Exploring the asymmetric coding of autobenefactive in Lithuanian and beyond

Bibliographic Data

ID19557001
AuthorsVladimir Panov (Vilnius University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume11
Publication date2020-12-30
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBaltic Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2081-7533
PublisherUniversity of Warsaw (PUBLISHER • PL)
DOI10.32798/bl.707
OpenAlexW3127068071
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited10

In this paper, I investigate a group of semantically close functions marked by the Reflexive marker in Lithuanian, which I address as autobenefactive. I provide a classification of these functions and then turn to a marking asymmetry which is characteristic of the them, namely the tendency to occur in perfective contexts and not to occur in progressive contexts. On the basis of a questionnaire, I show that this tendency indeed exists, although different verbs are involved to different degrees, and we are presumably witnessing an ongoing grammaticalization process. I then compare the Lithuanian marking asymmetry to a phenomenon in Georgian, in which the use of “subjective version” exhibits a similar kind of asymmetry with some groups of verbs. In the concluding section, I propose a typological explanation of the observed asymmetry, hypothesizing that the markers of both languages function in a way parallel to so-called “bounders” – telicizers with primary spatial meanings

Asymmetry · Epistemology · Georgian · Grammaticalization · Linguistics · Lithuanian · Phenomenon · Physics · Reflexivity · Sociology · Linguistics and language evolution · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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