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Desalegn Asfawwesen THE INCEPTIVE CONSTRUCTION AND ASSOCIA T- ED T O P I C S IN AMHARIC AND RELATED LAN- G U A G E S Desalegn Asfawwesen THE INCEPTIVE CONSTRUCTION AND ASSOCIATED TOPICS IN AMHARIC AND RELATED LAN- GUAGES Desalegn Asfawwesen ©Desalegn Asfawwesen, Stockholm University 2016 ISBN 978-91-7649-386-1 Printed by Holmbergs, Malmö Distributor: Department of Linguistics Abstract This thesis investigates the syntactic features, functions, and diachrony of a complex predicate called „the inceptive construction‟, which is based on a grammaticalized use of the converbs „get up‟, „pick up‟, „grasp‟, and „take‟. The languages under investigation are Amharic, Argobba, Harari, Zay, and Selt‟i. The data collection that was analyzed consists of elicitations, audio recordings, and written texts. The analysis shows that the converbs identify the initial phase of the event encoded by a following verb. The converbs are further associated with nuances like volition, surprise, and emphasis. The rise of such interpretations as surprise and emphasis appears to depend main- ly on context, while volition is inherent to the construction. The languages generally do not show much variation. However, there is a notable difference in some co-occurrence restrictions. Moreover, there is a difference in the presence/absence of certain converbs mainly in Harari and Zay, which is clearly a matter of preference between individual consultants. Regarding the origin of the inceptive construction, collocation, frequency, and speakers‟ conception of the action of the converbs are possible factors that have led the verbs to grammaticalize into markers of the inception phase. Only some traces of the construction are found in an old Amharic text from the 15th century. The converb is the principal form of the verb used in the inceptive construc- tion, although other verb forms are allowed that may take a coordinating conjunction (in the cases of Amharic and Argobba) and an iterative marker („while‟). The Amharic conjunction =nna „and‟ links the light verb with the reference verb in the inceptive construction, but is also used in caus- al(purposive) and conditional coordination. The criteria of tense iconicity and variable positions indicate that =nna is a coordinating conjunction in the former, but a subordinator in the latter. Lastly, the converb in Amharic is shown to become insubordinated, i.e. the main verb or auxiliary it depends on gets ellipsed over time and it comes to function as a main verb. An insub- ordinated converb is used in the expression of surprise/exclamation, interro- gation, rhetorical questioning, wishing, and the resultative/perfective. The point is it is still possible to use the notion of „converb‟ in the inceptive con- struction, as this is a separate historical process. Contents I. Introduction .................................................................... 10 1.1. The inceptive construction ................................................................... 10 1.2. The languages and their speakers ................................................. 12 1.2.1. Amharic ............................................................................................................ 15 1.2.2. Argobba ........................................................................................................... 15 1.2.3. Harari ................................................................................................................. 16 1.2.4. Zay ....................................................................................................................... 17 1.2.5. Wolane /Hazo ............................................................................................. 17 1.2.6. Seltʼi .................................................................................................................... 18 1.3. Some structural properties of the languages ........................ 18 1.3.1. Major works on the languages .................................................... 19 1.3.2. General features ...................................................................................... 19 1.3.3. Areal features ............................................................................................. 25 1.4. Methodology .................................................................................................... 26 1.4.1. Tools of data collection ...................................................................... 26 1.5. Problems/Delimitation ............................................................................. 29 II. Background .................................................................... 30 2.1. Converbs............................................................................................................. 30 2.1.1. Defining converbs ................................................................................... 30 2.1.2. Converbs in TSE languages ........................................................... 35 2.1.3. Grammaticalization/lexicalization of converbs ............. 56 2.1.4. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 64 2.2. The encoding of complex events ..................................................... 65 2.2.1. Aktionsart/Lexical aspect ................................................................. 65 2.2.2. The inceptive construction.............................................................. 69 2.2.3. Complex predicates .............................................................................. 75 2.2.4. Auxiliary vs. light verb ....................................................................... 78 2.2.5. Diachrony ....................................................................................................... 81 2.2.6. Converbs in complex predication ............................................. 82 2.2.7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 83 III. Converbs in complex predication in TSE languages .............................................................................. 84 3.1. Converbs marking inception ............................................................... 84 3.2. Converbs as light verbs .......................................................................... 99 3.2.1. Verb forms ................................................................................................. 100 3.2.2. Co-occurrence restrictions ........................................................... 107 3.2.3. Functions of the converbs ............................................................ 114 3.3. The terminative construction ...........................................................121 3.4. On diachrony .................................................................................................128 3.5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................136 IV. Contrast to other converbal uses ...................... 138 4.1. Other converbal uses ..............................................................................138 4.2. Canonical categories ...............................................................................140 4.2.1. Adverbs ......................................................................................................... 140 4.2.2. Conjunctions ............................................................................................. 142 4.2.3. Adpositions ................................................................................................ 143 4.2.4. Causatives .................................................................................................. 144 4.3. Observed features .....................................................................................146 4.3.1. Function ........................................................................................................ 146 4.3.2. Morphological/syntactic categories ...................................... 150 4.3.3. Verb form/type ....................................................................................... 162 4.3.4. Distribution ................................................................................................ 167 4.4. Conclusion .......................................................................................................174 V. The conjunction =nna ‘and’ in Amharic ............ 175 5.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................175 5.2. What can be combined? .......................................................................177 5.3. Cause (purpose) and conditional coordination ...................181 5.4. Coordinator or subordinator? ...........................................................186 5.5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................188 VI. Insubordination of Converbs in Amharic ....... 189 6.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................189 6.2. Historical account ......................................................................................194 6.3. A glimpse of other verb forms.........................................................201 6.4. Conclusion .......................................................................................................204 VII. Conclusion .................................................................
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