7. Serial verbs and change of location constructions in Vietnamese

Abstract

This chapter deals with a specific type of serial verb construction (SVC) in Vietnamese that encodes caused change of location. The construction is of particular theoretical interest because it exhibits an alternation that is triggered by aspectuality, subject to the dynamic vs. stative character of the verb that occupies the second verb (V 2 ) position within the SVC. Caused change of location constructions with dynamic V 2 s refer to events as ongoing or completed actions. The constructions with stative V 2 s, however, denote the result that is brought about by the event to which the first verb in the series (V 1 ) refers, yielding a perfect of result reading. The aspectual alternation is explained by a difference in inherent configurations of phases and boundaries. While the dynamic V 2 construction type may or may not imply a result, the result is made explicit and enforced on the constructional level in the stative V 2 construction type. In the stative V 2 construction, both the stative character of the V 2 and the lexical presence of a resultative component of the verbs in V 1 position are crucial for the perfect of result reading.

The preservation of path verb meanings in prepositional extensions in Vietnamese

“…By observing the transition from verbs in series to prepositions in West Africa language, Mandarin and Thai, Lord (1973) argues that 'this pattern of evolution from verb to preposition in serial verb constructions may represent a valid generalisation about human language ' (1973: 293). I will follow Lord (1973), Li and Thompson (1974), Clark (1975) and Sebba (2001) 'He understands very fast' (Srichampa, 1996: 137) In ( Srichampa (1996), Pace (2009), Hanske (2013), as well as some from Q. Đ. Lam (2011, 2014, 2015) do not contain serial verb constructions. I will discuss this issue in Chapter 3 which also deals with confirming the prepositional function of the elements following main verbs.…”

“…As Vietnamese is a language in the mainland of Southeast Asia, it has been hypothesised that serial verb constructions exist in Vietnamese (e.g., Pace, 2009;Hanske, 2013;Q. Đ. Lam, 2011Q.…”