Feature 22. Serial verb construction
found in question(s): 55
Definition and illustration
Serial verb constructions (SVC) are defined as "a monoclausal series consisting of multiple independent verbs with no element linking them and with no predicate argument relation between the verbs" (Haspelmath 2016). Examples can be found in Thai or Mandarin:
(1) Thai
chǎn nâŋ rótmee pay sʉ́ʉ nǎŋsʉ̌ʉ.
I sit bus go buy book
I take a bus to go and buy books.
(2) Mandarin
wǒ zuò chē qù mǎi shū.
1SG sit car go buy book
I take a bus to go and buy books.
Correlations
Ross (2021: 243) finds a (weak) bidirectional correlation between SVO word order and the presence of serial verb constructions. Note that converbs (i.e., overtly marked dependent forms of verbs) correlate with SOV order instead (question 56). While Mandarin has the SVC seen above, some Sinitic languages like Linxia Chinese that changed from SVO to SOV word order also developed converbs (e.g., Hölzl preprint).
References
| Author(s) | Title | Year | Published in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haspelmath, Martin | The serial verb construction: Comparative concept and cross-linguistic generalizations. | 2016 | Language and Linguistics 17: 291-319. |
| Hölzl, Andreas | Postnominal flagging and OV in Sinitic: Areal and typological perspectives. | preprint | Studies in Language 49. |
| Ross, Daniel | Pseudocoordination, serial verb constructions and multi-verb predicates: The relationship between form and structure. | 2021 | University of Illinois. (Doctoral dissertation.) |