Sebastian Sulger (Konstanz): Genitive subjects in Hindi-Urdu

Semantically, the genitive phrases are not confined to possession, but may realize different relations
between the nominals (cf. Barker 1995, Chisarik & Payne 2001). Among them, in Hindi/Urdu, are
attribution (6a) and quality (6b) relations. Therefore, they are argued to link to unrestricted functions in
the sense that they may realize a variety of different thematic roles.
I implement the analysis of Hindi/Urdu PCCs in the theoretical framework of Lexical-Functional
Grammar (LFG, Dalrymple 2001). The copula is an intransitive verb selecting a single thematic role,
a theme, in its argument structure. This theme is linked to the subject function of the main clause as
per the subject condition (Dalrymple 2001, Bresnan 2001). When a possessor is realized, an additional
“theme” role is selected by the theme via a lexical process; this “internal” theme is linked to the subject
function inside the main clause’s subject (see (7) and the resulting functional structure in (8)). In LFG, the
SUBJ function is taken to be both discourse-oriented and unrestricted, reflecting the two salient properties
of the Hindi-Urdu genitive discussed above. The agreement between the possessor and the possessum can
then be taken care of by standard LFG techniques. In sum, the analysis I propose explains the facts in a
more natural manner and readily presents an explanation for the agreement patterns and semantic effects
observed.
(1) a. nadya=ka/*=ki mAkan hE
Nadya.F.Sg.Obl=Gen.M.Sg.Nom/*=Gen.F.Sg.Nom house.M.Sg.Nom be.Pres.3P.Sg
lit. ‘There is a house of Nadya’s.’ = ‘Nadya has/owns a house.’
b. nadya=ki/*=ka Almari hE
Nadya.F.Sg.Obl=Gen.F.Sg.Nom/*=Gen.M.Sg.Nom cupboard.F.Sg.Nom be.Pres.3P.Sg
lit. ‘There is a cupboard of Nadya’s.’ = ‘Nadya has/owns a cupboard.’
(2) ram=ka g h Ar laut.-ne=ka vIcar
Ram.M.Sg.Obl=Gen.M.Sg.Nom home.M.Sg.Nom return-Inf.M.Sg.Obl thought.M.Sg.Nom
t h -a
be.Past-M.Sg
‘Ram was thinking of returning home.’ Mohanan (1994), p. 180
(3) [[nadya=ka]GEN mAkan]SUBJ hE
(4) a. xUda hE
god.M.Sg.Nom be.Pres.3P.Sg
‘There is a god.’
b. pArti hE
party.M.Sg.Nom be.Pres.3P.Sg
‘There is a party.’
(5) ram=ke Apna ek b h i b�t.a nAhĩ t h -a
Ram.M.Sg.Obl=Gen.M.Sg.Obl self.M.Sg.Nom one even son.M.Sg.Nom not be.Past-M.Sg
lit. ‘There was not even one son of Ram’s own.’ = ‘Ram didn’t have even one son of his own.’
Mohanan (1994), p. 181
(6) a. lahor=ka Sehr
Lahore=Gen.M.Sg.Nom city.M.Sg.Nom
‘the city of Lahore’
b. xof=ka lAmha
fear.M.Sg.Nom=Gen.M.Sg.Nom moment.M.Sg.Nom
‘moment of fear’