Grammatical Relations and their Non-Canonical Encoding in Baltic

380 Pages·2014·3.037 MB·English

by  Axel Holvoet, Nicole Nau

Grammatical Relations
and their Non-Canonical Encoding in Baltic
Valency, Argument Realization and
Grammatical Relations in Baltic (VARGReB)
This series of five volumes is the outcome of a research project coordinated by Vilnius
University, aiming at bundling research efforts of scholars from different countries
in the domain of the Baltic languages (Lithuanian and Latvian). Baltic linguistics has
long been fraught with a strong diachronic bias, but there is now a growing body of
theoretically and typologically informed work on these languages. The series focuses
on a core domain of Baltic grammar, viz. that of clausal architecture, case marking
and grammatical relations, and the syntax-semantic interface. In addition to three
collections of articles the series will also comprise two monographs, dealing with
copular sentences and argument alternations respectively. The first volume to appear
in the series is concerned with non-canonical grammatical relations in Baltic. The
next volumes will deal with a variety of issues in the domain of valency and argu-
ment realization.
For an overview of all books published in this series, please see
http://benjamins.com/catalog/vargreb
Volume 1
Grammatical Relations and their Non-Canonical Encoding in Baltic
Edited by Axel Holvoet and Nicole Nau
Grammatical Relations and their
Non-Canonical Encoding in Baltic
Edited by
Axel Holvoet
University of Warsaw & Vilnius University
Nicole Nau
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań & Vilnius University
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grammatical relations and their non-canonical encoding in Baltic / Edited by Axel Holvoet
and Nicole Nau.
p. cm. (Valency, Argument Realization and Grammatical Relations in Baltic,
issn 2352-0159 ; v. 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Baltic languages--Grammaticalization. 2. Baltic languages--Grammar. 3. Baltic
languages--Case. I. Holvoet, Axel. II. Nau, Nicole.
PG8022.G73 2014
491’.9--dc23 2014000518
isbn 978 90 272 5909 7 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 7039 9 (Eb)
© 2014 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
Table of contents
Preface vii
Argument marking and grammatical relations in Baltic: An overview 1
Axel Holvoet and Nicole Nau
Case and word order in Lithuanian infinitival clauses revisited 43
Peter Arkadiev
Non-canonical grammatical relations in a modal construction:
The Latvian debitive 97
Axel Holvoet and Marta Grzybowska
Alternations in argument realization and problematic cases
of subjecthood in Lithuanian 137
Kristina Lenartaitė-Gotaučienė
Subjecthood in specificational copular constructions in Lithuanian 181
Rolandas Mikulskas
Differential object marking in Latgalian 207
Nicole Nau
The independent partitive genitive in Lithuanian 257
Ilja A. Seržant
On the non-canonical marking of the highest-ranking argument
in Lithuanian and Icelandic: Steps toward a database 301
Björn Wiemer and Valgerður Bjarnadóttir
Language index 363
Name index 365
Subject index 367

Preface
The present volume is the first in a series of five, consisting of three collections
of articles and two monographs, dealing with issues of valency and argument
marking, clausal architecture and grammatical relations, and the syntax-seman-
tics interface in Baltic. This series is the outcome of a research project conducted
by Vilnius University and supervised by the Lithuanian Research Council. It is
financed from the European Social Fund under measure VP1-3.1-ŠMM-07-K
“Support to Research Activities of Scientists and Other Researchers” (also called
the Global Grant Measure), Priority 3 “Strengthening of Capacities of Research-
ers and other Scientists” of the Operational Programme for Human Resources
Development.
The aim of this international research project is to bundle the efforts of schol-
ars from Lithuania and other countries in advancing theoretically and typologi-
cally informed research into the Baltic languages. Baltic scholarship, traditionally
characterized by a strong diachronic bias, is now rapidly evolving, and there is
an increasing interest in the Baltic languages among linguists of the most various
persuasions. We hope that this series will mark a breakthrough in the fruitful ex-
change of ideas between scholars in the Baltics and other countries.
Our warmest thanks are due to the following external reviewers who, in spite
of numerous other commitments, have found time to assist us with their insightful
criticisms and comments: Mirjam Fried, Gerd Hentschel, Agata Kochańska, Ora
Matushansky, Heiko Narrog, Elena Paducheva, and Alena Witzlack-Makarevich.
Wayles Browne, of Cornell University, has kindly agreed to read every ar-
ticle in the volume, and to improve the language of the English manuscripts. In
addition to this, he has made invaluable comments on the contents of the ar-
ticles, which have allowed the authors to avoid many a grievous mistake. Need-
less to say, he cannot be blamed for any of the shortcomings that remain in the
contributions.
Our sincere thanks are also due to the administrative personnel of Vilnius
University for their inconspicuous but efficient technical support, and to the rep-
resentatives of the Lithuanian Research Council for their constructive supervi-
sion of the research project.
The Editors

Argument marking and grammatical
relations in Baltic
An overview
Axel Holvoet*, *** and Nicole Nau**, ***
* University of Warsaw / ** Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań /
*** Vilnius University
1. The project1
The Baltic languages – especially Lithuanian but also Latvian – have figured
prominently in the historical-comparative literature because of their archaic fea-
tures, which make their testimony in many cases no less valuable than that of
Indo-European languages of much older attestation such as Sanskrit and Classi-
cal Greek. A diachronic bias is felt in Baltic scholarship to this very day, whereas
the equally valuable contribution which the Baltic data can make to synchronic
research – both theoretical and empirical – has not yet been fully appreciated.
The situation is changing, however. There is a growing body of theoretically
and typologically informed research into the Baltic languages, which can now no
longer be said to be a neglected province of linguistic scholarship. The series of
publications opened by the present volume has grown out of a research project
aiming at bundling research efforts in a domain in which much interesting work
is being done by scholars from various countries and representing various frame-
works – functional-typological linguistics, Cognitive Grammar, Minimalism, Role
and Reference Grammar and others. This domain can broadly be characterized as
that of clausal architecture, case marking and grammatical relations, and the syn-
tax-semantics interface. Apart from being a convenient common denominator for
1. We wish to thank Peter Arkadiev, Rolandas Mikulskas, Ilja Seržant and Björn Wiemer
for their comments on this introduction. The sole responsibility for its shortcomings rests
with us.