Expressing the GIVE Event in Papuan Languages: a Preliminary Survey
Expressing the GIVE event in Papuan languages: A preliminary survey GER REESINK Abstract The linguistic expression of the give event is investigated in a sample of 72 Papuan languages, 33 belonging to the Trans New Guinea family, 39 of vari- ous non-TNG lineages. Irrespective of the verbal template (prefix, suffix, or no indexation of undergoer), in the majority of languages the recipient is marked as the direct object of a monotransitive verb, which sometimes involves stem suppletion for the recipient. While a few languages allow verbal affixation for all three arguments, a number of languages challenge the universal claim that the ‘give’ verb always has three arguments. Keywords: affix order, alignment, argument structure, cross-reference, ditran- sitive, object, Papua New Guinea, perspective, serial verb, supple- tion, syntax, transitivity, word order 1. Introduction 1.1. Essai sur le don Given the nature of humans as a social species, one of the most basic events in our cultures involves the exchange of goods. This event involves a giver,a gift,andarecipient. Newman (1996) has argued that the verb ‘give’ is there- fore a basic verb, illustrated by a plethora of morphosyntactic constructions that are available crosslinguistically. In Newman (2002) he shows how in some languages a direct link can be drawn between cultural values and practices on the one hand and the linguistic expression of the give event on the other hand. For example, in Dyirbal, position, movement, and kinship obligation are im- portant factors determining lexical stems; in Japanese relative status of giver and recipient determine whether the giving is ‘upwards’ or ‘downwards’; and in Chipewyan, the verbs for ‘take’ and ‘give’ change their morphological prop- erties according to shape and consistency of the thing transferred and the (lack Linguistic Typology 17 (2013), 217–266 1430–0532/2013/017-0217 DOI 10.1515/lingty-2013-0010 ©Walter de Gruyter Brought to you by | MPI fuer Psycholinguistik Authenticated Download Date | 7/29/19 5:16 PM 218 Ger Reesink of) control of the actor.
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