Serial verb construction
Serial verb constructions are a phenomenon that typically shows up in isolating languages; in Asia this includes B. Chinese , Thai , Vietnamese and Khmer , in West Africa z. B. Yoruba and Igbo . This phenomenon can also be found in various Papua languages of New Guinea .
In verb serialization , two or more verbs are strung together (mostly) without any formal connection ( asyndetic ), which allows more complex issues to be expressed. Subjects and objects can also be included, so that in this case one can also speak of a means of linking sentences .
An example from Vietnamese:
Muốn | please | được | thua | phải | đi | hỏi . |
want | knowledge | win | to lose | have to | go | ask |
"If (you) want to know whether (you) won or lost, (you) have to go and ask." |
Examples from the Yoruba:
O | mú | ìwé | wá |
he | to take | book | come |
"He brings the book" |
O | gbé | e | wá |
he | wear | it | come |
"He brings it" |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Walter Bisang: The verb in Chinese, Hmong, Vietnamese, Thai and Khmer. Comparative grammar in the context of verb serialization, grammaticalization and attractor positions . Narr, Tübingen 1992, p. 319.
- ↑ Maggie Tallerman: Understanding syntax . Arnold, London 1998, pp. 79-81.
- ↑ Hadumod Bußmann : Lexicon of Linguistics (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 452). 2nd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-520-45202-2 , p. 683.
literature
- Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald , RMW Dixon (Ed.): Serial verb constructions. A cross-linguistic typology . Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Carol Lord: Historical change in serial verb constructions . Benjamin, Amsterdam a. a. 1993.