Abaza Applicatives

Abstract

The applicative is a construction in which a verb bears a particular morpheme which licenses an oblique, or non-core, argument that would not otherwise be considered a part of the verb's argument structure. Abaza, a Northwest Caucasian language, has an applicative construction which differs systematically from applicative constructions reported in many other languages. The properties of the Abaza applicative construction include the ability of both transitive and intransitive verbs to host applicative prefixes, the stability of the underlying argument structure despite the presence of applicatives (i.e. the underlying direct object is not demoted to an oblique argument), the ability of a single verb complex to host multiple applicatives, and the use of additional agreement morphology in the verbal complex corresponding to applied object(s), beyond the normal agreement requirements of the verb. This paper attempts to present a thorough description of the applicative construction in Abaza, as well as a brief analysis along the lines of Baker (1988).

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