Ditransitive constructions: Towards a new Role and Reference Grammar account?

Abstract

This paper reviews some of basic argument marking properties of ditransitive constructions and asks how various syntactic frameworks deal with them. In particular, I critically examine two accounts within Role and Reference Grammar (RRG). I lay out a basic typology of three alignment types: indirective alignment, neutral alignment, and secundative alignment. Since the latter is not common in the most widely studied languages, theoretical frameworks have typically had problems with it, including the earlier account within RRG. I argue that the three ditransitive alignment types are parallel to the three monotransitive alignment types (accusative, neutral, ergative), and that it is worth exploring an alternative RRG account that operates with two additional macroroles, R and T, which function much like A and U. In this paper, I will examine the treatment of ditransitive constructions in Role and Reference Grammar and compare it to the perspective on ditransitives that I have developed in earlier work (Haspelmath 2005a, 2007a), as well as to some other formal grammatical frameworks. I will conclude by proposing a fairly radical revision of the standard treatment of ditransitive constructions in rrg (Guerrero & Van Valin 2004; Van Valin 2007).

Syntax encodes information structure: Evidence from on-line reading comprehension

“…This type frequency discrepancy is observed in most of the world's languages that exhibit a dative alternation (Van Valin, 2005). Further, in languages that lack the dative alternation, the PO construction is much more frequently observed than the DO construction (Van Valin, 2005;Haspelmath, 2008). Finally, the PO structure is more congruent with the basic English SVOX word order than the DO structure (Bresnan, personal communication), which may account in part for the increased constraints on the forms of DO structures relative to PO structures (e.g., restrictions on pronominal arguments and on nominalizations; Van Valin, 2005).…”

Estructura argumental en lenguas huarpes: exploraciones diacrónicas y tipológicas

“…El alineamiento se relaciona con la comparación de las propiedades de los argumentos entre diferentes construcciones de una misma lengua (Malchukov y otros 2010: 3). En la tabla 1, basada en Haspelmath (2008Haspelmath ( y 2011 se describen estos argumentos y cómo se entenderán en esta investigación 2 . La discusión sobre los alineamientos tiene una larga tradición en lingüística.…”

Ditransitive constructions in Kashibo-Kakataibo and the non-distinguishable objects analysis

“…For a discussion of the problems of this way of thinking, see the interesting criticisms to what Haspelmath (2008) refers as "the passive privilege principle" and constitutes one of the foundational principles of Role and Reference Grammar. Throughout the paper, the author convincingly argues against the idea that passivization is a "knock-down" criterion for the identification of alignments.…”