Predicate Actants Valency-controlled by Arabic verbs

Predicate Actants Valency-controlled by Arabic verbs Presented by Dina EL KASSAS Paris VII University, France Miniya University, Egypt dinaelkassas@hotmail.com The Second International AUC OXF Conference on Languages and Linguistics

Overview • Theoretical framework • Syntactic functions • Arabic complex predicate syntactic structure • Conclusion • Perspective

Theoritical Framework Meaning Text Theory Semantic Representation multistratal Deep Syntactic Representation synthesis Surface Syntactic Representation Deep Morphological Representation Surface Morphological Representation

Surface Syntactic Representation (SSyntR) (Part of speech) flexionnel categories surface syntactic relation (SSyntR) (Part of speech) flexionnel categories

Example ʔakala ‘ate’ (V) Voice: active Mode: indicative Tense: past subject dir-obj tuffahat ‘appel’ walad ‘boy’ (N) Def: indef Num: singular (N) Def: def Num: singular ʔakala al+walad+u tuffahat+a+n (V)PAST DEF+(N)+NOM (N)+ACC+INDEF ‘The boy ate an apple.’

Subject Propositional Subject Direct object Indirect object Pseudo object Oblique object I Oblique object II Prépositionnel Agent Quotative complement Attribute Copredicate subject Copredicate object Propositionnel object I Propositionnel object II SSyntRel controlled by verb valency Actancial relations Circonstancial relations • Circonstanciel complement • Circonstanciel aspect complement Other Relations • Adjonctionnel relation • Parenthetic relation • Proleptic relation • Relation of reduplication

Grammaticalised biclausal constructions [V1→V2] (V1) (V) Voice : active Mode : indicative Tense :  Jonction (V2) (V) Voice : active Mode : indicative Tense :  (present)

Some grammaticalised jonctions • Kaana_V • VStatic_V • Vphase_V • VPCU_V • Vmodal_V • Inna_V • V_Vsubordinate

Kaana_V Verbal jonctionnel SSyntRel kaana (V) Voice : active, Mode : indicative, Tense :  Verbal jonctionnel subject (V) (N) (V) Voice : active, Mode : indicative, Tense :  subject (PRO) «[kaana NS1]P1 [V PROS2]P2 » kaana al+ʔatfaal+u jalʕabuun {humu} (V)PAST DEF+(N)PL+NOM (V)PRESENT (PRO) was les enfants play {they} ‘Children was playing.’ (كان الأولاد يلعبون)

Some asyndetic grammaticalised jonctions • Kaana_V • VStatic_V • Vphase_V • VPCU_V • Vmodal_V • Inna_V • V_Vsubordinate

Vstatic_V Attributive SSyntRel ʔamsaa (V) Voice : active, Mode : indicative, Tense :  Attributive subject (V) (N) (V) Voice : active, Mode : indicative, Tense :  subject (PRO) «[ʔamsaa NS1]P1 [V PROS2]P2 » ʔamsaa al+ʔatfaal+u jalʕabuun {humu} (V)PAST DEF+(N)PL+NOM (V)PRESENT (PRO) pass the night les enfants play {they} ‘Children passed the night playing.’ (أمسى الأولاد يلعبون)

Vstatic_V Other examples asbaha al+ʔawlaad+u jalʕabuun {humu} (V)PAST DEF+(N)+NOM (V)PRESENT {PRO} pass the morning children play {they} Økaana al+ʔawlaad+u jalʕabuun {humu} kaana al+ʔawlaad+u jalʕabuun {humu} adhaaal+ʔawlaad+u jalʕabuun {humu} baataal+ʔawlaad+u jalʕabuun {humu}

Vstatic_V A particularity of kaana kaana (V) Voice : active, Mode : indicative, Tense :  kaana al+ʔawlaad+u jamsuun {humu} jalʕabuun {humu} ‘Children was spending night playing.’ (كان الأولادُ يمسون يلعبون) Verbal jonctionnel subject (V) (N) (V) Voice : active, Mode : indicative, Tense: present subject attributive (V) (PRO) (V) Voice : active, Mode : indicative, Tense: present subject (PRO) «[kaana NS1]P1 [Static Verb PROS2]P2 [V PROS3]P3 »

Vphase_V Phase verbs in Traditional arabic grammar (TAD) I • TAD mixed together sixteen verbs under the name of kaada and its sisters (كاد وأخواتها). These verbs are categorised also as incompleteverbs (أفعال ناقصة). They are also called verbs of approximation and strarting. (أفعال المقاربة والشروع). • According to the traditional analyse, this group of verbs governed an ʔism ‘a substantive’ in the nominative case and a propositional χabar. The syntactic head of the so-called χabar is a verb in present tense, governing a subjective pronoun corefering with the ʔism.That mean that these verbs has a predicate syntactic actant.

Vphase_V Phase verbs in Traditional arabic grammar (TAD) II • According to their semantic, these verbs are subdivised to: • Inchoative verbs : e.g.badaʔa, ʔaχaða and qaama • Evaluative verbs: e.g. kaada, a∫rafa, karuba et aw∫aka ‘nearly’, ‘almost’. • Verbs expressing the desir that an action occur when the opposite is apprehended: e.g.ʕasaa, harij, uχlawlaq ‘on the condition that/ hoping that’.

(V) (V) (V) subj dir-obj dir-obj dir-obj (N) ʔan masdar (PREP) (CONJ) (Nmasdar) conj-sub prepositionnel masdar (V2) (V)SUBJ (Nmasdar) subject (PRO) Vphase_V Direct-objectival SSyntReland phase verbs A phase verb may governed one of the following syntactic structures:

Vphase_V But inchoative verbs governed also this construction

Vphase_V The [V1→V2] and inchoative verbs • Object complement relation ʔaχaða = ‘start’ (V1)Voice : active Mode : indicative Tense : past subject dir-obj-propositionnel 1 zajd juðaakiru = ‘study’ (N) (V2)Voice : active Mode : indicative Tense : present subject (PRO) ʔaχaða zajd+u+n juðaakiru {huwa} (V)PAST (N)+NOM+INDEF (V)PRESENT start Zayd study {he} ‘Zayd start studying.’ (اخذ زيدٌ يذاكر)

Vphase_V Another Example ʔaqbala1 | qaama1 al+ʔawlaad+u jaʕmaluun {humu} (V)PAST DEF+(N)+NOM (V)PRESENT Start children work (they) ‘Children start working.’ (أقبل | قام الأولاد يعملون) vs ʔaqbala2 | qaama2 al+ʔawlaad+u (V)PAST DEF+(N)+NOM Came nearer | stand up children ‘Children came nearer |stant up.’ (أقبل| قام الأولاد)

VPCU_V Valency of PCU verbs Verbe PCU • By PCU verbs, we refere to the group named zanna ‘estimate’ and its sisters (ظن وأخواتها) and the group called ʔaraa ‘see’ and its sisters (أرى وأخواتها). (V) Voice: x Mode: y, Tense: z dir-obj propositionnel 2 (V2) (V) Voix: indicative Mode: y’, Tense: z’ prolepse (PRO) ʔanna (PREPé) Prep-evidentiality (N)

VPCU_V The construction [V1→V2] and PCU verbs • Direct-object complement hasiba hasiba (V1) (V1) Dir-obj-prop2 Dir-obj-prop2 ʔanna juðaakiru (V2) (V2) subject Dir-obj copredicate prolepse juðaakiru walad (PRO) (V3) ʔanna (PRO) (N)PL, DEF (PRO) prep-evidentiality walad (N)PL, DEF hasiba zajd+u+n ʔanna al+ʔawlaad+ajuðaakiruun {humu} (V)PAST (N)+NOM+INDEF (PREPe) DEF+(N)+ACC (V)PRESENT (PRO) thought Zayd about children study {they} ‘Zayd thought children was studying.’ (حسب زيد أن الأولاد يذاكرون)

Some asyndetic grammaticalised jonctions • Kaana_V • VStatic_V • Vphase_V • VPCU_V • Vmodal_V • V_Vsubordinate • Inna_V

Vmodal_V Objective-copredicative SSyntR taraktu (V)ind, past subject dir-obj obj-copred ʔanaa walad laʕiba (PRO)1,SG (N,masc) PL,DEF (V)ind, present subject huwa (PRO) taraktu {ʔanaa} al+ʔawlaad+a jalʕabuun {humu} (V1)PAST DEF+(N)+ACC (V2)PRESENT left {I} les enfants play {they} ‘I left children playing.’ (تركت الأولادُ يلعبون)

A particular subordinated construction ðaakir = ‘study’ (V1)Voice : active Mode : imperative subject cicronstancial ʔanta tanʤaha = ‘success’ (N) (V2)Voice : active Mode : imperative subject ʔanta ðaakir {ʔanta} tanʤaha {ʔanta} (V)Imperative (V)Imperative ‘If you study you will success.’ ‘Study to success.’ (ذاكر تنجح)

Another example:An indirect speech [saʔaltu#hu {ʔanaa}]P1 [maaðaa juriidu{huwa}]P2 (V1)PAST#(PRO) (ADV) (V2)PRESENT asked#him {I} what wants {he} ‘I asked him what did he want.’ ‘Je lui ai demandé ce qu’il voulait.’ (سألته ماذا يريد)

ʔinna’s groupverb or a preposition inna (V) ((V)ind, past prolepse subject copredicate dir-obj inna (V) (N) (PRO) (PRO) (PREPe) prep-evidential (PRO) (N) case = accusative ʔinna {huwa} al+ʔawlaad+a ʔakaluu {humu} al+tuffaah+a (kaʔanna | laʕalla) al+ʔawlaad+a ʔakaluu {humu} al+tuffaah+a

Conclusion • Predominance of parataxis aspect in arabic • Particular interpropositionnel syntactic relation

Perspective • An exhaustive inventory of verbs admitting a finite verb as a syntactic actant. • More studies about the parataxis aspect of arabic language.

Thank you

Predicate Actants Valency-controlled by Arabic verbs