Work

The order of OVX and the argument-adjunct distinction

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: As for the order of verb (V), object (O), and oblique (X), Dryer (with Gensler) (2013) finds the asymmetry between VO and OV languages in terms of the position of X: VO languages are almost exclusively VOX, and OV languages are of all three types (XOV, OXV, and OVX). Hawkins (2008) argues that “[t]he OVX languages should be more head-initial and have head ordering correlations more like those of VO” (e.g., preposition: OVX 33%, VO 86%). However, we claim that high percentages of OVX languages have head-final orders unlike VO languages in complement-head orders (e.g., postposition: OVX 67%, VO 14%). We also claim that OVX languages have more head-initial orders than XOV and OXV languages in head-adjunct orders (e.g., Noun-Adjective: OVX 100%, XOV 56%, OXV 67%). We propose the universal tendency to complement-head-adjunct order.

Source: Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America

DOI: 10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5708

Authors: Hisao Tokizaki, Yasutomo Kuwana

Institutions: Sapporo University, Asahikawa Medical University

Language: English

Topic: Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Awards: Mapping from syntax onto phonology: Theory, typology and history, A Descriptive and Theoretical Study of Adjectives, Deadjectival Nouns, and Their Subsequent Clauses in English