Serial verb construction
Grammatical features |
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The serial verb construction, also known as (verb) serialization or verb stacking, is a
Uses
The terms "serial verbs", "serialization", etc. are used by different authors to denote somewhat different sets of constructions. There are also differences in how the constructions are analyzed, in terms of both syntax and semantics.
In general, a structure described as a serial verb construction will consist either of two (or possibly more) consecutive verbs or of two or more consecutive
Serial verbs normally denote actions that are closely connected and can be considered to be part of the same event. They may be actions taking place simultaneously, or one may represent the cause, purpose or result of the other. In most cases, the serial verbs in a sequence are understood to share the same subject.
Certain expressions resembling serial verb construction are found in English (surviving from Early Modern English), such as let's go eat and come live with me.[1] In such constructions, the second verb would normally be regarded as a bare infinitive (and can generally be replaced by a "full" infinitive by the insertion of to before it).
Examples with consecutive verbs
The next sentence in Persian contains 19 consecutive verbs: [5]
داشتم، میرفتم، دیدم، گرفته، نشسته، گفتم، بذار، بپرسم، ببینم، میآد، نمیآد، دیدم، میگه، نمیخوام، بیام، میخوام، برم، بگیرم، بخوابم!
which means, I was heading and I saw she/he is sitting, I thought to ask to see whether he would come or wouldn't come, I figure out "I don't want to come, and I want to go get some sleep" he said!
The following example of serialization comes from the Nupe language from Nigeria:[1]
Musa
Musa
bé
came
lá
took
èbi.
knife
"Musa came to take the knife."
The two verbs bé and lá appear consecutively, with no linking word (like "and") or anything else to indicate that one verb is
Depending on the language, the shared subject may be marked on both verbs or only one. In most of the examples, it is marked only once. However, in the following example from the
nu-takasã
deceived(1SG)
nu-dúmaka.
sleep(1SG)
"I pretended (that) I was asleep."
A similar construction is also found in most varieties of
ṣurt
became(1SG)
jarrib
try(1SG)
aḥki
speak(1SG)
inglīzi
English
"I started trying to speak English."
As a rule, serial verbs cannot be marked independently for
Kofí
Kofi
trɔ
turn(PFV)
dzo
leave(PFV)
kpoo
quietly
"Kofi turned and left quietly."
In
In the case of
hena
NEG
nihiwawaka
go(1SG)
nu-tšereka
speak(1SG)
nu-yaka-u
mother(1SG)
abi
with
"I am not going to talk with my mother."
In
In the following example from Maonan, a language spoken in southwestern China, up to ten verbs co-occur in a sentence coding a single event without any linking words, coordinating conjunctions or any other markings:[6]
ɦe2
1SG
sə:ŋ3
want
lət8
walk
pa:i1
go
dzau4
take
van6
return
ma1
come
ɕa5
try
vɛ4
do
kau5
look
fin1
accomplish
kam5
PCL:Q
"Could I walk there to bring (it) back and try (it)?"
Examples with intervening elements between verbs
In some languages that have verb serialization, the verbs must appear consecutively with nothing intervening. In other languages, however, it is possible for arguments, normally the object of one of the verbs, to come in between the serialized verbs. The resulting construction is a sequence of verb phrases rather than of plain verbs. The following example is from the Nigerian Yoruba:[1]
ó
he
mú
took
ìwé
book
wá
came
"He brought the book."
The object of the first verb intervenes between the verbs, resulting in two consecutive verb phrases, the first meaning "took the book", the second "came". As before, the subject ("he" in this case) is understood to apply to both verbs. The combined action of taking the book and coming can be translated as "bringing" the book.
A serial verb construction may be used to introduce an
Aémmaá
Amma
de
take
sikaá
money
maá
give
Kofä
Kofi
"Amma gives Kofi money."
In
足跡
ashi-ato
footprint
を
o
OBJ
たどって
tadotte
following
来た
kita
came
"I followed him here."
Contrast with compound verbs
A distinction is sometimes made between serial verbs and
, in the second example below, लिया (liyā) (from the verb लेना lenā "to take") is a vector verb that indicates a completed action which is done for one's own benefit, and खा (khā) "eat" is the main or primary verb. In the third example below, डाला (ḍālā) (from the verb डालना ḍālnā "to put" or "to insert") is the vector verb, which indicates recklessness, gruesomeness, or an unwanted action. Both खा लिया (khā liyā) and खा डाला (khā ḍālā) alternate with the corresponding perfective form of the main verb (in this case, खाया khāyā "ate") under partly specifiable semantic and pragmatic conditions.उसने usne he/she.ERG आम ām mango.NOM.M खाया khāyā eat.PFV.M "he/she ate the mango" |
उसने usne he/she.ERG आम ām mango.NOM.M खा khā eat.NF लिया liyā take.PFV.M "he/she finished eating the mango" |
उसने usne he/she.ERG आम ām mango.OBL.M को ko ACC खा khā eat.NF डाला ḍālā put.PFV.M "he/she devoured the mango" |
Negating the compound verbs in the
*उसने *usne he/she.ERG आम ām mango.NOM.M नहीं nahī̃ NEG.IND खा khā eat.NF लिया liyā take.PFV.M intendedː "he/she did not eat the mango" |
उसने usne he/she.ERG आम ām mango.NOM.M नहीं nahī̃ NEG.IND खाया khāyā eat.PFV.M "he/she did not eat the mango" |
However, compound verbs in the subjunctive mood retain the vector verbs when negated.
उसने usne he/she.ERG आम ām mango.NOM.M खा khā eat.NF ना nā NEG.SUBJ लिया liyā take.PFV हो ho be.3S.SUBJ.PRS "(I hope that) he/she hasn't eaten the mango" |
उसने usne he/she.ERG आम ām mango.NOM.M खा khā eat.NF ना nā NEG.SUBJ डाला ḍālā put.PFV हो ho be.3S.SUBJ.PRS "(I hope that) he/she hasn't devoured the mango" |
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-429-51674-0.
- ^ Aikhenvald, A. and Dixon, R.M.W. (2005). Serial Verb Constructions: A cross-linguistic typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Lord, C. (1991). Historical Change in Serial Verb Constructions. Amsterdam: John Benjamins
- ISBN 902725222X.
- ^ "عجایب زبان فارسی/ بهکارگیری ۱۹ فعل در یک جمله!". khabaronline.
- ISBN 978-1-59942-971-7. p246.
Sources
- Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. and R.M.W. Dixon. 2006. Serial Verb Constructions: a cross-linguistic typology. (Explorations in Linguistic Typology, 2.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Crowley, Terry. 2002. Serial Verbs in Oceanic: A Descriptive Typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Haspelmath, Martin. 2016. The serial verb construction: Comparative concept and cross-linguistic generalizations. Language and Linguistics 17(3). 291–319. DOI:http://doi.org/10.1177/2397002215626895.
External links
- Akan.org Teleteaching course, serial verbs subsection
- SIL LinguaLink on Serial Verbs
- Collins, Jeremy; Latarche, Jay (2023). "Are there serial verb constructions?". Retrieved 2024-02-19.