Discuss the difference in argument structure and in verbal...

Discuss the difference in argument structure and in verbal morphology between the pairs of sentences below: a. Malagasy (Austronesian) (Keenan and Polinsky 1999: 604) i. mijaly Rabe suffers Rabe 'Rabe suffers' ii. mampijaly an-dRabe Rasoa makes-suffer A c c-Rabe Rasoa 'Rasoa makes Rabe suffer' b. Chichewa (Niger-Congo) (Mchombo 1999: 506) i. Kalúlú akuphíká maûngu Hare is cooking pumpkins 'The hare is cooking pumpkins' ii. Kalúlú akuphíkíra mkángó maûngo Hare is cooking lion pumpkins 'The hare is cooking pumpkins for the lion'

Discuss the difference in argument structure and in verbal morphology between the pairs of sentences below:
a. Malagasy (Austronesian) (Keenan and Polinsky 1999: 604) i. mijaly Rabe suffers Rabe 'Rabe suffers' ii. mampijaly an-dRabe Rasoa
makes-suffer A c c-Rabe Rasoa
'Rasoa makes Rabe suffer'
b. Chichewa (Niger-Congo) (Mchombo 1999: 506)
i. Kalúlú akuphíká maûngu
Hare is cooking pumpkins
'The hare is cooking pumpkins'
ii. Kalúlú akuphíkíra mkángó maûngo
Hare is cooking lion pumpkins
'The hare is cooking pumpkins for the lion'

Key Concepts

Causative Alternation

Causative alternation is a specific kind of structural change where an intransitive verb, which originally describes an event affecting a single participant, is extended to include an additional causer. This transformation is typically marked by verbal affixes that modify the original verb to reflect a more complex argument structure involving both a patient and a causer.

Benefactive Construction

A benefactive construction introduces a secondary participant who is indirectly affected by the action, such as a beneficiary. Often, languages signal this inclusion through specific morphological changes on the verb, which mark the presence of an extra role in the event structure that is not part of the core subject–object relation.

Argument Structure

This concept refers to the way a verb assigns roles such as agent, patient, and theme to its arguments. It involves understanding how different syntactic elements interact with the verb, particularly when shifts occur as in intransitive versus transitive or causative constructions, where an extra external causer or benefactive role might be introduced.

Verbal Morphology

Verbal morphology encompasses the modifications that occur on the verb—such as affixation or stem changes—to signal differences in meaning or argument structure. These morphological modifications often mark distinctions such as causative versus non-causative forms or indicate the addition of extra participants in the event, thereby linking the form of the verb to its syntactic structure.

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