saw me through the bad and the ugly. At one point in my fourth year, when I was seriously considering leaving the program, you sat me down and said, “Ramón! You. Are. Good. We think highly of you.” I’m not the type that ordinarily needs too much hand-holding, but I needed that at the time, and you knew to give it. Rich, for your good advice, and for your incredibly broad knowledge of history, sociology and geography. I also appreciate your sense of humor and familiarity with pop culture. Your presence helped make the department a pleasant place to work. Johanna, for your (always) unbelievably prompt and thorough assessment of my work. I could not have attempted a typological study without you. U.C. Berkeley faculty who have been influential and helpful, especially Leanne Hinton, Robin Tolmach Lakoff, Keith Johnson, Keiko Yamanaka, Yoko Hasegawa, Alice Gaby and Lev Michael (and Chris Beier!). Thank you for your input and support along the way. U.C. Berkeley faculty who have not been involved directly in my work, but who have nonetheless been influential and helpful, especially Line Mikkelsen, Andrew Garrett, and Karen Møller. Thank you. Other giants on whose shoulders I sometimes try to stand: Keren Rice, Victor Golla, Nick Enfield, Bernard Comrie. Thank you for asking searching (and difficult) questions about my work. You have spurred me on to be a better linguist. My friends and colleagues through six years of study and work in Japan, many of whom inspired me to take on my CDA project on the Japanese media—a big part of grad school that didn’t make it into this dissertation. All of you have supported and sustained me. Tomoko Kase (HRH), Mia Simring, Patricia Martins, Yoshiko Ichikawa, Yoshio Ohta, Kayoko Ishikawa, Nobuyuki Yokota, Takanori Nakamura, Takahiro Ito, Michelle Spezzacatena, Gail Atherton, Amber O’Dwyer, Mauro Lo Dico, Jim Patrick, Masako Iwata, Hosa and company from the Aichi Prefectural Police, and countless others. Thanks for the drunken karaoke, the kushikatsu , the AJET meetings, the commiseration, and the laughs. ii Our wonderful professional support in the Department of Linguistics: Belén Flores, Paula Floro, Natalie Babler, and Jane Paris. You know we couldn’t do this without you. Mr. Moa Imchen, my Chungli Ao consultant and an all-around great guy. Thank you for your humor and outlandishly thorough knowledge of language. Kanga pelar ! Mrs. Verdena Parker, my Hupa consultant and mentor, for sharing your language and life, and making me the envy of many other fieldworkers. Thank you for your endless patience, no- nonsense talk, and delicious apple pie and frybread. I promise not to “take no wooden nickels from no one.” The people of the Hoopa Valley Reservation, particularly Melodie George, Jackie Martin, Danny Ammon, and my colleague Kayla Rae Carpenter. Thank you for your research ideas, collaboration, and hospitality. May Hupa always be spoken in the valley. Ts’ehdiyah ! Lindsey Newbold. I singled you out because we’ve been through rather a lot together, personally and professionally.