نشریه پژوهشهای زبانشناسی (Mar 2023)
Alternation in three-place predicates and its relation to Aktionsart in Persian
Abstract
Abstract In Role and Reference Grammar (RRG), based on stativity, telicity, and punctuality, verbs are classified into six classes named state, activity, achievement, accomplishment, semelfactive, and active-accomplishment. The predicates in these classes can take one, two, or three argument(s) according to the number of participants involved in an event as well as the argument structure of the verb. Three-place predicates need three distinct arguments and they exhibit some abstract or concrete transition or movement in their conceptual structure. The argument in three-place predicates, undergoing alternation, can appear in more than one syntactic format; that is to say, in unmarked structures, direct object is ‘râ’-marked and the indirect object is accompanied by a preposition. This is while in marked or alternate form, the preposition is deleted and the non-macrorole argument receives the role of direct object. In Persian, like many other languages, the frequency of three-place predicates, in comparison with one and two-place predicates, is low, but knowing their behavior is significant for better applying them in related contexts. Employing framework of RRG, this paper, aims to investigate alternation in three-place predicates of Aktionsart in Persian. The data are collected from various web sites, newspapers, books, and also daily conversations. Data analysis shows that state verbs do not undergo alternation; This is mainly because common characteristics of state verbs are their non-action nature and being low transitive or intransitive. Most verbs in this class need one or two argument(s) and low number of three-place predicates in this class, shows no alternation due to stativity and low transitivity. Motion active-accomplishment verbs, however, are more prone to alternation; concrete transition from an actor to a recipient is common among these verbs. Some three-place predicates in achievement class, have alternation; while alternation in accomplishment class, leads mostly to ungrammatical structure. Generally speaking, alternation in three-place predicates is the result of marked selection of the recipient, and is mostly observed in motion active-accomplishment verbs; the reason is non-stativity and high transitivity of this subclass in comparison to other verb classes. Keywords: Alternation; Three-place predicates; Aktionsart; Role and Reference Grammar; Persian Introduction In RRG, both an actor and an undergoer are regarded as valences of the verb and, accordingly, verbs fall into one, two, and three-place predicates. Van Valin (2007) believes that the general semantic representation for three-place predicates in RRG can be displayed as (1). In this system, no abstract predicate can take more than two arguments. Hence, three-place predicates have a complex representation. [do' (x, ø)] CAUSE [BECOME predicate' (y, z)] Three-place predicates have an agent-like participant, a recipient, and a theme, which is typically taken as some abstract or concrete things or information conveyed by an agent to a recipient (Margetts and Austin, 2007). The existence of three distinct arguments is obligatory in three-place predicates (Tabibzadeh, 2007). The three-place predicate in clause (2a) has three distinct arguments, while the lack of prepositional object in (2b), and the lack of direct object in (2c), leads to ungrammatical clauses. (2) a. (Ɂu) čand qâšoq Ɂâb (râ) be bimâr dâd-ø. (s/he) some spoon water (OBJM) to patient give-PST.3SG ‘(S/he) gave some spoon of water to the patient.’ b. ? (Ɂu) čand qâšoq Ɂâb (râ) dâd-ø. (s/he) some spoon water (OBJM) give-PST.3SG ‘?(S/he gave some spoon of water.’ c. ? (Ɂu) be bimâr dâd-ø. (S/he) to patient give-PST.3SG ‘?(S/he) gave to the patient.’ Thus said, in three-place predicates, the existence of three distinct arguments, including agent, recipient and theme is taken for granted, i.e., Agent is the argument which initiates an event or an action, theme is the argument which is being possessed in an abstract or concrete manner, and recipient is the one which possess something (Rezai and Hooshmand, 2012). In the unmarked form of three-place predicates, indirect object is accompanied by a preposition, but in a marked or alternate form, it is râ-marked and placed in the direct object position. In most languages, according to Newman (1998) and Nass (2007: 214), the verb ‘give’ dâdan, is the prototype of three-place predicates. The alternate structure of (2a) above, is (3), in which the indirect object is râ-marked and placed after the agent in a marked structure. (3) (Ɂu) bimâr râ čand qâšoq Ɂâb dâd-ø. (s//he) patient OBJM some spoon water give-PST.3SG ‘(S/he) gave the patient some spoon of water.’ Although it seems that clauses (2a) and (3) are semantically analogous, closer investigations indicate that some factors, such as information structure, and argument prominence are involved in bringing about nuanced meanings. Furthermore, argument alternation does not hold true in all classes of action type. Verbs in RRG, are classified into state, activity, achievement, accomplishment, semelfactive, and active-accomplishment. This categorization is grounded upon stativity, telicity, and punctuality (Van Valin, 2005, p.33). States entail no action, and their subclasses include existence, cognition, emotion, possession, and perception verbs. Action verbs are dynamic and lack punctuality and telicity. Subclasses of action verbs are motion, performance, consumption, creation, and directed perception verbs. Achievement verbs are telic and occur in a short time; therefore, there is an overlap between their start and end points. Accomplishment verbs are telic, like achievement verbs, but they occur in a durative time. Semelfactives are punctual, but they lack telicity. Active accomplishment verbs are dynamic and telic, but they are non-punctual. There are different views regarding alternation in three-place predicates of Aktionsart. Krifka (2003) classifies the views in three general classes, namely monosemy, polysemy, and information structure view. The monosemy view holds that the propositional object construction and direct object construction have the same meaning and they are related to each other by a syntactic derivation, which is not sensitive to the meaning of the verbs. In polysemy view, verbs opt for the syntactic environment in which they occur. In information structure view, differences in the information structure are being focused. Materials and Methods The present study seeks to find out the possibility of alternation in different three-place predicates and its relation to Aktionsart in Persian. This is intended to figure out what verb classes undergo argument alternation. The data for the present study come from different web sites, books, newspapers, and also daily conversations. Having three arguments in a clause was the essential criterion for choosing data. The related data were then classified based on Aktionsart, in different groups and their alternations were investigated. The considered classes are states, active-accomplishments, achievements, and accomplishments. Insofar as the second argument in three-place arguments is mostly râ-marked, instead of activity class, active-accomplishment class is included in this study. What differentiate activity and active-accomplishment classes are markedness and referentiality of the object in the latter class. Discussion and Conclusion Investigating alternation in three-place predicates, regarding different classes and subclasses of Aktionsart, leads to the following results. State verbs denote no action and include existence, cognition, emotion, possession, and perception verbs. As the state verbs entail no action, they mostly need one or two argument(s) to convey the related meaning. Therefore, there is a low frequency of three-place predicates in this class and if there is any, the alternation leads to ungrammatical structure. The subclasses of action verbs include motion, performance, consumption, creation, and directed perception verbs. Among them, motion verbs are more prone to alternation. In (4a), the action verb has three arguments; direct object is râ-marked and indirect object is accompanied by a preposition. The alternation of this clause is (4b) in which the preposition is deleted and indirect object is râ-marked. (4) a. Lebâs-e garm râ be bače pušând-ø. clothes-Ez[1] warm OBJM to baby put on-PST.3SG ‘S/he put the warm clothes on the baby.’ b. Bače râ lebâs-e garm pušând-ø. baby OBJM clothes-Ez warm put on-PST.3SG ‘S/he put the warm clothes on the baby.’ The common characteristic of motion verbs is transitivity and they include transferring energy from an actor to an undergoer. The alternation in performance verbs entails having some concrete themes. In (5a), the direct object is râ-marked and the indirect object is accompanied by a preposition.The alternation of this clause is (5b) in which the indirect object is râ-marked and placed after the actor. (5) a. Ɂu čâei râ be mâ tâɁârof kard-ø. s/he tea OBJM to us offer do-PST.3SG ‘S/he offered the tea to us.’ b.Ɂu mâ râ čâei tâɁârof kard-ø. s/he us OBJM tea offer do-PST.3SG ‘S/he offered us the tea.’ Some active performance verbs include abstract theme. In most cases, alternations of the clauses containing these verbs, lead to ungrammatical clauses. Other subclasses of activity verbs do not undergo alternation due to having abstract theme or low transitivity. Some achievement verbs have alternation, and alternation in accomplishment verbs mostly leads to ungrammatical structures. Generally speaking, transitivity and physical transfer between an actor and an undergoer are determinant in the alteration of three-place predicates. Furthermore, in classes which show alternation, information structure view can be applied, that is, differences in information structure lead to various forms. Therefore, arguments appear in the clauses according to their prominence. [1]. Ezafe in Persian links a head noun to its modifiers and complement with an unstressed morpheme –e. (See Ghomeshi, 1997 for more discussion.)
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