Linguistics and English Language

Meaning and grammar seminar

Speaker: Jens Hopperdietzel (University of Manchester)

Title: Marked unergatives in Samoan: Deverbal nominalizations and syntactic ergativity

Abstract: In Samoan (Polynesian, Austronesian) nominalizations, unergative subjects are distinctly marked by alienable case. This is true for both regular nouns which in the nominal domain show a tripartite/inactive alignment and clitic pronouns which show a marked unergative alignment. In this talk, I argue that the two cross-linguistically rare case pattern found in Samoan nominalizations naturally follow from a combination of independent properties, including split-possessive marking, syntactic ergativity, and the unaccusativity restriction on nominalizations, and thus provide further independent morphological evidence for the special status of agentive subjects in deverbal nominalizations across languages.

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Seminars are organised by the meaning and grammar research group.

Meaning and grammar research group

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Richard Wilson

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Feb 07 2023 -

Meaning and grammar seminar

2023-02-07: Marked unergatives in Samoan: Deverbal nominalizations and syntactic ergativity

Room 2.11, Appleton Tower, 11 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9LE