New Insights Into Lakota Syntax

The Encoding of Arguments and the Number of Verbal Affixes

Bibliographic Data

ID21398795
AuthorsAvelino Corral Esteban (0000-0002-3017-4509, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid Spain, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume80
Issue1
Publication date2026-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudia Linguistica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0039-3193 • E-ISSN: 1467-9582
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/stul.70008
OpenAlexW7116923084
LanguageEN
References cited21

This paper examines the morphosyntax of transitive constructions in Lakota, with particular emphasis being placed on the encoding of arguments. The analysis of argument marking through verbal affixes in Lakota transitive constructions raises two main questions: the existence or non‐existence of the zero marker for the third person singular and the maximum number of bound argument markers that a verb can take. This issue presents a considerable challenge since, due to the lack of evidence for early stages of development in this language, it is very hard to know if third person was ever realized through an overt bound argument marker or if certain constructions involving three cross‐referencing elements were formerly accepted, which, by extension, would allow us to develop general theories about how and why language changes have occurred. Despite this limitation concerning the lack of historical evidence, I will attempt to shed some light on these issues by providing fairly conclusive evidence that can help us to ascertain whether the third person is actually marked covertly or whether it is simply not marked at all by examining the behavior of person markers in control constructions, as well as discovering exactly how many bound argument markers a Lakota verb is able to take simultaneously

Argument (complex analysis) · Causative · Encoding (memory) · Raising (metalworking) · Transitive relation · Verb · Australian Indigenous Culture and History · Categorization, perception, and language · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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