Cagliari, Italy  15-18 September 2003

ALT V Conference

Eva Schultze-Berndt

When finite and non-finite verbs are distinct parts of speech: The contribution of Northern Australian languages to a typology of (non-)finiteness and a typology of word classes.
schultzeberndt@eva.mpg.de

 

Many Northern Australian languages have two distinct parts of speech in the function of verbs for which, following McGregor (2002), the terms Inflecting Verb (IV) and Uninflecting Verb (UV) are employed here. IVs inflect for the traditional verbal categories, i.e. tense, aspect, mood, and (usually) person. UVs do not inflect, and could be characterised as „inherently non-finite“. In most of the languages, IVs constitute a closed class, while UVs constitute an open class.

   Both UVs and IVs meet the definition of verbal predicates as predicates „which, without further measures being taken, have a predicative use only“ (Hengeveld 1992). Thus, neither IVs nor UVs combine with determiners or function as arguments of another predicate, and in this respect both parts of speech have a distribution which is distinct from that of nominals. On the other hand, UVs not only have the formal but also the functional characteristics of „less prototypical“ verbs, as characterised by Hopper & Thompson (1984, 1985): UVs mainly function as constituents of complex predicates, and can be used as simple predicates only in dependent clauses. Furthermore, UV roots, but never IV roots, are the input to nominalisation.

   In this paper, by placing the findings for Northern Australian languages in a cross-linguistic perspective, I propose a typology of functions of „less prototypical“ verbs going beyond that suggested by Hopper & Thompson. First, it is shown that UVs in Northern Australian languages have uses which are not discussed by Hopper & Thompson, e.g. as expressive, „ideophonic“ elements, as secondary predicates, as stylistically marked imperatives, and as simple predicates in utterances which are strongly context-bound and, in this sense, dependent. Second, it is demonstrated that depending on their function, UVs can be compared either to non-finite forms of verbs, such as bare stems, infinitives, and converbs, or to uninflecting predicative elements such as preverbs or ideophones which are generally considered minor parts of speech. Third, it is argued that construction types selecting for „non-prototypical verbs“ constitute a continuum such that cross-linguistically, non-finite verbs are preferred at one end of the continuum (e.g. for subordinate clause formation) and uninflecting elements with reduced verbal properties are preferred at the other end (e.g. for ideophonic, expressive use), with a large area of overlap (including e.g. complex predicate formation). A typology of finiteness thus cannot be established without taking into account its correlation with the typology of word classes. Naturally, in a language which has an open class of UVs and a closed class of verbs with no non-finite forms, the former will cover the majority of functions on the continuum. The crosslinguistic findings are corroborated by the existence of some Northern Australian languages which have both UVs and non-finite forms of IVs and where the two exhibit clear preferences for construction types at the opposite end of the proposed continuum.

References

Hengeveld, Kees. 1992. „Parts of speech.‰ In Michael Fortescue, Peter Harder & Lars Kristoffersen (eds.), Layered structure and reference in a functional perspective. Papers from the Functional Grammar Conference in Copenhagen 1990. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 29-55.

Hopper, Paul J. & Sandra A. Thompson, 1984. The discourse basis for lexical categories in Universal Grammar. Language 60, 3: 703-752.

Hopper, Paul J. & Sandra A. Thompson, 1985. „The iconicity of the universal categories Œnoun‚ and Œverb‚.‰ In John Haiman (ed.), Iconicity in Syntax. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 151-183.

McGregor, William B., 2002. Verb classification in Australian Languages. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.