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Valency Reduction in Estonian Valency Reduction in Estonian Virve-Anneli Vihman A thesis submitted in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to Theoretical and Applied Linguistics School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh March 2004 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is of my own composition, and that it contains no material previously submitted for the award of any other degree. The work reported in this thesis has been executed by myself, except where due ac- knowledgement is made in the text. Virve-Anneli Vihman i Abstract Theories of voice based on a model of passivisation such as that exhibited by English tend to characterise valency modification as primarily a syntactic phe- nomenon which preserves propositional content, involving the mapping of un- derlying semantic roles to non-canonical syntactic argument positions. This dis- sertation finds such an approach insufficient to account for the observed phe- nomena in the more complex domain of voice in Estonian. The thesis provides a description of voice in Estonian, through an in-depth study of four valency- reducing constructions: the impersonal, personal passive, generic apersonal, and anticausative. These all involve semantic and lexical-level changes to the argu- ment structure of a predicate. In order to arrive at a satisfactory theoretical ac- count of voice in Estonian, the analysis must consider semantic and pragmatic information alongside the realignment of syntactic rules linking argument places with grammatical functions. The status of verbal arguments undergoing demotion in valency-changing op- erations is shown to be crucial to the interpretations that the various construc- tions give rise to. The thesis establishes a hierarchy of implicit arguments as a key element of these differences in interpretation. The impersonal argument, although non-overt, is shown to be psychologically and linguistically salient, being present for both semantic interpretation and such syntactic purposes as anaphoric reference and control. The impersonal actor is argued to be only slightly demoted, the more important property assigned to the actor argument of impersonals being that of non-specificity. Following the impersonal on the pro- posed Demotion Hierarchy is the personal passive, with a true demoted agent, which can, however, be re-established through an agentive adverbial, and which forms part of the interpretation of the passive construction. Generic apersonal constructions have a less accessible actor referent, whose interpretation crucially iii involves pragmatic inferencing. The anticausative retains only a single under- goer argument in its logical structure, which reveals both proto-agent and proto- patient characteristics. Only this derivationally formed predicate truly deletes its actor argument. The thesis also makes a theoretical contribution to the representation of valency changes. The multi-tiered demotion of actors has implications for the location of valency changes in argument linking. Two semantic levels of representation are implicit in the analysis: one in the lexicon, with abstract valency slots, and the other on a construction-specific level, with fully specified arguments. The latter is realised syntactically through linking rules. The description of the Estonian voice constructions demonstrates that a theory based on semantics is well equipped to account for the particular semantic and pragmatic effects of these operations, and the differences between them. The analysis is implemented within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) and is based on RRG's assumption that the abstract logical structure of verbs underlies overt syntactic phenomena. RRG's generalised semantic macro- roles are found to be useful for various aspects of grammatical description. Tran- sitivity as defined by macroroles underlies several basic phenomena in Estonian grammar, including partitive case-marking and the syntactic behavior of verbal arguments. The thesis proposes that the semantic representation of predicates with the vari- ous types of demoted argument requires modification of the RRG representation of voice. This is shown to have implications for interpretation and the linking between semantics and syntax. The range of voice constructions in Estonian, each assigning a different status to the demoted actor, raises significant issues with regard to the typology of voice and valency and the formal representation of argument structure. iv Acknowledgments I would like to begin by thanking my supervisors for all their input and help. Jim Miller offered much support, both academic and non-, and an eagerness to discuss the finer details of Estonian from the beginning of my studies here. Ron- nie Cann has consistently given me more than would be expected of his time and patience. Especially in the last year he has been an invaluable guide, gener- ous reader, and sympathetic friend. This project would not be half of what it is without him. I hasten to add that I alone am responsible for the flaws and inadequacies which remain in spite of the best intentions of everyone who has read and commented on parts of the thesis. I have been lucky academically to join the British Academy-funded Finnic Pas- sives Research Network, and have received support and feedback from Diane Nelson, Katrin Hiietam, Satu Manninen, and Elsi Kaiser. I also wish to thank Mati Erelt and Tiit-Rein Viitso for words of encouragement, and Reeli Torn for her interest in my work and unselfish checking of urgent questions from sources in the library in Tartu. Humble thanks go to many Estonian friends cum infor- mants who have patiently sat through unanswerable questions about grammar and meaning. Rhetorical Systems deserves thanks, too, for providing me with a source of financial support through most of my Ph.D. as well as unexpected reserves of friendship. The Linguistics Department at Edinburgh has provided for me a very supportive environment, and it is unusual in the field for its broad interests and tolerance for varied viewpoints. Caroline Heycock has been kind enough to comment on bits of my work, as well as providing general encouragement and the inspiration of remaining poetic while doing syntax. To Jim Hurford, Alice Turk, Bob Ladd, v Mits Ota, Antonella Sorace, and Maija McKinnon, thanks for always interesting discussions and small kindnesses. All regulars of the Common Room, too nu- merous to name, have made this Ph.D. well worth the angst with heady doses of surrealism and non-rhotic puns. Cheers to the tea chums! For technical and computing support, thanks to Mike B. (and his mystifying re- serves of good humor), Eddie, Cedric, and Rob. I owe my biggest computing thanks and all my abilities in (and conversion to) LATEX to the exceedingly gener- ous tutelage of Cassie Mayo. Cassie is also responsible for developing my other great pioneering skill, quilt- ing, and I thank her and Rob, and Anna and Lauren for the advent of evenings of fabulous company, fine food, and sewing (of all things!). Your friendship has helped me through many a crisis. Thanks also to Dan, who has suffered with me through much of the process and has often lent an empathetic ear; Simon, who has been an unfaltering friend through periods of distress and tedium; and Kathrine, who brought glitter and sparkle into the thesis doldrums, and kept me fit. A hearty thank you to everyone who has gone with me up hills in the High- lands, bringing fresh air and views (or drizzle and dreich) to clear my mind. My far-flung family has my deep gratitude for getting me through this period, and for getting me here in the first place. My parents, who brought us up with Estonian in the Bay Area, and Raivo, who keeps the spirit alive on Schoodic Peninsula, and wherever he goes from there. Above all, my mother is my staunchest supporter and most awe-inspiring role model; she has the warmest home I know (despite the morˆ and the gwynt) and never fails to understand. And Tonis,˜ mu aikesetorm¨ ja rahusadam, thank you for coming with me and for staying with me. vi List of Abbreviations 1PL First Person Plural GEN Genitive 1PTC First Participle (Past Active) ILL Illative 1SG First Person Singular IMP Impersonal 2PL Second Person Plural IMV Imperative 2PTC Second Participle (Past Passive) INE Inessive 2SG Second Person Singular INF Infinitive 3PL Third Person Plural INT Interrogative 3SG Third Person Singular JSV Jussive A Transitive Subject MR Macrorole ABE Abessive MSG Masculine Singular ABL Ablative NEG Negative ACT Actor NOM Nominative ADE Adessive O Transitive Object ALL Allative PAR Partitive ANTC Anticausative PAS Passive APR Apersonal PL Plural COM Comitative PRS Present CND Conditional PST Past CST Causative QTV Quotative DAT Dative REF Reflexive E Extension to Core RRG Role and Reference Grammar ELA Elative S Subject of Intransitive EMPH Emphatic SG Singular ESS Essive TRL Translative FSG Feminine Singular TRM Terminative FOC Focus UND Undergoer vii Contents Declaration i Abstract iii Acknowledgments v List of Abbreviations vii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Voice . 1 1.1.1 Valency . 3 1.1.2 Transitivity . 6 1.1.3 Arguments of the Verb . 8 1.1.4 Valency Modulation . 12 1.2 Estonian Linguistics . 17 1.2.1 Historical Development . 18 1.2.2 Current Trends . 20 1.2.3 Valency in Modern Estonian Linguistics . 21 ix 1.3 Role and Reference Grammar . 28 1.3.1 Semantics-Based Syntax . 29 1.3.2 Grammatical Relations . 31 1.3.3 Transitivity . 34 1.3.4 Linking . 35 1.4 Outline of Thesis . 39 2 A Grammatical Sketch of Estonian 41 2.1 Nominal Morphosyntax . 41 2.1.1 Grammatical Cases . 42 2.1.2 Object Marking: Total and Partial Objects . 44 2.1.3 Pronouns . 47 2.2 Verbal Morphosyntax . 49 2.2.1 Tense . 49 2.2.2 Negation . 50 2.2.3 Mood . 51 2.2.4 Voice . 53 2.2.5 Non-Finite Verb Forms .
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