Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

3. PVCS OF TYPE2 163
(77) ta chi-on-lo'-w on
COND IMPF-B1p-eat-AP CL1p
`If we eat ::: ' Penalosa & Say (1992)
In the incorporating AP, whose verb is marked by the AP su x
-w(i), the former direct object, i.e. usually the patient denoting NP,
has to be directly postverbal and cannot take NCLs. However, there
is no corresponding pronominal verbal a x for the patient. The set B
marker on the detransitivized verb encodes the agent denoting subject.
As can be seen in example (78), the semantic agent no' txitam `the
pig' of the transitive construction is the subject, unrealized on the
verb since third person set B pronominal a xes are zero. The patient
of the transitive construction, aan `corncob', is not realized on the
verb at all. This means that for rst and second person patients this
construction is not an option due to the lack of rst and second person
pronouns. Aan `corncob' cannot take an article or a noun classi er nor
can it be moved away from the verbal complex in the incorporating AP
construction.
(78) x-;-nooch-wi
aan no' txitam
PERF-B3-eat.biting-AP corncob NCL pig
`The pig was eating the corncob.' Zavala (1997), 456
The third type of AP is called demoted patient AP, since in
this construction, the patient surfaces as an oblique NP marked with
the preposition iin `in'. The verb is marked either with a -wa or with a
-wi su x. In example (79), the patient aan `corncob' can take a noun
classi er ixim and is part of the PP yiin ixim aan.
(79) x-;-nooch-wa no' txitam y-iin ixim aan
PERF-B3-eat.biting-AP NCL pig A3-LOC NCL corncob
`The pig was eating on the corncob.' Zavala (1997), 456
In the demoted patient AP, the patient is made explicit, while in the
incorporating AP it is less explicit, in that it cannot be marked. In the
absolutive AP the patient is completely suppressed.
Table 6 provides a summary of the structures of APs in Akatek
compared to the structure of an active transitive construction. Generally,
the verbal su x w(i)/wa detransitivizes the verb, which then takes
only a set B pronominal a x instead of both set B and set A a xes.
Accordingly, it can only have one adjunct NP. In AP constructions this
only remaining NP is the subject NP of the former active transitive,
usually denoting the agent, while the patient denoting object NP of