Feature 4. Position of indirect objects (G arguments)
found in question(s): 7, 14a, 14b
Definition and illustration
Indirect objects, referred to as G arguments in alignment typology, are the recipient or addressee argument of a trivalent verb in a ditransitive clause (also sometimes abbreviated as R). Question 7 addresses the relative order of T, G, and V in a neutral, wide-focus context where as question 14 tests for information focus (i.e., word order in answers to content questions). Both questions allow for six different word order possibilities: G-T-V / T-G-V / G-V-T / T-V-G / V-G-T / V-T-G.
Note that the type of alignment and marking plays a crucial role for the word order possibilities in this question (see question 63). For instance, Akan only allows V-G-T order if both G and T remain unmarked:
(1)
a) Mary maa me papa me nwoma.
Mary give.pst 1sg father 1sg book
'Mary gave my father my book.' (V-G-T)
b) *Mary me nwoma maa me papa. (T-V-G)
c) *Mary me papa me nwoma maa. (G-T-V)
d) *Mary me nwoma me papa maa. (T-G-V)
e) *Mary me papa maa me nwoma. (G-V-T)
f) *Mary maa me nwoma me papa. (V-T-G)
However, the serial verb construction lead to a prepositional flag for the T argument which is only possible in T-V-G order:
(2)
a) Mary [de me nwoma] maa me papa.
Mary take 1sg book give.pst 1sg father
'Mary gave my book to my father.' (T-V-G)
b) *Mary maa me papa [de me nwoma]. (V-G-T)
c) *Mary me papa [de me nwoma] maa. (G-T-V)
d) *Mary [de me nwoma] me papa maa. (T-G-V)
e) *Mary me papa maa [de me nwoma]. (G-V-T)
f) *Mary maa [de me nwoma] me papa. (V-T-G)
Similar patterns of positional differential argument marking can be observed in a variety of languages (e.g., the English dative alternation) (see Seržant et al. preprint for a general discussion). For instance, Bwamu has two different patterns, with and without dative postposition. There is thus either neutral alignment (without dative) or indirective alignment (with dative). In both cases, the preferred order is V-T-G but V-G-T is more common without the dative postposition ji. Other orders are impossible.
(3)
a) Mari nõ [ĩ livru] [wã miɛn].
Mary give.pfv 1sg book 1sg.gen father
'Mary gave my book to my father.' (V-T-G)
c) Mari nõ [wã miɛn] [ĩ livru]. (V-G-T)
(145)
a) Mari nõ [ĩ livru] [wã miɛn ji].
Mary give.pfv 1sg book 1sg.gen father dat
'Mary gave my book to my father.' (preferred) (V-T-G)
b) ?Mari nõ [wã miɛn ji] [ĩ livru]. (V-G-T)
Sinitic languages like Mandarin exhibit an especially broad variety of different word order patterns depending on the type of marking.
Correlations
Correlations of the position of G arguments with respect to basic word order are underresearched. But for the sample of contact languages with SVO order addressed in Haspelmath (2013), the following pattern emerges: If the language has a double object construction (no marking for G, neutral alignment), then the word order usually is V-G-T. If, however, the G argument is marked (indirect object construction), the word order normally is V-T-G (see also Heine & König 2010).
References
| Author(s) | Title | Year | Published in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heine, Bernd & Krista König | On the linear order of ditransitive objects. | 2010 | Language Sciences 32: 87-131. |
| Seržant, Ilja, Sergey Say, Andreas Hölzl, Aigul Zakirova, Gao Xinyi & Andreas Pregla | A typology of positional differential argument marking. | preprint | Linguistic Typology. 1-31. |
| Haspelmath, Martin | Order of recipient and theme in ditransitive constructions. | 2013 | In Susanne M. Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath & Magnus Huber (eds.). The atlas of pidgin and creole language structures online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://apics-online.info/parameters/61#2/13.9/10.0 |