Serial Verb Constructions

Abstract

In a serial verb construction (SVC), two or more verbs combine in a single clause without any morphosyntactic marking of linking or subordination. How ever, the way this description is interpreted and diagnosed by different linguists is a continual source of controversy. There are often different assumptions about the nature of verbhood and clausehood, as well as disagreements over how to in terpret morphosyntactic marking in particular languages. Despite the fuzzy nature of the category, SVCs are commonly found to have similar functions in many lan guages, for example, expressing closely linked sequences of events, directional and prior motion, concurrent aspects of a single event such as posture alongside another activity, as well as being used to express particular semantic roles or to express as pectual meaning. The morphosyntactic complexity and diversity found in SVCs continues to challenge conceptions of the clause assumed in both generative and comparative approaches to syntax.