Grammatical relations, constituent order and coding strategies

AbstractWe test Preferred Argument Structure theory against corpus data from Tondano, an Austronesian language with symmetrical voice. Investigating the use of full noun phrases in individual argument positions, we find no significant clustering of both S and P as opposed to A, hence no discourse ergativity. Moreover, neither pivotal nor non-pivotal grammatical relations appear to specialise in the accommodation of full noun phrases. Thus, grammatical relations do not serve as architecture for regulating information flow in discourse. Only constituent order reflects information flow, so that full noun phrases tend to occur in clause-final position. More generally, correlations of humanness and topicality predict most straightforwardly attested patterns of argument realisation.

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11. Constituent order and grammatical relations in Ewe in typological perspective

The Nominative & Accusative and their counterparts ◽

10.1075/cagral.4.13ame ◽

2002 ◽

pp. 319-352

Author(s):

Felix K. Ameka

Keyword(s):

Grammatical Relations ◽

Constituent Order

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Clause constituents, arguments and the question of grammatical relations in Auslan (Australian Sign Language)

Studies in Language ◽

10.1075/sl.18035.joh ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

pp. 941-996

Author(s):

Trevor Alexander Johnston

Keyword(s):

Sign Language ◽

Word Order ◽

Language Contact ◽

Visual Representation ◽

Semantic Role ◽

Linguistic Resources ◽

Grammatical Relations ◽

Constituent Order ◽

Order Pattern

Abstract This study investigates clause constructions in Auslan. It looks at the alignment of constituent semantic role with constituent position and order in clauses, changes in the morphology of signs according to position and/or role, and the interpretation of omitted arguments. The aim is to determine if there are grammatical relations in Auslan. The most frequent constituent order parallels English, thus Auslan might be said to also instantiate a basic SVO word order. However, every possible constituent order pattern is also attested without there being other coding and behavioural properties associated with grammatical relations that could explain this flexibility. I conclude that constituent order in Auslan is the result of the interaction of pragmatic and semantic factors, visual representation, and language contact with English, rather than autochthonous grammatical relations. Auslan grammar draws on both so-called gestural and so-called linguistic resources at the clause level, not just at the word (sign) level.

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Sandawe

The Oxford Handbook of African Languages ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199609895.013.18 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 681-691

Author(s):

Helen Eaton

Keyword(s):

Information Structure ◽

Noun Phrases ◽

Grammatical Relations ◽

The Subject ◽

Word Classes ◽

Constituent Order ◽

Subject Clitics ◽

Object Marking

Sandawe (Khoisan, Tanzania) is a highly suffixal language with an intricate system of marking grammatical relations and number. The language makes extensive use of derivation between word classes and uses tone to create genitive noun phrases and distinguish certain clause types. The realis/irrealis distinction is key to understanding the different means of subject marking in Sandawe. Realis verbs allow multiple pronominal subject clitics and a subject focus marker, whereas in the irrealis, the subject is marked only on the verb itself. Aspect marking is achieved by coordinating verbs or through object marking. Conjunctions which are marked for the subject of the clause are used to express consecutive events in narratives. Constituent order is SOV, but preposing and postposing of constituents may take place, according to information structure considerations.

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Focus in an active/agentive alignment system: the case of Beria (Saharan)

ZAS Papers in Linguistics ◽

10.21248/zaspil.46.2006.339 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 129-142

Author(s):

Angelika Jakobi

Keyword(s):

Language Family ◽

The Core ◽

Grammatical Relations ◽

Alignment System ◽

Constituent Order ◽

Reference Markers

Beria, a member of the Saharan language family, is one of the rare languages in Africa exhibiting both an ergative and an active/agentive alignment system of grammatical relations.1 While the active/agentive pattern is shown by the participant reference markers, the ergative pattern is attested both in the constituent order and in the focus markers on the core constituents. In the pragmatically unmarked constituent order, the Agent constituent precedes the Patient constituent. An unmarked single constituent immediately preceding the verb may represent a Patient or a Subject argument. In this position, the Agent constituent requires the clitic GU. The focused Patient and Subject constituents are both either marked by the clitic DI or by a cleft construction.

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