On the Definition and Distribution of Serial Verb Constructions
Eric Schiller · The Knowledge Bank (The Ohio State University) · 1990
Introduction'The term 'Serial Verb Construction' has been applied to a wide range of phenomena, in the literature and even (or perhaps especially) at this conference.In this paper I hope to clarify some definitional points concerning serial verb constructions and In addition provide some explanation of the distribution of serial verb constructions In the languages of the world.To go into the depth necessary to fully explicate the points I wish to make Is not possible in a brief paper, and interested readers may wish to consult my dissertation (Sch!ller 1990d) and related papers (Sch!ller 1989c(Sch!ller, 1990a(Sch!ller , 1990b)).I have made a few changes in my analysis since the conference, thanks to Insightful presentations by Geoff Pullum and Pieter Seuren (this volume), who deserve more than mere footnoted acknowledgement.The first part of the paper will be concerned with the definition of serial verb constructions, or, properly, serial verb phrase constructions.This will include an overview of more than 20 years of work on the question, which might profitably be presented in a volume of papers devoted to serial verbs.The presentation and discussion of these proposals will necessarily be brief.I will conclude by adding my own definition to the heap.Next, I will turn to the distribution of serial verb constructions in the languages of the world, presenting the factors which give rise to such constructions.The paper employs the framework of Autolex!cal Syntax as developed by Jerrold M. Sadock (1985, 1988 to appear), with a few amendments (Sch!ller 1989d(Sch!ller, 1990b)). 2.Defining Serial Verb Constructions Coordinate serial verb constructions which lack a surface conjunction are largely excluded from consideration here.Deictic serials, unjustly neglected to date, despite a few papers cited in Pullum (1990), are those which combine a deictic verb, usually meaning 'come' or 'go', with a verb phrase.These are, in fact, the most frequently encountered serial structure, being present in many languages which otherwise lack serials (see Schiller 1990d: Chapter 3.).Sebba (1987) convincingly distinguishes Subordinating Serial Verb Constructions from Coordinating Serial Verb Constructions, the former showing the following characteristics.