Date: 01-Apr-2010
From: Mahamane Abdoulaye <abdoulaye web.de>
Subject: Complementation: A cross-linguistic typology
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Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/19/19-3612.html EDITORS: R.M.W. Dixon and Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald TITLE: Complementation SUBTITLE: A cross-linguistic typology SERIES: Explorations in Linguistic Typology 3 PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press YEAR: 2008 Mahamane L. Abdoulaye, Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, Niger INTRODUCTION This book is the third in the series ''Explorations in Linguistic Typology'' and so belongs to a suite of state-of-the-art volumes on cross-linguistic and typological studies produced or edited over the years by the two renowned linguists (now at James Cook University, Australia; Aikhenvald and Dixon are the general editors of the series and editors of the so far four published volumes). The present volume addresses the issue of complementation based on the examination of a number of languages, in particular the eleven languages treated in the case-study chapters. These chapters are all guided by the initial theoretical chapter written by Dixon, which also serves as an introduction to the co-edited volume. Beside the main chapters, the book also contains a table of contents, a preface, bio-sketches of the contributors, a list of abbreviations, and three indices for authors, languages, and subjects. SUMMARY In the first contribution (Chapter 1, ''Complement clauses and complementation strategies in typological perspective''), Dixon claims that there are typologically three groups of languages regarding complementation: (1) languages using only true complement clauses (henceforth, CCs), (2) languages with a mix of CCs and complementation strategies (henceforth, CSs), and (3) languages devoid of CCs and having only CSs. One of the main ideas in the book indeed is the distinction between CCs and the functionally similar notion of CS. Both are used to complement a main verb (such as 'hear, see, think') with a proposition. In a CC construction, the propositional complement has the attire (more or less) of a typical nominal argument (say a nominal Object). By contrast, in a CS construction, the propositional complement is attached to the main verb through various (sometimes peripheral) linking structures based on available constructions such as relative clauses, serial verb constructions, purposive clauses, direct speech constructions, nominalization, sequential (or chaining) constructions, apposition, etc. According to Dixon, previous studies (notably Noonan 1985 and its web-based revised version) did not make the distinction between CCs and CSs mainly because they did not consider it necessary to define the criteria for what a CC is. As a consequence, alternatives to the CCs, i.e., the CSs, were not given due attention (see Dixon 1995; however, if one goes by the anecdote on p. 263, then the hint on the CSs may have come as early as in the 1970s). Dixon claims (p. 15f) that a CC can be recognized by the following four criteria: First, the propositional complement has the internal constituent structure of a clause (core arguments inside the CC should have the same marking as in regular clauses). Secondly, the propositional complement functions as a core argument of the main verb, most often as direct object (O), but also as A(gent) of a transitive verb (cf. p. 19 ''{John's having carried the log home} shows {that he is a strong fellow}''), as S(ubject) of an intransitive verb (cf. p. 17 ''{that John was an academic} didn't matter''), as an extended core argument of a transitive or intransitive verb (cf. p. 18 ''the doctor promised Mary {that he would cure her}''), or as a copula subject or a copula complement (cf. p. 18 ''{that John did it} is true'' and ''the truth is {that John did it}''). Third, the CC always describes a proposition (a fact, an activity, or a potential event). Finally, in any language that has them, CCs function as core arguments of prototypical CC-taking verbs such as 'see', 'hear', 'know', 'believe', 'like', 'tell', and 'want'. CSs hence differ from CCs in that they are not core arguments of the main verb. For example, in a CS construction using a relative clause model, the proposition proper is under a head noun that is itself argument of the main verb. In CSs using a serial verb construction model, both the notional ''main'' verb and the notional ''lower'' verb are in fact in the main clause in a symmetrical construction (cf. Tariana ''nu-ira-de nu-nu dina'' lit. 'I order I come him' for 'I ordered him to come', p. 197). Dixon notes that CS structures may give rise to real CC structures (cf. the English ''that''-CC: ''I saw {that you came}'', which is thought to historically derive from an apposition structure ''I saw that. You came'', where the pronoun ''that'' refers to the second clause before later becoming a complementizer). The formal types of CCs and CSs naturally depend on the morphosyntax of a particular language. However, Dixon proposes a cross-linguistic semantic classification distinguishing three relevant types of complementation clauses. In the Fact type, the complementation clause refers to a fact and tends to be most similar to a main clause (cf. p. 17 ''{that John was an academic} didn't matter''). In the Activity type, the complementation clause describes an activity going on and tends to be similar to NPs (cf. p. 25 ''I remember {seeing him last Friday}''). Finally, in the Potential type, the complementation clause refers to a hypothetical event and tends to have properties placing it between clauses and NPs (cf. p. 28 ''I would like {to go}''). These types can all appear distinct in a given language or they can conflate to two or even to one type. Many languages, however, have a plethora of CCs and CSs, so that a semantic type can be expressed by more than one formal construction. For English, Dixon discusses four main forms of CCs: ''that''-clauses (p. 4), infinitive clauses (p. 6), gerundive nominalization (i.e., the ''-ing'' form without ''of'', p. 15), and interrogative clauses (p. 26). Given this complex situation on the side of the complementation clauses (a given language may have many formal types of CCs, many formal types of CSs, or a combination of CCs and CSs), the issue of the selection of a particular complementation type in a given context is a central theme throughout the book. A key factor determining the form of the propositional complement is the identity of the main verb and, for this reason, Dixon establishes a classification of the propositional complement-taking verbs. He claims that all these verbs belong to a restricted set that comprises three groups. He first distinguishes between Primary verbs and Secondary verbs. The Primary verbs branch into Primary-A verbs (that do not allow a propositional complement and are hence out of discussion, cf. 'break') and Primary-B verbs, which just allow a propositional complement. The Primary-B verbs encompass four sub-groupings: Attention verbs ('see', 'smell', 'find', etc.), Thinking verbs ('consider', 'imagine', 'suppose', 'know', etc.), Liking verbs ('love', 'regret', 'enjoy', etc.), and Speaking verbs ('report', 'promise', 'order', etc.) By contrast, Secondary verbs do not just allow but require a propositional complement. They branch into three sub-groups. The Secondary-A verbs require the same subject between main and complement clause and include phasal verbs ('begin', 'continue', 'finish'), ''try''-verbs, negators ('not') and modals ('can', 'should'). The Secondary-B verbs allow a same or different subject in main & complement clause (with omission of same subject in complement clause). They include verbs such as 'want', 'wish', 'hope', 'plan', 'intend', and 'pretend'. Finally, the Secondary-C verbs normally require a different subject in main and complement clause (or they can allow a same subject, in which case it cannot be omitted in the complement clause). Secondary-C verbs include 'make', 'force', 'cause', 'let', and 'help'. It should be noted that some verb types (or subtypes) may be lacking in a language if their function is taken over by affixes, operators, or periphrastic constructions (such as when in Dyirbal, which lacks Secondary-C verbs, one cannot literally say ''he made me laugh'' and one has to always specify the inducing action, for example, ''he told me a joke and I laughed'', in which case, of course, there is no syntactic complementation, cf. p. 264). Despite some general correlations between types of verbs and the three semantic types of CCs, the selection of a semantic type of CC (to say nothing of a particular complementation construction in a language) depends on the particular verb at hand (i.e., different verbs of a grouping even at the lowest level - say, ''thinking'' verbs - may select different semantic types of CCs; in fact, many individual verbs take more than one semantic type of CC). For example in English, we find all three semantic types of CCs occurring in each sub-group of the Primary-B verbs, except the Attention verbs, which only take Fact and Activity CCs (cf. p. 27). Among the Secondary-A verbs, the phasal verbs take the Activity type CC and the ''try''-verbs the Potential type CC. The Secondary-B verbs take the Potential and the Fact type of CCs, while the Secondary-C verbs are restricted to the Potential type. Dixon claims (p. 31) that these correlations should, on the whole, hold for other languages as well. The eleven case-study chapters overall adopt the framework laid out by Dixon. In Chapter 2, ''Complement Clause Types in Pennsylvania German'', Kate Burridge shows that Waterloo County Pennsylvania German (Germanic, USA) has seven kinds of CC constructions and no CS. Looking at the table on p. 65, one sees that seventeen Primary and Secondary verbs (out of twenty one verbs listed) take two or even three semantic types of CCs and it is rather difficult to draw a pattern. It should be noted though that when a verb takes more than one CC construction, the meaning may be different. For example CCs introduced by the complementizer FER 'for' describe events that are less real in contrast to CCs introduced by ZU 'to' (cf. p. 67 ''ich hab thirty kieh {zu melken} 'I have thirty cows to milk (next)' vs. ''ich hab thirty kieh {fer melken} '[then/after that] I (would) have thirty cows to milk' [translations adapted by the reviewer]). Burridge also shows that the FER CCs are gaining ground at the expense of the ZU CCs, and this is perceptible over just a few decades. In Chapter 3, ''Complement Clause Types in Israeli'', Ghil'ad Zuckermann starts with a particularly handy overview of Israeli grammar (syntactic order, noun, verb, and clause categories) and claims that this language has six kinds of CC constructions (with criteria for argument status) and no CS (the author uses the term ''Israeli'' as an exact equivalent for ''Modern Hebrew'' and thinks that the language is mixed Semitic and Indo-European, cf. p. 73). The most frequent CC, introduced by the complementizer SHE (derived from an Old Hebrew relativizer), can by itself express Fact, Activity, and Potential semantics and combines with almost all the listed Primary-B verbs (sixty-one verbs out of sixty-four listed, cf. p. 87ff) and almost all the given Secondary verbs (twenty-five verbs out of thirty-two listed). The majority of the Primary-B verbs take at least four kinds of CCs. In Chapter 4, ''Complement Clause Type and Complementation Strategy in Jarawara'', R.M.W. Dixon shows that Jarawara (Arawa, Brazil) has just one CC and a second complementation construction the status of which is not clear. This language has an AOVX (or OAVX) word order and the CC appears in the normal position, as O or S, before the verb. The CC expresses Activity and Potential semantics and combines mostly with phasal Secondary-A verbs and with intransitive verbs (verbs of motion and stance, stative descriptive verbs, quantity verbs) in constructions that in most other languages do not use a complementation structure (for example, a speaker would literally say ''your talking is good'', with a complementation construction, for ''you talk well'', cf. p. 110). The CC may also appear in O function with Attention, Thinking, and Liking verbs and also with the Secondary verbs 'want' and 'try'. In Chapter 5, ''Complement Clause Types and Complementation Strategy in White Hmong'', Nerida Jarkey says that White Hmong (China, affiliation undecided) has three CCs expressing the three semantic types of CCs, and one CS. The three CCs appear as argument of most Primary-B verbs and the Secondary-B and C verbs. By contrast, the CS, which is based on a serial verb construction, only appears with Secondary verbs, in particular with the Secondary-A verbs. As usual, particular verbs may appear with more than one type of CC, with different meanings. For example, the verb ''xav'' meaning 'think, want' is disambiguated in context: It means 'think' with the complementizer TIAS 'that' and 'want' with the complementizer KOM 'to' (cf. p. 131ff). In Chapter 6, ''Complement Clause Types and Complementation Strategy in Dolakha Newar'', Carol Genetti proposes four kinds of CCs and one CS for Dolakha Newar (Tibeto-Burman, Nepal). One reason to take the CCs as arguments of the main verb is the fact that the language has strict transitivity, i.e., apart from very few labile verbs, a verb is either transitive or intransitive (this type of argument also applies to White Hmong in the previous chapter). The CCs appear like regular NPs in preverbal position in an AOV word order. Primary-B verbs tend to occur with a simple nominalized CC form expressing Activity semantics and a nominalized clause introduced by a complementizer KHA that expresses Fact and Potential semantics. The two other CC constructions occur with fewer verbs (cf. p. 147). The CS, based on an auxiliary construction, is used mostly with Secondary verbs (cf. p. 156). In Chapter 7, ''Complement Clause Types and Complementation Strategies in Akkadian'', Guy Deutscher examines Old Babylonian Akkadian, a Semitic language (Ancient Mesopotamia, 2000-1500 BC) with an AOV (or OAV) word order. Deutscher claims that the language has two CCs and seven CSs. One of the CCs is introduced by the complementizer KIMA (derived from a conjunction meaning 'as, like, instead of, when, because') which used to be positioned before the main verb but migrated to post-verbal position by 1700 BC (cf. p. 162). This CC expresses Fact semantics. The second CC is an infinitive clause expressing Activity and Potential semantics. The CSs include two varieties of a purposive construction, a syntactic nominalization, an apposition structure, an ''as you know'' construction, a relative clause and a direct speech construction. The Primary-B verbs take both CCs and all seven CSs. Secondary-A and C verbs tend to take the infinitive CC, while the Secondary-B verbs take the purposive CS. Another construction (not included among the seven CCs) is used by Secondary phasal concepts and the verb 'try' (for example, the sentence for ''give him the field in its entirety'' is literally ''finish to him and give him the field''; cf. p. 176). The verb 'finish' also appears in a construction with the complement verb in oblique position and its subject raised to the main clause (for example, the sentence for ''crushing the sesame is finished'' would literally be ''the sesame is finished in crushing''; cf. p. 175). According to Deutscher, Akkadian is overall poor on propositional complement-taking verbs (cf. p. 173). In Chapter 8, ''Complement Clause Types and Complementation Strategies in Tariana'' Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald examines Tariana (Arawak, Brazil), which has four CCs and four CSs. All the CCs are real core arguments of the main verb and can be replaced by regular NPs. At least one of the CCs (the interrogative pronoun-marked CC) is influenced by Tucano or Portuguese (cf. p. 192). It is also claimed (p. 202) that an apposition construction can replace any type of complementation (in the other papers, apposition is counted as a complementation strategy). The general tendency is that the Primary-B verbs combine with the CCs, while the Secondary verbs prefer the CS (in particular the CS based on the serial verb construction, cf. p. 196f). In Chapter 9, ''Complement Clause Type and Complementation Strategies in Goemai'', Birgit Hellwig defines one CC and six CSs for Goemai (Chadic, Nigeria). The CC is introduced by a complementizer GOEPE (and variants, derived from a locative marker meaning ''at place'') and which expresses only Fact semantics. According to Hellwig, the CC used to be peripheral and was later integrated into the O position in a recent grammaticalization process (cf. p. 221). The CSs are based on serial verb construction, nominalization, reported speech, purposive, sequential, and consequential constructions. All Primary-B verbs tend to take the CC, although they also take all the CSs (depending on the sub-group) with different meanings (for example, the CS may express a personal evaluation while the CC expresses a fact; cf. p. 217). The Secondary verbs combine with four CSs only. In Chapter 10, ''Complement Clause Type and Complementation Strategies in Matses'', David Fleck reports on Matses (Panoan, Peru and Brazil) and claims that the language has just one CC used only with one verb, the verb 'want'. This CC is marked by a complementizer TE and is not an O argument but an extended argument that appears pre-verbally in a ''S-Extended O-V'' word order. Indeed, in this language the verb 'want' is intransitive (the 'wanter' argument is marked absolutive). The CC expresses Potential semantics. The rest of the propositional complement-taking verbs combine with a CS based on adverbialized clauses formed with twenty adverbializing suffixes the basic meanings of which include 'while, after (temporal, inferential, and experiential), when, until, before, in order'. Polysemous verbs such as ''tantia'' 'hear, listen, know how, know that, understand, think, believe, remember' disambiguate their semantics through the choice of the adverbializing suffix (cf. p. 243). The Polysemous verbs and the fact that morphology and operators have taken over many verb meanings are the reasons why Matses has few propositional complement-taking verbs (cf. p. 243). Chapter 11, ''Complement Clause Type and Complementation Strategy in Kambera'' by Marian Klamer describes Kambera (Austronesian, Indonesia), which has one CC and one CS. That the CC is a core argument is shown by the fact that it is cross-referenced on the main verb as S or O and appears in the same position as regular NP arguments. The CC is used with Primary-B Attention and Thinking verbs. The rest of the verb types combine with a CS based on a ''controlled clause'' that is not an argument of the main verb. Nonetheless, this CS must share at least one argument with the main verb. As in the other languages, some verbs appear with the CC or the CS to modulate their semantics (for example, the verbs ''pingu'', ''njadi'', ''monung'', which with the CC mean, respectively, 'know about', 'be possible, appropriate', and 'trust', but with the CS they mean, respectively, 'be able, can', 'be able', and 'hope'; cf. p. 250f). Besides the CC and the CS, the author also mentions a quotative and a coordination construction as possible CSs. In Chapter 12, ''Complementation Strategies in Dyirbal'', R.M.W. Dixon discusses Dyirbal (Austronesian, Australia), the only language in the volume without a CC and which relies on three CSs (in this respect, Dyirbal is like many other Australian languages; cf. p. 263n1). The three CSs are based on a purposive, a relative clause, and a serial verb construction. All three CSs are used by the Primary-B verbs (relative clause with Attention, Thinking, Speaking, and a few Liking verbs; purposive with some Speaking verbs and the Liking verbs). The Secondary-A verbs use the purposive CS, while only the Secondary-B verbs use the serial verb construction (Dyirbal has no Secondary-C verbs). Despite these correlations, some verbs with related meanings may take different CSs. For example (cf. p. 275), the verb ''gigal'' 'order, let do' takes the purposive CS while its converse ''jabil'' 'stop from doing, prevent' takes the relative clause CS. In conclusion, the case-study chapters evidence a variety of patterns with regard to the availability of the verb types, the CCs, the CSs, and their interrelations. One can probably paraphrase Dixon (cf. p. 278) and say that the strategy used by any particular verb in a language relates to the meaning of the verb and the meaning of the types of complementation structures available in the language. It should also be noted that complementation structures are subject to grammaticalization processes, which by definition are progressive, and equivalent constructions may receive different status (as CCs or CSs) in different languages (cf. the sometimes varying treatment of apposition, nominalization, and direct speech constructions in the chapters). Nonetheless, it is also clear that Dixon's framework provides an excellent canvas for exploring complementation in languages. More than this review can reflect, the chapters are also a treasure of language-specific constructions or features and recurring patterns. One of these patterns is ''raising'', which is evidenced in many languages studied in the volume, and there seems to be some beginning of a new insight into the nature of the phenomenon (according to Dixon, cf. p. 23, the argument raised to object simultaneously belongs to the main and the subordinate clause). EVALUATION Besides the theoretical framework proposed, this volume has benefited from the firsthand experience of the contributors, each with his or her subject language. They all display a good familiarity with speaker communities and the socio-linguistic situation of the language (except, naturally, for Akkadian). Sometimes, this knowledge is the basis for proposed explanations, such as when Burridge says that the humility of speakers towards God may have fueled the spread of the FER-ZU complementizer (which presents events as less real) at the expense of the ZU complementizer (which presents events in a more confident way). It is also shown how endangered languages or languages otherwise subject to pressure or influence may borrow or calque complementation constructions from other languages (cf. the case of Tariana and Pennsylvania German). There is however a potential point of criticism that may relate to the choice of the case-study languages. The issue is that for the ten languages (including English) reported to have CCs, the authors are unequivocal that these CCs are core arguments of the main verbs, on par with regular NPs. This may be too strong an assertion. There is evidence in Hausa (Chadic, Niger, Nigeria) and Zarma Chiine (Songhay, Niger) that CCs can have an unstable status as core arguments or at least score lower on an objecthood scale than a regular NP. In Hausa, both regular object NPs and object CCs induce a ''plus direct object'' form of the verb or a possessive linker on a noun (cf. ''sun neemi yaara'' 'they looked.for[+DO] the.children'; ''sun neemi {su fita}'' 'they tried[+DO] {they go out}'; ''naa yi maamaaki-n Abdu'' 'I was surprised about Abdu', lit. 'I did the.surprise-of Abdu'; ''naa yi maamaaki-n {da yaara suka fita}'' 'I was surprised that the children went out', lit. 'I did the.surprise-of {that the.children they go.out}'; for details on the Hausa verbal system see Newman 2000 or Jaggar 2001). On these grounds, and taking into account Dixon's criteria for a CC (cf. p. 15), one can say that Hausa has a CC. Nonetheless, contrary to the regular NP, the CC may fail to induce the ''plus direct object'' form of the verb or the possessive linker (for example, one may have as alternative the sentence ''sun neemaa {su fita}'' lit. 'they tried[-DO] {they go.out}'). In Zarma Chiine, some regular object NPs that are not patient or theme tend to appear post-verbally in an AVOX word order (cf. ''Abdu ga di zankay'' lit. 'Abdu will see the.children'). Patient or theme objects can appear pre-verbally in an AOVX word order or post-verbally (cf. ''Abdu ga tira dey'' lit. 'Abdu will the.book buy' and ''Abdu ga dey tira'' lit. 'Abdu will buy the.book'). Abdoulaye (2008) presents a range of evidence showing that the pre-verbal object is more affected than the post-verbal object. It happens that object CCs in Zarma Chiine can only appear in post-verbal position (cf. the sentence ''Faati ga na? {zankey ma koy habu}'' lit. 'Fati will let {the.children TAM go market} or its raising version ''Faati ga zankey na? {I ma koy habu}'' lit. 'Fati will the.children let {they TAM go market}). There are probably many other languages where CCs (by the relevant criteria) nonetheless have a lesser direct object status than regular NPs. For example, in Dryer (1980) it is shown that cross-linguistically, CCs tend to be shifted towards the end of the sentence, while regular NP objects stay in position. A discussion of this aspect of the CCs (cf. the CC's migrating to final position in Akkadian) could have some implications in the appreciation of complementation structures in languages. REFERENCES Abdoulaye, Mahamane L. (2008) L'alternance ditransitive en zarma. Hyper Article en Ligne (HAL). Available at : http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00268179/fr/ (accessed on October 10, 2009) Dixon, R.M.W. (1995) Complement clauses and complementation strategies. In: F.R. Palmer, Ed., Grammar and meaning: Essays in honor of Sir John Lyons, pp. 175-220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dryer, Matthew S. (1980) The positional tendencies of sentential noun phrases in universal grammar. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 25: 123-195. Available at: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~dryer/DryerSententialNPs1980.pdf (accessed on April 1, 2010) Jaggar, Philip J. (2001) Hausa. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Noonan, Michael (1985) Complementation. In: Timothy Shopen, Ed., Language typology and syntactic description, Vol. 2, pp. 42 141. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Newman, Paul (2000) The Hausa language: An encyclopedic reference grammar. New Haven/London: Yale University Press. ABOUT THE REVIEWER Mahamane L. Abdoulaye teaches linguistics at the Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey. His main research focuses on Hausa and Zarma Chiine morphology, syntax, and semantics.
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