An analysis of transitivity in Cheyenne

Bibliographic Data

ID5809122
AuthorsAvelino Corral Esteban (0000-0002-3017-4509, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, corresponding author), Avelino Esteban
Year2014
Volume61
Issue4
Pages379-422
Publication date2014-11-09
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueActa Linguistica Hungarica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1216-8076 • E-ISSN: 1588-2624
PublisherAkadémiai Kiadó (PUBLISHER • HU)
DOI10.1556/aling.61.2014.4.2
OpenAlexW2009842210
LanguageEN
References cited16

Verbal typology in Cheyenne has traditionally been analyzed following the terminology that Bloomfield used in 1946 in order to describe Proto-Algonquian verbal classes. That terminology mixed two syntactic concepts, namely valence and transitivity, in order to refer to the different types of verb in Algonquian languages. Although in Cheyenne the verbal paradigms are available in a number of excellent sources (Petter 1952; Meeussen 1962; Leman 1980b; Russell 1987), this article attempts to provide a more comprehensive description of the verbal system in Cheyenne by classifying Cheyenne predicates into three groups in terms of their semantic valence, that is the number of core arguments they require: (1) one-place predicates, which are accompanied by only one core argument, (2) two-place predicates, which have two core arguments, and (3) three-place predicates, which include up to three core arguments. This classification will prove more accurate than the traditional four-way division, since it captures better the existence of four further distinct verbal paradigms, namely those illustrated by the construction including an inanimate subject and an animate patient, the Unspecified Agent construction, and the ditransitive constructions with inanimate theme, and the ditransitive construction with theme.On the other hand, the study of three-place predicates will occupy a special place in the last part of the article, since it raises interesting questions, such as the number of arguments coded in the verb, the semantic role played by these arguments, and the possible existence of alternations and splits. Furthermore, the analysis of ditransitive constructions will allow us to classify this type of predicate in Cheyenne in terms of the concept of alignment, which refers to the comparison of the properties of the core arguments of the predicate

Cheyenne · Theme (computing · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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