GRAMMATICALIZATION OF CONTRACTED COMPOUND VERB FORMS IN MALOKARACHKINSKIJ DIALECT OF CHUVASH LANGUAGE

Глаголы jar/jer ‘пускать’, jol ‘остаться’, il ‘брать’ и yk ‘падать’ в малокарачкинском говоре чувашского языка могут образовывать сложные глаголы — конструкции, состоящие из двух глагольных форм, но описывающие единую ситуацию. В малокарачкинском говоре в таких конструкциях происходит фонетическое явление стяжения: xəra za yk r ë (испугаться CV_SIM падать PST 3SG)> xəra z=yk r ë (испугаться CV_SIM падать PST 3SG) ‘упал(а)’. Стяжённые формы сложных глаголов отличаются от других сложноглагольных конструкций не только фонетически (выпадение последнего гласного деепричастия на -sa, выпадение начального j вершины, чередование гласных в основе вершины jar/jer ‘пускать’), но и по ряду морфосинтаксических признаков (место присоединения аффиксов каузатива и аттенуатива). На то, что появление стяжённых форм — это часть процесса грамматикализации сложных глаголов, указывает и то, что глаголы, не образующие стяжённых форм, но обладающие в составе сложноглагольной конструкции грамматическим значением, так же претерпевают фонетические изменения. В статье разобран пример глагола kaj ‘уходить’, у которого в сложноглагольной конструкции, как показал эксперимент с чтением диалектного текста, часто озвончается первый согласный. Это сближает глагол kaj ‘уходить’ с аффиксами, согласные в которых в малокарачкинском говоре обычно озвончаются в интервокальной позиции. В статье также рассматриваются семантические свойства глагола yk ‘падать’, образующего стяжённые сложные глаголы. Несмотря на общее грамматическое значение этого глагола в составе сложногагольной конструкции — вхождения в состояние или процесс, глагол yk ‘падать’ сохраняет некоторые элементы своего лексического значения, которые влияют на его сочетаемость как вершины сложного глагола: вхождение в состояние или процесс может быть только мгновенным, конструкции с пунктивными глаголами приобретают значение неожиданности и/или интенсивности, глаголы разрушения без семантики падения и глаголы с семантикой увеличения и повышения не могут сочетаться с yk ‘падать’. Материалы для статьи были собраны автором в экспедициях в село Малое Карачкино Чувашской Республики, кроме того используются примеры из экспедиционного корпуса и из литературы, приводятся некоторые сравнения с литературным чувашским языком. The article presents the results of the research of the contracted forms of compound verbs in Malokarachkinskij dialect of Chuvash language. Four verbs jar/jer ‘let’, jol ‘remain’, il ‘take’ and yk ‘fall’ can be the heads of the contracted forms of compound verbs. These forms differ from the full ones not only phonetically but also morphologically. At the same time, certain semantic features of these four verbs remain present even when they become heads of the compound verb constructions, thus restraining their distribution.

Syntactic verb-verb compounds in Japanese

This chapter discusses the syntactic behavior and some notable properties of syntactic V-V compounds in Japanese (Type 3 in the classification of Chapter 2), providing some fresh empirical data. In this chapter, syntactic V-V compounds are seen to be divided into raising and control types. Syntactic V-V compound verbs take distinct embedded structures, depending on whether V2 is classified as a raising or a control verb. V-V compounds allow some, but not all, V2s to undergo long-distance passivization. It is suggested that the difference in applicability of long-distance passivization between raising and control V-V compounds is determined according to whether V2 has an accusative-case feature to license an object, and also that control V-V compounds are not passivizable if they denote an uncontrollable event (even if V2 has an accusative-case feature). Furthermore, syntactic V-V compounds taking sugiru ‘exceed’ as V2 are shown to display a number of unique properties that are not shared with other syntactic compound verbs.

The semantic differentiation of verb-te verb complexes and verb-verb compounds in Japanese

Japanese has two different formal types of complex predicates involving two verbs: V-te V complex predicates and V-V compound verbs. This chapter discusses the nature of the former in comparison to the latter. The examination reveals that the two kinds of multiverbal complexes similarly have two subtypes, one monoclausal and the other biclausal, but that they are different morphologically, syntactically, and semantically. The most interesting finding is that the two crucially differ in whether deictic and honorific verbs, which encode perspectival and interactional meanings, can participate in the complexes. Morphologically tighter V-V compounds require a same-subject relation between the two verbs and exclude perspectival or interactional meanings (except V1 in syntactic compounds). Loosely concatenated V-te V complexes allow different subjects, typically have perfective/resultative V1, and have V2 as a preferred slot for perspectival/interactional meanings. These observations suggest that Japanese does not have these two options meaninglessly; the different multiverbal complexes serve different purposes.

Between lexical verbs and auxiliaries

This chapter classifies Japanese V-V complexes into four major types on the basis of morphosyntactic criteria and shows that the formal taxonomy has semantic underpinnings. Type 1: lexical thematic compound verbs (lexical verb + lexical verb), Type 2: lexical aspectual compound verbs (lexical verb + delexicalized aktionsart verb), Type 3: syntactic compound verbs (verb phrase + delexicalized phasal verb), Type 4: V-te V complex predicates (verb phrase + delexicalized aspectual/attitudinal/benefactive verb). The delexicalized V2s in Types 2, 3, and 4 modify the event structures of the first verbs with an array of aktionsart, phasal, pragmatic, and subjective meanings that are largely comparable to those of Indian vector verbs. These delexicalized verbs, coupled with the auxiliary verbs of a fifth type designating politeness or contempt, are conceived of as “semilexical” categories representing intermediate stages of development on a verb-to-auxiliary grammaticalization cline.

Verb + verb sequences in Dravidian

This chapter analyzes compound verb constructions in the Dravidian language family. Drawing on data from all four subgroups, two broad constructions emerge: auxiliary compound verbs and lexical compound verbs. The former provide complex morphosyntactic vehicles for verbal categories or combinations of categories not found in the simple verb inflections of a language; the latter provide similar vehicles to encode lexical meanings not found in simple lexemes of the language. A third construction, reduplicated compounds, is also analyzed. A brief comparison in made between the pattern of these verb + verb sequences in Dravidian and patterns found in other language families.

Grammaticalization and constructionalization in Japanese lexical compound verbs

This chapter focuses on Type 2 (lexical aspectual) compound verbs, which appear to occupy a unique position in the systems of V-V complexes in Asian languages because they make up lexical combinations with desemanticized verbs in V2. Based on diachronic data, it is suggested that this marked class of compound verbs arose in Late Middle or Early Modern Japanese via two paths: (i) reanalysis and lexicalization of aspectual auxiliary constructions in Old and Early Middle Japanese and (ii) constructionalization of a special compounding schema where V2 specifies the manner and other adverbial meanings of V1. The latter path is characterized by the desemanticization of V2s in Type 1 thematic compounds or by spontaneous coinage of new V2s with adverbial meanings. The multifaceted development of Type 2 compounds, which does not readily fit in with the standard view of item-by-item grammaticalization, presents a motivation for viewing grammaticalization as creation of a novel morphological construction.

Verbal complexes in Thai

This chapter investigates the serial verb constructions (SVC) in Thai, where the predicate takes the structure [V1 NP1 V2 (NP2)]. Focusing on a type of two-component SVC in which one component verb is the head and the other the modifier, we attempt to pinpoint those SVCs that correspond semantically to the Indian-type vector compound verbs, differentiating them from the Chinese-type resultative serial verbs. The V2 verbs, which are drawn from a limited set of verbs, modify the main verbs in V1 in terms of grammatical aspectual meanings or pragmatic meanings. The grammatical aspectual meaning of V2 is a part of the propositional meaning of the verbal complex and is relatively easy to identify. Most V2s in Thai verbal complexes modify V1s in terms of pragmatic specifications, which are rather difficult to spell out, and can be omitted without affecting the propositional meaning. These V2s are considered analogous to vector verbs.