Change-of-state without morphology in Daakaka
Jens Hopperdietzel
October 2024 

Daakaka (Oceanic) lacks designated causative morphology to derive transitive causative verbs from intransitive stative predicates (Hopperdietzel 2021, 2020). Instead, causative semantics must be expressed by either periphrastic causative constructions or in combination with a manner verb in resultative serial verb constructions (RSVCs). In this talk, I demonstrate that inchoative semantics shows a similar pattern, as it is not introduced by designated morphology but requires the presence of additional event-selecting material (cf. state/change-of-state lability; Koontz-Garboden 2007). As a result, morphosemantic operations that introduce change-of-state semantics are entirely absent in Daakaka. To account for the restricted distribution of change-of-state semantics, I adopt Smith et al’s (2023) type-shifting analysis of state/change-of-state lability, according to which change-of-state semantics is introduced at the semantic level to resolve type-mismatches between stative and dynamic predicates in the absence of change-of-state morphology. Generalizing this analysis to causative predicates, I develop a unified analysis of both phenomena, building on the contextual interpretation of Voice that is sensitive to the semantic type of the vP (Oikonomou & Alexiadou 2022, Wood 2016).

Format:	[ pdf ]
Reference:	lingbuzz/008466 (please use that when you cite this article)
Published in:	to appear in Proceedings of NELS 54
keywords:	syntax, morphology, semantics, inchoatives, causatives, resultatives, serial verb constructions, type-shift, semantics, morphology, syntax
Downloaded:	160 times

 

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