Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

144 5. PERCEPTION VERB COMPLEMENTS IN AKATEK
pronominal pre x ach-. This sentence cannot function as a type2 complement
ofaPVasshown in the ungrammaticality of (19-b). In order
to do this, it must change to a type2 complement, i.e. use the set A
pronominal a x aw-, as depicted in (19-c).
(19) a. x-ach-'el-toj
PERF-B2-leave-DIR
`You left.'
b. *x-;-y-il ix Mikin [ach-'el-le-toj]
PERF-B3-A3-see NCL Micaela [B2-leave-ITE-DIR]
`Micaela saw you leave.'
c. x-;-y-il ix [aw-'el-toj]
PERF-B3-A3-see she [A2-leave-DIR]
`She saw you leaving.' Zavala (1997)
A parallel example is provided in (20) for transitivetype2 complements.
(20-a) shows an independent transitive sentence, which cannot be embedded
under a PV as indicated by the ungrammaticality of (20-b). A
transitive type2 complement is given in (20-c), where the type2 verb is
su xed by the morpheme -on, whose function is discussed in section
3.2.
(20) a. x-;-s-ma' no' tx'i naj Xhunik
PERF-B3-A3-hit NCL dog NCL John
`John hit the dog.'
b. *x-;-y-il ix Mikin [;-s-ma' no' tx'i
PERF-B3-A3-see NCL Micaela [B3-A3-hit NCL dog
naj Xhunik]
NCL John]
`Micaela saw John hit the dog.'
c. x-;-y-il ix Mikin [;-s-ma'-on no'
PERF-B3-A3-see NCL Micaela [B3-A3-hit-SUF NCL
tx'i naj Xhunik]
dog NCL John]
`Micaela saw John hit the dog.'
In chapter 4, I noted that in Akatek set A pronominal a xes mark
transitive subjects on verbs as well as possessors on nouns. This makes
intransitive type2 constructions like yok' naj unin in (21-a) and skam
ix in (21-c) look very much like possessed prepositions or nouns as
illustrated in (21-b) and (21-d), respectively.