First Questionnaire on Serial Verb Constructions, Event-Conceptualization and Event Report in Austronesian and Papuan Languages

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\tx Yanparkmpikapikmpiwarkt.
\m ya-n-park-mpi-kapik-mpi-wark-t
\g V-Pl O-3Sg A-split-Seq-break-Seq-tie-Perf
\ft He split them, broke them into pieces and tied them together.

First Questionnaire on "Serial Verb Constructions, Event-Conceptualization and Event Report in Austronesian and Papuan Languages" DFG-Project Miriam van Staden, Gunter Senft MPI for Psycholinguistics PB 310 6500 AH Nijmegen The Netherlands miriam.vanstaden@mpi.nl, gunter@mpi.nl
Instructions Make sure that in your browser caching is enabled. See the manual of your browser. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are compulsary. If these questions are not answered your submission will not be accepted and you will get an error message. It might be necessary to decrease the font size (especially if your screen resolution is set to 800 x 600) in your browser to display the input fields properly. Feel free to use the example fields for additional comment. If the answer to question 7 is 'No' you can skip the questions 8 to 56 and jump to question 57. For further information: Miriam van Staden & Gunter Senft
General information
1a	Surname of the researcher:*
1b	First name or initials of researcher: *
2	E-mail address: *
3a	Address: *
3b	Reveal my address to other contributers of this questionnaire	Never do that I do not mind
4	Name of the language: *
5	Brief description of the language (genetic classification, main typological features, major word classes, switch reference? case marking? etc)
6	References to any (recent) publications on the topic of which we might be unaware?
Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs)
7	Does the language have SVCs? *	Yes No If yes continue with question 8 If no continue with question 57
8	Are you happy with the label 'SVC', either in general or for your specific set of data? Please explain
9	Does the language have nuclear layer serialisation? Show example	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 10
10	Fill in example of 9:
11	Does the language have contiguous and/or non-contiguous SVCs? Show example.	Yes NoUnknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 12.
12	Fill in example of 11:
13	Does the language have core layer serialisation? Show example	Yes NoUnknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 14.
14	Fill in example of 13
15	Does the language have same-subject serialisation? Show example	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 16.
16	Fill in example of 15
17	Does the language have switch subject serial verbs or causative verbs? Show example	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 18.
18	Fill in example of 17
19	Does the language have multiple object serialisation? Show example	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 20.
20	Fill in example of 19
21	Does the language have same object serialisation? (We have included same object serialisation as a theoretical possibility, although we have not yet come across examples in the literature. It would include examples like ‘the fish they caught she cooked’ or ‘the man bought his brother wrecked the car’.)	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 22.
22	Fill in example of 21
23	Does the language have ambient serialisation? This type is defined by Crowley (1987: 49) as "a construction in which a verb is serialised to another verb, but in which there is no specific referent associated with the subject of the serialised verb, and the verb simply describes a general predication". Show example	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 24.
24	Fill in example of 23
25	How is ambient serialisation distinguished from complementation/embedding?
26	Please illustrate with examples:
27	Does the language have conjoined participant serialisation? Show example	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example each in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 28.
28	Fill in example of 27
29	Are there fixed sets of verbs that occur in SVCs?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes which verbs constitute these fixed sets?
30	Fill in example of 29
31	Do they form (a) semantic or formal class(es)?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes In which of the above named types do they occur? Please give examples in 33.
32	Fill in types of SVCs
33	Examples of 31/32
34	Do SVCs constitute kinds of fixed formulae and/or (culture-specific) scenarios? For this type of serialisation, see, for instance Pawley & Lane (1998): ‘From event sequence to grammar’ (Typological Studies in Language 18 Amsterdam: Benjamins) for their description of Kalam, where serial verb constructions describe fixed scenarios, sometimes even involving multiple scenes (p. 202). Show example	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please describe the types of scenes in 35 and please give examples in morpheme-interlinear transcription in 36.
35	Description of 34
36	Fill in example of 34
37	Do you think that there are verbs in SVCs in your language(s) that take on a 'special meaning' when used in an SVC?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes which ones and what do they mean as lexical vs. serial verbs?
38	Fill in example of 37
39	Do the SVCs in your language fulfil grammatical functions For instance the marking of: aspect; temporal, spatial or psychological movement or distance or location; logical relations like cause-and-effect, and purpose; various semantic roles including Instrumental, Dative, Benefactive, Locative, Manner, Comitative, Accusative, Direction, Comparison? - Or do you think that such a kind of function description is actually an artefact based on "translationese"	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please describe the types of scenes and please give examples in morpheme-interlinear transcription.
40	Description of 39
Typical characteristics of SVCs
	Which of the following characteristics apply to the different kinds of SVCs in your language:
41	one sentence intonation contour - no pauses between the conjoined verbs	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
42	conjunctions cannot be placed between the verbs without a 'change in meaning'	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
43	all verbs must be lexical verbs	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
44	all verbs are finite	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
45	modifiers (adverbials, TAM markers, and negation) have scope over the entire SVC	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
46	arguments that do not belong to the first verb can be topicalised or preposed	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
47	the verbs in the SVC share at least one argument	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
48	the meaning of the SVC is not always predictable from the meaning of the individual verbs	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
49	in tail-head linkage the entire SVC must be repeated By tail-head linkage we refer to cases in which the final part of one utterance is repeated as the initial part of the following utterance. Show example	Yes nuclear layer serialisation core layer serialisation same subject serialisation switch subject serialisation same object serialisation multiple object serialisation ambient serialisation conjoined participant serialisation No Unknown/In doubt
50	the SVC describes what the speaker conceptualizes as one 'event'	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes what are your criteria for calling these one event?
51	Criteria of question 50
Other relevant information
52	Can you provide examples for SVCs that are negated?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example in morpheme-interlinear transcription.
53	Fill in example of 52
54	What is the scope of the negation formative in SVCs?
55	Do all the verbs in a SVC take the same TAM verbal affixation?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt if yes please give at least one example in morpheme-interlinear transcription.
56	Fill in example of 55
Does your language make use of the following clause integrating devices:
57	co-ordination	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
58	verb compounding	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
59	subordination	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
60	complementation	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
61	parataxis	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
62	clause chaining	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
63	nominalisation of clauses	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
64	do you find ellipsis in any of these construction types?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt If yes: which?
65	Which ones 64:
66	Does the language have causative verbs, such as 'to make', 'to let', or a rule of causative verb formation?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
67	Fill in example of 66:
68	Is there a (strong) iconicity principle that governs the ordering of events in clauses?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
69	Can co-ordinated constructions encode one event?	Yes No Unknown/In doubt
70	Fill in example of 69:
71	Does the language have multiverb constructions that can be described as encoding a single event? And what suggests this analysis?
72	Thank you very much for your co-operation. Please indicate whether you would like to get mentioned in the acknowledgements of publications that will result from the information obtained with this questionnaire: Yes No
NB Before you submit your answers, note that you will be sent a return mail as a proof of receipt, specifying your answers. If you wish to add or correct information at a later stage, you can do so by filling out this form again or by sending us an email with the updates and the submission code given to you in the return mail.

Examples that will go with some of the above listed questions:
Explanation and example for question 9 Nuclear serialisation. This term was coined by Foley & Olson (1985) and refers to the linkage of two predicates, giving a single transitive construction. Presented in a tree diagram this would look as follows:
Back to question 9		Yimas (Foley 1991: 331) \tx Yanparkmpikapikmpiwarkt. \m ya-n-park-mpi-kapik-mpi-wark-t \g V-Pl O-3Sg A-split-Seq-break-Seq-tie-Perf \ft He split them, broke them into pieces and tied them together.
Explanation and examples for question 11 Contiguous/non-contiguous svcs are distinguished by e.g. Donohue and refer to whether constituents may (non-contiguous) or may not (contiguous) occur between the verbs Back to question 11		contiguous SVC Kilivila (Senft 1986: 41 ) \tx bala abani yena \m ba-la a-bani yena \g 1.Fut-go 1.-fish (with a hook) fish \ft I will go angling non-contiguous SVC Taba (Bowden 1997: 339) \tx Npun bobay npake sandal. \m n-pun bobay n-pake sandal \g 3.Sg-kill mosquito 3.Sg-use thongl \ft He killed the mosquito with a thong.
Example for question 13 Core layer serialisation Core serialisation: Also introduced by Foley * Olson (1985), this term refers to the linkage of predicates plus one or more arguments - typically the linkage of two or more VPs. Included in this type of serialisation would be a structure like the following:
Back to question 13		Paamese (Crowley 1987: 43) \tx Kail amuas vuas emat. \m kaile a-muasi vuasi emate \g 3.Pl 3.Pl-real-hit pig 3.Sg-real-die \ft They hit the pig and it died
Example for question 15 Same-subject serialisation Back to question 15		Taba (Bowden 1997: 339) Npun bobay npake sandal. n-pun bobay n-pake sandal 3.Sg-kill mosquito 3.Sg-use thongl He killed the mosquito with a thong.
Example for question 17 Switch subject SVCs/causative verbs Back to question 17		Paamese (Crowley 1987: 43) Kail amuas vuas emat. kaile a-muasi vuasi emate 3.Pl 3.Pl-real-hit pig 3.Sg-real-die They hit the pig and it died.
Examples for question 19 Multiple object serialisation Back to question 19		Paamese (Crowley 1987: 39) Inau namun sin dal oai. inau na-muni siini dali oai 1sg 1sg-real-drink Gin 3sg-real-accompany water I drank gin with water. Barai (Foley, Olson 1985: 44) fu burede ije sime abe ufu he bread def knife take cut He cut the bread with the knife.
Examples for question 23 In 'ambient serialisation', a term coined by Crowley (1987), one of the predications appears to be an argument (usually the subject) in the other predication. Back to question 23		Paamese (Crowley 1987: 40) kihulin ato kail hemal. ki-huli-nV atoo kaile he-malu 2sg-dis-count-comm/obj chicken pl 3sg-dis-be.correct Count the chickens correctly.
Example for question 27 Conjoined participant serialisation Early (1993: 68, 89) defines this type "for the situation where the subject and the object of the first verb become the combined subject of the second". Back to question 27		Lewo (Early: 1993: 89) ne-mio-la me-pano 1sS-with-3pO 1peS-R.go We went together ("I with them we went").
Example for question 34 Back to question 34		\m Ognap am mgan kti kapkap su d am l-p-al \g sometimes go inside they quietly bite get go put-PERF-3pl \ft Sometimes they go and sneakily burrow out through an escape tunnel.
Example for question 49 Back to question 49		\m una=re jau soma hate ma-jaga ngge una wo-tongo yali \g 3SG.M=here hold ADD tree 3NH.POS-branch 3NH.there 3SG.M 3SG.M.A-break again \ft ‘he held the branch and he broke it again’ \m Ah, tongo yali=ge, ona ngai-rora nde trus soro \g ah break again=there 3PL CLFII-six 3NH.here then fly \ft ‘Breaking it again, the six of them, straightaway, flew away’

First Questionnaire on "Serial Verb Constructions, Event-Conceptualization and Event Report in Austronesian and Papuan Languages"

Instructions

General information