Participles and Finiteness: The Case of Akhvakh

Abstract

Akhvakh, a Nakh-Daghestanian language belonging to the Andic (sub-) branch of the Nakh-Daghestanian family, has participial relative clauses headed by verb forms that can also head independent clauses. Akhvakh data contradict the inflectional approach to finiteness according to which finiteness as a clausal feature necessarily correlates with the morphological structure of verb forms, and support a constructional approach to finiteness. In particular, the formulation of a general definition of participles must be compatible with the fact that forms found in relative clauses in which they behave at the same time as verbal heads and as adjectival dependents of a head noun may also head constructions having a different status with respect to finiteness.

Keywords

• Caucasian
• tense
• Akhvakh
• participle