The Split-S System in Baure (Arawak)

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The Split-S System in Baure (Arawak)

• Swintha Danielsen
• Radboud Universiteit/
• MPI-Nijmegen (NL)

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Split-S systems in Arawak languagesactive-stati
ve split

• In most Arawak languages, verbs can be divided
  into three classes transitive (with two core
  arguments, A and O), active intransitive (with
  one core argument, Sa) and stative intransitive
  (with one core argument, So) (Aikhenvald
  199986), according to the cross-reference of
  arguments on the verbs this accounts for about
  two-thirds of the Arawak languages.

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Split-S systems in Arawak languagesactive-stati
ve split

• In most Arawak languages, verbs can be divided
  into three classes transitive (with two core
  arguments, A and O), active intransitive (with
  one core argument, Sa) and stative intransitive
  (with one core argument, So) (Aikhenvald
  199986), according to the cross-reference of
  arguments on the verbs this accounts for about
  two-thirds of the Arawak languages.
• Cross-referencing can be summed up as follows
  (Aikhenvald 199986/87) A/Sa cross-referencing
  prefix (or proclitic) and O/So cross-referencing
  suffix(es) (or enclitic(s)) person clitics are
  even formally very similar in all Arawak
  languages.

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Schema 1 Classification of verbs in Arawak
languages

• verbs
• transitive intransitive
• (A and O)
• active stative
• (Sa) (So)
• (according to Aikhenvald 199986)

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Argument marking on Baure verbalpredicates
subjective marking (Sa)
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Argument marking on Baure verbalpredicates
subjective marking (Sa)

• Verbs in Baure can be transitive, ditransitive
  (only a few or derived by benefactive, or
  causative), and intransitive.

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Argument marking on Baure verbalpredicates
subjective marking (Sa)

• Verbs in Baure can be transitive, ditransitive
  (only a few or derived by benefactive, or
  causative), and intransitive.
• On transitive as on intransitive verbs, the
  subject is marked by a personal proclitic, which
  is always obligatory (except for impersonal
  construction, imperative or interrogative
  clauses) and co-occurs with an explicit subject
  NP.

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Argument marking on Baure verbalpredicates
subjective marking (Sa)

• Verbs in Baure can be transitive, ditransitive
  (only a few or derived by benefactive, or
  causative), and intransitive.
• On transitive as on intransitive verbs, the
  subject is marked by a personal proclitic, which
  is always obligatory (except for impersonal
  construction, imperative or interrogative
  clauses) and co-occurs with an explicit subject
  NP.
• The person marker agrees in number and gender
  (only 3rd person) with the subject.

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Argument marking on Baure verbalpredicates
subjective marking (Sa)

• Verbs in Baure can be transitive, ditransitive
  (only a few or derived by benefactive, or
  causative), and intransitive.
• On transitive as on intransitive verbs, the
  subject is marked by a personal proclitic, which
  is always obligatory (except for impersonal
  construction, imperative or interrogative
  clauses) and co-occurs with an explicit subject
  NP.
• The person marker agrees in number and gender
  (only 3rd person) with the subject.
• The personal proclitics that mark the subject on
  verbs are identical to the markers for the
  possessor of inalienable or possessed nouns.

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• (1) vi- tovian
• 1PL-neighbour
• our neighbour

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• (1) vi- tovian POSS N
• 1PL-neighbour
• our neighbour

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• (1) vi- tovian POSS N
• 1PL-neighbour
• our neighbour
• intransitive verbs
• (2) vi- šim ac vi- kowyo-p ac v-
  imok.
• 1PL-arrive and 1PL-bathe- PERF and
  1PL-sleep
• We arrive, we take a bath (bathe ourselves),
• and we sleep.

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• (1) vi- tovian POSS N
• 1PL-neighbour
• our neighbour
• intransitive verbs Sa V
• (2) vi- šim ac vi- kowyo-p ac v-
  imok.
• 1PL-arrive and 1PL-bathe- PERF and
  1PL-sleep
• We arrive, we take a bath (bathe ourselves),
• and we sleep.

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Argument marking on Baure verbalpredicates
subjective marking (Sa) continued

• On transitive verbs, the object is marked by a
  personal enclitic, which does not co-occur with
  an explicit object NP (a kind of
  pronominalization) the object is obligatory, but
  the marking is not.

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• transitive verbs
• (4) nti ni- komorik p- a- š
  simori.
• I 1SG-kill one-CLFanimal-one
  pig
• I killed one pig.

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• transitive verbs
• A V O
• (4) nti ni- komorik p- a- š
  simori.
• I 1SG-kill one-CLFanimal-one
  pig
• I killed one pig.

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• transitive verbs
• A V O
• (4) nti ni- komorik p- a- š
  simori.
• I 1SG-kill one-CLFanimal-one
  pig
• I killed one pig.
• (5) heni, ver ni- komoriki-er.
• yes already 1SG-kill- 3SGm
• Yes, I already killed it.

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• transitive verbs
• A V O
• (4) nti ni- komorik p- a- š
  simori.
• I 1SG-kill one-CLFanimal-one
  pig
• I killed one pig.
• A V O
• (5) heni, ver ni- komoriki-er.
• yes already 1SG-kill- 3SGm
• Yes, I already killed it.

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2. Argument marking on Baure verbal predicates
subjective marking (Sa) continued

• On ditransitive verbs (mainly derived) there can
  be double object marking. When both objects are
  marked, the indirect object comes before the
  direct object.

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• ditransitive verb
• (6) pi- pa- ni- r, ni- pa- pi- r
• 2SG-give-1SG-3SGm 1SG-give-2SG-3SGm
• you give it to me, I give it to you

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• ditransitive verb A V IO DO
• (6) pi- pa- ni- r, ni- pa- pi- r
• 2SG-give-1SG-3SGm 1SG-give-2SG-3SGm
• you give it to me, I give it to you

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• ditransitive verb A V IO DO
• (6) pi- pa- ni- r, ni- pa- pi- r
• 2SG-give-1SG-3SGm 1SG-give-2SG-3SGm
• you give it to me, I give it to you
• benefactive verb A V IO DO
• (7) ni- woik- ino- vi- r
• 1SG-butcher-BEN-2SG-3SGm
• I butcher it for you.

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3. Active versus stative verbal morphemes

• There are more than 20 verbal morphemes, mainly
  suffixes (except for CAUS and ATTR/PRIV), which
  can be divided into active versus stative
  morphemes.

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3. Active versus stative verbal morphemes

• There are more than 20 verbal morphemes, mainly
  suffixes (except for CAUS and ATTR/PRIV), which
  can be divided into active versus stative
  morphemes.
• A generally stative verb (semantically) has to be
  marked by the activity marker -a in order to get
  active morphemes applied.

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Table 1 Verbal morphemes that are used with
active verbs (an excerpt)
morpheme gloss meaning
-pa GO go, intention
-pik COME come (to do)
-ša COND conditional, irrealis
-po PERF perfective
-koko RCPC reciprocal
-wana DEP departative
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Table 2 Verbal morphemes that are used with
stative verbs
morpheme gloss meaning
-wo COP copula
-wapa COS change of state
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Argument marking on Baure non-verbalpredicates o
bjective marking (So)

• Stative predicates (not to be confused with
  stative verbs!) with nominal or adjectival bases
  have the subject marked in the object slot (So),
  if it is marked (same rules as for object marking
  on transitive verbs).

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Argument marking on Baure non-verbalpredicates o
bjective marking (So)

• Stative predicates (not to be confused with
  stative verbs!) with nominal or adjectival bases
  have the subject marked in the object slot (So),
  if it is marked (same rules as for object marking
  on transitive verbs).
• The nominal or adjectival base is treated like a
  verbal base, but it has to be marked by at least
  the copula suffix (in the function of a
  verbalizer) in order to be used as a predicate
  with person cross-reference.

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• stative predicates with So marking
• (8) monci-wo- ni n- asore- he- w.
• child- COP-1SG 1SG-strong-DISTR-COP
• When I was a child I was all strong.

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• stative predicates with So marking
• N/ADJ COP So
• (8) monci-wo- ni n- asore- he- w.
• child- COP-1SG 1SG-strong-DISTR-COP
• When I was a child I was all strong.

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Argument marking on Baure non-verbalpredicates
objective marking (So) continued

• Only stative verbal morphemes (-wo COP and -wapa
  COS, cf. Table 3) may directly function as
  verbalizers, active verbal morphemes have to be
  preceded by the activity marker -a.

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Argument marking on Baure non-verbalpredicates
objective marking (So) continued

• Only stative verbal morphemes (-wo COP and -wapa
  COS, cf. Table 2) may directly function as
  verbalizers, active verbal morphemes have to be
  preceded by the activity marker -a.
• By contrast
• All stative verbs (in the semantic sense) and
  weather verbs in Baure are marked subjectively.

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• Stative verbs in Baure (Sa)
• (10) ni- mane- wapa
• 1SG-be.cold- COS
• I am cold

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• Stative verbs in Baure (Sa)
• Sa V
• (10) ni- mane- wapa
• 1SG-be.cold- COS
• I am cold/ I got cold

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Derived objective (So) predicatesprivative

• The privative prefix mO- derives negative
  counterparts of either unmarked or attributive
  forms.

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Derived objective (So) predicatesprivative

• The privative prefix mO- derives negative
  counterparts of either unmarked or attributive
  forms.
• While attributive predicates are marked
  subjectively, the derived privative counterparts
  are marked objectively.

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Derived objective (So) predicatesprivative

• The privative prefix mO- derives negative
  counterparts of either unmarked or attributive
  forms.
• While attributive predicates are marked
  subjectively, the derived privative counterparts
  are marked objectively.
• It can be argued that attributive functions as a
  verbalizer, while privative does not, and the
  predicates that are derived by privative are
  interpreted as nominal or adjectival bases.

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• Attributive construction Sa
• (11) ver ri- k- avinon. already
  3SGf-ATTR-husband
• She is already married.

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• Attributive construction Sa
• Sa ATTR- N
• Sa V
• (11) ver ri- k- avinon. already
  3SGf-ATTR-husband
• She is already married.

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• Attributive construction Sa
• Sa ATTR- N
• Sa V
• (11) ver ri- k- avinon. already
  3SGf-ATTR-husband
• She is already married.
• Privative construction So
• (12) m- avinon- e- ri ?
• PRIV-husband- EP-3SGf
• Is she unmarried?

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• Attributive construction Sa
• Sa ATTR- N
• Sa V
• (11) ver ri- k- avinon. already
  3SGf-ATTR-husband
• She is already married.
• Privative construction So PRIV- N So
• (12) m- avinon- e- ri ?
• PRIV-husband- EP-3SGf
• Is she unmarried?

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Derived objective (So) predicatesprivative
continued

• One difference to other non-verbal predicates
• Privative predicates do not need any stative
  morpheme before the person enclitic.

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6. Objective (So) marking on verbs?
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6. Objective (So) marking on verbs?

• There is a small subgroup of predicates with So
  marking that have a lot in common with verbs
• kwo- exist, be (copula verb),
• koehoe- give birth,
• ver- already, and
• eto- finish.

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6. Objective (So) marking on verbs?

• There is a small subgroup of predicates with So
  marking that have a lot in common with verbs
• kwo- exist, be (copula verb),
• koehoe- give birth,
• ver- already, and
• eto- finish.
• This kind of objectively marked predicates can be
  intransitive, but also transitive. This includes
  double marking on a transitive verb.

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• intransitive objective verbs
• (13) kwo-ni ne pi- weri- ye.
• exist-1SG here 2SG-house-LOC
• I am here in your house.

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• intransitive objective verbs
• V? So
• (13) kwo-ni ne pi- weri- ye.
• exist-1SG here 2SG-house-LOC
• I am here in your house.

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• intransitive objective verbs
• V? So
• (13) kwo-ni ne pi- weri- ye.
• exist-1SG here 2SG-house-LOC
• I am here in your house.
• (14) a tec šiye ver- a- pe- r,
  ...
• and DEM2m fox already-ACT-GO-3SGm
• And the fox had already gone.

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• intransitive objective verbs
• V? So
• (13) kwo-ni ne pi- weri- ye.
• exist-1SG here 2SG-house-LOC
• I am here in your house.
• (14) a tec šiye ver- a- pe- r,
  ...
• and DEM2m fox already-ACT-GO-3SGm
• And the fox had already gone.

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• transitive objective verbs
• (15) koehoe -ri pino-nev.
• give.birth- 3SGf twin- PL
• She gave birth to twins.

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• transitive objective verbs
• V? So O
• (15) koehoe -ri pino-nev.
• give.birth- 3SGf twin- PL
• She gave birth to twins.

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• transitive objective verbs
• V? So O
• (15) koehoe -ri pino-nev.
• give.birth- 3SGf twin- PL
• She gave birth to twins.
• (16) ver eto -ni to ni- vesa -c
• already finish-1SG ART 1SG-read -NOM2
• I already finish(ed) reading

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• transitive objective verbs
• V? So O
• (15) koehoe -ri pino-nev.
• give.birth- 3SGf twin- PL
• She gave birth to twins.
• (16) ver eto -ni to ni- vesa -c
• already finish-1SG ART 1SG-read -NOM2
• I already finish(ed) reading

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• double-marking on a transitive objective verb
• (17) ac ver eto- ro- ni.
• and already finish- 3SGm-1SG
• And I already finished it
• (the weeding and cleaning of the field).

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• double-marking on a transitive objective verb
• V? O So
• (17) ac ver eto- ro- ni.
• and already finish- 3SGm-1SG
• And I already finished it
• (the weeding and cleaning of the field).

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• ? What is the origin of these objective
  predicates?

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• ? What is the origin of these objective
  predicates?
• ? Are they verbs?

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kwo- exist, be

• gt ATTR kO- COP -wo

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kwo- exist, be

• gt ATTR kO- COP -wo
• patterns like stative predicates with nominal
  basis
• N COP So

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kwo- exist, be

• gt ATTR kO- COP -wo
• patterns like stative predicates with nominal
  basis
• N COP So kO COP So
• ATTR kO- used as a lexical basis

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koehoe- give birth

• gt ATTR kO- -ihoe (N?)

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koehoe- give birth

• gt ATTR kO- -ihoe (N?)
• Sa ATTR- N

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koehoe- give birth

• gt ATTR kO- -ihoe (N?)
• Sa ATTR- N BUT ATTR-N So

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koehoe- give birth

• gt ATTR kO- -ihoe (N?)
• Sa ATTR- N BUT ATTR-N So
• -ihoe ?

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koehoe- give birth

• gt ATTR kO- -ihoe (N?)
• Sa ATTR- N BUT ATTR-N So
• -ihoe ?
• uniqueness of the action

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koehoe- give birth

• gt ATTR kO- -ihoe (N?)
• Sa ATTR- N BUT ATTR-N So
• -ihoe ?
• uniqueness of the action
• lack of control of the agent

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koehoe- give birth

• gt ATTR kO- -ihoe (N?)
• Sa ATTR- N BUT ATTR-N So
• -ihoe ?
• uniqueness of the action
• lack of control of the agent
• koehoe- does not pattern like a real transitive
  verb ? the transitive object cannot be marked on
  the predicate

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ver- already

• gt ver already temporal ADV

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ver- already

• gt ver already temporal ADV
• ? also used as aspectual preverbal particle for
  perfect

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ver- already

• gt ver already temporal ADV
• ? also used as aspectual preverbal particle for
  perfect
• patterns like stative predicates with nominal
  basis
• N COP So

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ver- already

• gt ver already temporal ADV
• ? also used as aspectual preverbal particle for
  perfect
• patterns like stative predicates with nominal
  basis
• N COP So ADV COP So

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eto- finish

• eto functions as an aspectual preverbal
  particle for terminative

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eto- finish

• eto functions as an aspectual preverbal
  particle for terminative
• gt eto may have been a temporal ADV like ver
  already, meaning at the end, over

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eto- finish

• eto functions as an aspectual preverbal
  particle for terminative
• gt eto may have been a temporal ADV like ver
  already, meaning at the end, over
• patterns like stative predicates with nominal
  basis, with two exceptions
• N COP So

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eto- finish

• eto functions as an aspectual preverbal
  particle for terminative
• gt eto may have been a temporal ADV like ver
  already, meaning at the end, over
• patterns like stative predicates with nominal
  basis, with two exceptions
• 1. no obligatory verbal morpheme before person
  enclitic (like privative predicates)
• eto So

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eto- finish

• eto functions as an aspectual preverbal
  particle for terminative
• gt eto may have been a temporal ADV like ver
  already, meaning at the end, over
• patterns like stative predicates with nominal
  basis, with two exceptions
• 1. no obligatory verbal morpheme before person
  enclitic (like privative predicates)
• eto So
• 2. It can be transitive and can get double
  marking (O and So) eto O So

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7. Conclusions and summary

• Baure predicates can mainly be divided into
  verbal and non-verbal predicates, which are
  distinguished for the different subject marking
  Sa marking on verbal predicates and So marking on
  non-verbal predicates.

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7. Conclusions and summary

• Baure predicates can mainly be divided into
  verbal and non-verbal predicates, which are
  distinguished for the different subject marking
  Sa marking on verbal predicates and So marking on
  non-verbal predicates.
• The split is not among intransitive verbs.

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7. Conclusions and summary

• Baure predicates can mainly be divided into
  verbal and non-verbal predicates, which are
  distinguished for the different subject marking
  Sa marking on verbal predicates and So marking on
  non-verbal predicates.
• The split is not among intransitive verbs.
• Thus Schema 1 (Aikhenvald) cannot be applied to
  Baure.

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Schema 2 The distinction of predicates in Baure
according to argument marking and valency

• predicates
• verbal non-verbal
• subjective (Sa) objective (So)
• intransitive transitive intransitive
  (transitive)

81
7. Conclusions and summary continued

• Baure verbs can be divided into active and
  stative (semantically), but this division is not
  identical with the split of argument marking.

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Schema 3 The semantic distinction of Baure
verbs

• verbs
• active stative
• can get all verbal can get stative
• morphemes attached morphemes attached
• have to get activity
• marker a
• attached before active
• morphemes can be
• applied

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7. Conclusions and summary continued

• So marking presumably originates in stative
  predication, but has desemanticized or has been
  grammaticalized into general non-verbal
  predication.
• Some traces of Fluid-S and inconsistencies in the
  data may hint at a formerly richer class of
  objective predicates, maybe including verbs but
  today Baure verbs are generally not marked
  objectively.

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Thank you very much. Swintha