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Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

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216 5. PERCEPTION VERB COMPLEMENTS IN AKATEK<br />

(224) x-;-y-il ix Mik<strong>in</strong> (tol) ey-; s-naa<br />

PERF-B3-A3-see NCL Micaela (COMP) EX-B3 A3-house<br />

naj Lu<strong>in</strong><br />

NCL Peter<br />

`Micaela saw that Peter has a house.'<br />

Example (225) showsatype1 PVC with a predicate express<strong>in</strong>g an<br />

imperceptible state.<br />

(225) x-;-y-il ix Mik<strong>in</strong> ey-; s-mul naj Xhunik<br />

PERF-B3-A3-see NCL Micaela EX-B3 A3-s<strong>in</strong> NCL John<br />

`Micaela saw that John was guilty.'<br />

Sentence (226-a) illustrates another PVC with the existential. The<br />

ey is used here to <strong>in</strong>troduce the subject argument NP of the embedded<br />

<strong>verb</strong> chimitx'on. The <strong>verb</strong> is marked for imperfective aspect and it<br />

is ungrammatical to use a type2 complement as evidenced <strong>in</strong> example<br />

(226-b).<br />

(226) a. x-;-y-ab' ix Mik<strong>in</strong> ey-; maj<br />

PERF-B3-A3-hear NCL Micaela EX-B3 someone<br />

chi-;-s-mitx'-on ix<br />

IMPF-B3-A3-touch-SUF she<br />

`She felt there was someone touch<strong>in</strong>g her.'<br />

b. *x-;-y-ab' ix Mik<strong>in</strong> ey-; maj<br />

PERF-B3-A3-hear NCL Micaela EX-B3 someone<br />

;-s-mitx'-on ix<br />

B3-A3-touch-SUF she<br />

`She felt there was someone touch<strong>in</strong>g her.'<br />

4.3.3. Negation. Type1 PVCs can be negated (Zavala, 1992b).<br />

There are di erent negative morphemes for the di erent aspect markers<br />

as has been shown <strong>in</strong> Chapter 4, section 1.3. Imperfective aspect<br />

is negated with k'am (227-a), future is negated with man oj (227-b),<br />

and perfective with ma (227-c).<br />

(227) a. watx'-; tzub'il k'am chi-ach-mulna-i<br />

good-B3 COMP NEG IMPF-B2-work-ITV<br />

`It's good that you don't work.'<br />

b. watx'-; tzub'il man oj-ach-mulna-i<br />

good-B3 COMP NEG FUT-B2-work-ITV<br />

`It's good that you will not work.'

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