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Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

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234 6. TYPOLOGY OF PERCEPTION VERB COMPLEMENTS<br />

(25) Circumstantial nom<strong>in</strong>alization<br />

ART/DEM tense-ACT-V-ana-GEN(agent) O S(circumstance)<br />

An example for an active construction is given <strong>in</strong> (26). The respective<br />

circumstantial nom<strong>in</strong>alization is provided <strong>in</strong> (27). The active subject<br />

Rabe has genitivized to the circumstantial <strong>verb</strong> as -dRabe and the article<br />

ny `the' has been added. 2<br />

(26) n-aN-solo(nanolo) kodiarana Rabe<br />

PT-ACT-change tire Rabe<br />

`Rabe changed the tire.' Keenan (1996)<br />

(27) ny nanolo-ana-Rabe(=nanoloan-dRabe) kodiarana<br />

the PT.ACT.change-CIRC-Rabe tire<br />

`the past reason/place/<strong>in</strong>strument/../action of Rabe's chang<strong>in</strong>g<br />

the tire' Keenan (1996)<br />

With root passive perception <strong>verb</strong>s like hita `be seen' the circumstantial<br />

nom<strong>in</strong>alization can ll two slots <strong>in</strong> the sentence. Either it lls<br />

the ( nal) subject position <strong>in</strong> the passive construction shown <strong>in</strong> (28),<br />

while the perceiver is encoded by the genitive -nao `you (GEN)' on the<br />

<strong>verb</strong>. The other possibility is that it lls the object slot <strong>in</strong> the active<br />

construction <strong>in</strong> (29) where the perceiver, here ianao `you (NOM)', is<br />

<strong>in</strong> the nal subject position.<br />

(28) hita-nao [ny nanoloan-dRabe kodiarana]<br />

seen-GEN2 [the chang<strong>in</strong>g-by.Rabe tire]<br />

`Rabe chang<strong>in</strong>g the tire was seen by you.' Keenan (1996)<br />

(29) n-a-hita [ny nanoloan-dRabe kodiarana] ianao<br />

PT-ACT-seen [the chang<strong>in</strong>g-by.Rabe tire] NOM2<br />

`You saw Rabe change the tire (Rabe's chang<strong>in</strong>g of the<br />

tire).' Keenan (1996)<br />

2 Instead of the article ny other determ<strong>in</strong>ers are possible as well:<br />

(i) tsy nahita [ilay/izany/izay nanoloan-dRabe kodiarana izany/izay]<br />

not saw<br />

aho<br />

NOM1<br />

[that/that/that chang<strong>in</strong>g-by-Rabe tire that/that]<br />

`I didn't see that chang<strong>in</strong>g of the tire by Rabe.' Keenan (1996)

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