Ditransitives in Vafsi
در روزهای 23 تا 25 نوامبر سال 2007 میلادی (حدود 5 ماه قبل) کنفرانسی با عنوان "Ditransitive Constructions " در موسسه ماکس پلانک آلمان برگزار شد. یکی از برنامه های این کنفرانس، صحبت های پروفسور دونالد استیلو پیرامون زبان وفسی بود که با عنوان " Ditransitives in Vafsi " به ارائه آن پرداختند.
Ditransitives in Vafsi
Don Stilo
MPI EVA,
Vafsi, an Indo-Eruopean language of the Tati family of NW Iranian, (as opposed to SW Iranian, represented by Persian/Farsi), has two main constructions to indicate the Recipient of Ditransitive verbs. These differ from each other in the type of flagging and in important differences in word order. Both lack any indexing behavior. A third (much less common) construction is only manifested in its indexing of the REC directly in the verb, using the Oblique (or Set2) PAMs. That is, the two flagging types do not share any formal strategies with the indexing type.
1) The Double Object Ditransitive Construction (DOC), found with most Ditransitive verbs, most commonly with ‘give’, lacks an adposition but puts RECs in the Oblique case. The postverbal position of the REC (as opposed to the preverbal Theme) is also a significant (but still optional) feature of the DOC. The following two examples show both inanimate and animate Themes:
æz pul æd-do-m hæsǽn-i. in gulle-y æd-do-m tini no toæn.
I money DUR-give=1SG1 P.N.-OBL.MASC this calf-OBL.MASC DUR-gave=1SG1 he.OBL 9 toman
‘I gave (±the) money to Hassan.’ ‘I’ll give him this calf for 9 tomans (unit of money).’
2) The Indirect Object Construction (IOC), depending on the verb used, takes one of two prepositions, dæ ‘to, on’ (most common with ‘say’), o ‘to, on’ (rare, used occasionally with ‘give’), or the postposition =ra, ‘for/Benefactive, with/Comitative-Instrumental’. Animate RECs with dæ and o require the Oblique case; =ra always requires an Oblique. The REC (and its adposition) is more commonly preverbal with dæ, but may be preverbal or postverbal with the other adpositions.
dæ tawan hic nǽ-r-vaz-e kell-í=san æd-do-nde o in.tini
to we.OBL nothing NEG-DUR-say-3SG1 daughter-OBL.FEM=3PL2 DUR-give-3PL1 to he.OBL
‘He doesn’t tell us anything’ ‘They’ll give (= marry) their (3PL2) daughter to him.’
=ra is used in Ditransitive clauses with a very limited set of verbs (esp. ‘write’ and ‘send’, but also ‘bring’, ‘take’, etc.) The REC with =ra is usually postverbal, occasionally preverbal:
kaqæ æn-nivis-om esdæ=ra.
paper DUR-write-1SG1 you.OBL=for
‘I’ll write you a letter.’
3) In the Oblique PAM Ditransitive Construction (OPD), the Oblique PAM enclitics~prefixes (Set2: 1SG2, 2SG2, 3SG2, 1PL2, etc.) index the REC directly in the verb. One variant of the OPD occurs only with simplex verb roots when no Theme NP is present (rare). The second variant is used with simplex verbs that have an overt Theme (slightly more common) or with the Non-verbal element (NVE) of Light Verbs (very common). The crucial feature of this second variant is that the Set2 PAM prefix obligatorily moves leftwards off the verb and cliticizes to the Theme or the NVE.
No Overt Theme Overt Theme Light Verb Construction
is-ær-vaz-om ketab=es æd-do-m (*is-æd-do-m) nešan=es æd-do-m (*is-æd-do-m)
3SG2-DU-say-1SG1 book=3SG2 du-give-1SG1 sign=1SG2 DUR-give
‘I’ll tell him.’ ‘I’ll give him a book’ ‘I’ll show (it) to him’
In the full paper, I will discuss various optional points, variations, and restrictions within, and the statistics of frequency of, each of the three Ditransitive Constructions. I will also discuss the typology of the three Ditransitive constructions and show both the similarities and the differences between strategies for expressing Recipient vs. Patient/Theme, Goal/Destination (with motion verbs, verbs of placing, etc.), and Benefactive.