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Verb Forms inside Verb Forms.The Case of the Modern SpokenGeorgian Pro-Verbs
Nino Amiridze
Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTS
Trans 103512 JK Utrecht
The Netherlands
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.1/2
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Abbreviations
AOR = aorist (simple past)
DAT = dative
DO3 = 3rd person direct object
ERG = ergative
IO1 = 1st person indirect object
IO3 = 3rd person indirect object
NOM = nominative
PPART = past participle
PRV = pre-radical vowel
PV = preverb
S1 = 1st person subject
S3 = 3rd person subject
SG = singular
TS = thematic suffix (stem formant).
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.2/2
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Verbal Prefixes
The order of prefixes in a Georgian verb form is fixed.
However, it is not necessary for them to be realizedsimultaneously:
Preverb-Agreement.Prefix-Pre.Radical.Vowel-Root
Preverbs express perfectivity and in movement verbs additionally direction in space andorientation towards or away from the 1st/2nd person.
The slot for agreement prefix can be occupied by subject as well as object markers.
Pre-radical vowels act as valency changing affixes.
In finite verb forms nothing can interfere between theprefixes, be put immediately before the preverb or
immediately after the pre-radical vowel.
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.3/2
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Non-Canonical Prefix
Modern spoken Georgian has developed special
constructs which display a pronominal element imas-immediately preceding the agreement prefix:
Preverb-imas-Agreement.Prefix-Pre.Radical.Vowel-
Example 1
(man) (me) (is) gada-imas-m-i-kn-a
(s)he.ERG I.DAT it.NOM PV-imas-IO1.SG-PRV-do-S3.SG.AOR
He VERBed it for me from one place/thing into another"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.4/2
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Non-Canonical Prefix
The pronominal element imas- is a DAT form of the distal
demonstrative pronoun:Example 2
me imas a-v-i--eb da ara amas
I.NOM that.DAT PV-S1.SG-PRV-take-TS and not this.DAT
I will take that [one] but not this [one]"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.5/2
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Proforms
Such constructs as gada-imas-m-i-kn-a in Example 1 act as
proforms and are able to replace lexical verb forms. Forinstance, gada-imas-m-i-kn-a in Example 1 can replace the
verb forms in Example 3 and Example 4:
Example 3(man) (me) (is) gada-m-i-qar-a
(s)he.ERG I.DAT it.NOM PV-IO1.SG-PRV-throw.away-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he threw it away for me"
Example 4
(man) (me) (is) gada-m-i-c. er-a
(s)he.ERG I.DAT it.NOM PV-IO1.SG-PRV-copy-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he copied it for me"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.6/2
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Prescriptivists against the Proforms
The proforms are used when one has accidentally
forgotten or avoids mentioning the exact lexical verb form.There are the following concerns expressed byprescriptivists:
(i) The proforms are a sign of being less literate school children and teenagers
with relatively poor performance and possibly with learning problems may turn in
oral discourse to more using the proforms instead of the rich lexical resources.
Thus, the proforms impoverish the language.
(ii) The proforms are a sign of being rude sometimes proforms are inserted in
some inappropriate expressions to avoid the use of the lexical verb form.
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.7/2
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However...
However, the forms like 1 are not characteristic exclusively
for the speakers of certain age, gender and/or social class.They can be used by anyone, including an educated
speaker.
Also, it is not necessary at all the context to be aninappropriate expression. The proforms are used when an
utterer avoids mentioning a lexical verb form by some
reason.
In any case the proforms do reach the hearers sharing the
knowledge of the context with the utterer.
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.8/2
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Thematic Structure Can Vary
It is crucial that a single proform can be used as a
substitute for verbs of very different thematic structureranging from weather verbs to prototypical 3-argument
verbs.
For instance, Example 5 is used as a substitute for any of
Example 6.
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.9/2
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Thematic Structure Can Vary
Example 5
imas--kn-aimas-DO3.SG-do-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he VERBed it"
Example 6
a. i-c. vim-a b. da-e-c-a c. i-tir-a
PRV-rain-S3.SG.AOR PV-PRV-fall-S3.SG.AOR PRV-cry-S3.SG.AO
It rained" (S)he/it fell down" (S)he cried"
d. a--a-g-o e. mi-h-qid-a
PV-DO3.SG-PRV-build-S3.SG.AOR PV-IO3.SG-sell-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he build it" (S)he sold it to him/her"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.10/2
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The Status ofimas- in the Proforms
imas- cannot be a clitic:
The pronominal element imas- in the proform imas--kn-a(cf. 5) is in DAT. The verb form -kn-a (cf. 7), on which the
proform in 5 is based, does not take a DAT argument:
Example 7(man) is / *imas -kn-a
(s)he.ERG that.NOM that.DAT DO3.SG-do-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he did that"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.11/2
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The Status ofimas- in the Proforms
imas- cannot be an incorporated material:
In Georgian an incorporated material is put immediatelybefore the preverb (cf. 8). However, as 1 illustrates, imas-
does not occur immediately before the preverb.
Example 8sul-ga-qid-ul-i / *ga-sul-qid-ul-i murman-i
soul-PV-sell-PPART-NOM PV-soul-sell-PPART-NOM Murman-NOM
Murman having sold his soul"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.12/2
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The Status ofimas- in the Proforms
Further, incorporation occurs in Georgian only with non-
finite verb forms (cf. 8), never with finite forms (cf. 9a):Example 9
a. *murman-ma sul-ga--qid-a
Murman-ERG soul-PV-DO3.SG-sell-S3.SG.AORb. murman-ma sul-i ga--qid-a
Murman-ERG soul-NOM PV-DO3.SG-sell-S3.SG.AOR
Murman sold his soul"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.13/2
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On How the Substitution Works
The proforms can substitute a lexical verb form if the
grammatical features of the two match while argumentstructure can vary.
For instance, imas--kn-a (5), based on the verb form -kn-a
having a 3rd person subject marker (7), can only substitute
the verb forms taking a 3rd person (6) but not the 1st person
subject argument (10).
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.14/2
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On How the Substitution Works
Example 10
a. da-v-e-c-i b. v-i-tir-ePV-S1.SG-PRV-fall-AOR S1.SG-PRV-cry-AOR
I fell down" I cried"
c. mo-v-k. al-i d. mi-v-qid-e
PV-S1.SG-kill-AOR PV-S1.SG-sell-AOR
I killed him/her/it" I sold it to him/her"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.15/2
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On How the Substitution Works
Similarly, the proforms with a certain preverb cannot be
used as a substitute for verb forms having another preverb(cf. 11 used for replacing 12 but not 13).
Example 11
(me) (is) gada-imas-v-ken-i
I.ERG it.NOM PV-imas-S1.SG-do-AOR
I VERBed it from one place/thing into another"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.16/2
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On How the Substitution Works
Example 12
(me) (is) gada-v-a-k. et-eI.ERG it.NOM PV-S1.SG-PRV-do/make-AOR
I made it into something else"
Example 13
(me) (is) e-v-a-k. et-e
I.ERG it.NOM PV-S1.SG-PRV-do/make-AOR
I repaired it"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.17/2
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On How the Substitution Works
Also, if a proform is in Aorist Indicative it cannot substitute
a verb form in Future Indicative (cf. 5 used for any ofExample 6 but for none of Example 14):
Example 14
a. i-c. vim-eb-s b. da-e-c-em-a c. i-tir-eb-s
PV-rain-TS-S3.SG PV-PRV-fall-TS-S3.SG PRV-cry-TS-S3.SG
It will rain" (S)he/it will fall" (S)he will cry"
d. a--a-g-eb-s e. mi-h-qid-i-s
PV-DO3.SG-PRV-build-TS-S3.SG PV-IO3.SG-sell-TS-S3.SG(S)he will build it" (S)he will sell it to him/her"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.18/2
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Less Specific Less Restricted
The less grammatical information coded in the proforms
the less restricted they are. The proform imas--kn-a (5)with the 3rd person subject marker -a can replace the
forms with the subject marker (cf. 6b-e) but also those with
an additional benefactive argument marker (cf. 15):Example 15
a. da-m-e-c-a b. m-i-tir-a
PV-IO1.SG-PRV-fall-S3.SG.AOR DO3.SG-PRV-cry-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he/it fall on me" (S)he mourned me"
c. a-m-i-g-o d. mo-m-qid-a
PV-IO1.SG-PRV-build-S3.SG.AOR PV-IO1.SG-sell-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he build it for me" (S)he sold it to me"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.19/2
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More Specific More Restricted
The more grammatical information coded in the proforms
the more restricted they are. For instance, the proformimas-m-i-kn-a (16) with the agreement markers for the
subject and the benefactive arguments, respectively -a and
m-, can only replace the forms with both agreementmarkers in Example 15 but none of those lacking m- in
Example 6b-e.
Example 16imas-m-i-kn-a
imas-IO1.SG-PRV-do-S3.SG.AOR
(S)he VERBed it for/to me"
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.20/2
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Variation in the Form of Proforms
Apart from the form gada-imas-v-ken-i in Example 11 there
is another proform of a similar use (cf. 17 replacing 12):Example 17
gada-v-a-imas-v-ken-i
PV-S1.SG-PRV-imas-S1.SG-do-AOR
I VERBed it from one place/thing into another"The complex proform gada-v-a-imas-v-ken-i (Example 17) is
a puzzle because it contains a combination of morphemes
not found elsewhere in Georgian. The first person subjectis registered as v- twice in the same verb form once in
the position before the root -ken, and again just after the
preverb gada-.
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.21/2
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Proforms inside Other Proforms
The sequence of morphemes -imas-v-ken-i is treated by the
complex proform gada-v-a-imas-v-ken-i as a stem. However,what seems to be formally a stem can itself serve as a
proform (cf. 18) and substitute any of the verb forms in 10.
Example 18imas-v-ken-i
imas-S1.SG-do-AOR
I VERBed it"
Example 17 illustrates a proform imas-v-ken-i (18) within acomplex proform [gada-v-a-[imas-v-ken-i]].
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.22/2
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What Do the Proforms Actually Replace?
The proforms like imas--kn-a (5) or imas-v-ken-i (18) may
look like a do itanaphor because imas- is a pronominal
element and the verbal elements --kn-a (5), -v-ken-i (18),
taken separately, are verb forms (cf. 7, 19) with the root
originally meaning to do".Example 19(me) (is) v-ken-i
I.ERG it.NOM S1.SG-do-AOR
I did it"
However, the proforms do not serve as a VP test like do it"
serves for English (cf. Tom threw a ball. Harry did it too.).
They, in fact, replace a verb together with its argument(s).
Nino Amiridze. Verb Forms inside Verb Forms. 11th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 14-17, 2004 p.23/2
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What Do the Proforms Actually Replace?
Namely, the proforms replace
(i) a verb and a theme argument in unaccusatives (cf. 5 used for 6b)
(ii) a verb and an agent argument in unergatives (cf. 5 used for 6c)
(iii) a verb and both arguments in transitives (cf. 5 used for 6d, 11 used for 12)
(iv) a verb and all the three arguments in di-transitives (cf. 5 used for 6e, 1 used for 3
and 4).
Therefore, the proforms in fact replace not just the VP but
an IP and serve as an IP test.
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