The origins of serialization

Françoise Rose (1, 2)

1 DDL - Dynamique Du Langage
2 CELIA - Centre d'Études des Langues Indigènes d'Amérique

This paper gives clear synchronic evidence for the origin of serial verb constructions (SVCs) in Emerillon, a Tupi-Guarani language. SVCs in that language result from a gerundive construction after the loss of both a subordinator and an indexation pattern specific to dependent clauses. After a short review of the general literature on the origins of SVCs and their similarity to converbs (of which Tupi-Guarani gerundives may be considered a subtype), the author gives a detailed account of the Emerillon SVCs. Strong arguments then show that Emerillon serial verbs (superficially comparable to independent verbs) originate from a 'deranked' dependent clause. The paper ends with some discussions on clause linkage, comparing more specifically SVCs and converbs on the morphological, syntactic and functional levels.

Mots clés: Emerillon; Tupi-Guarani; serialization; dependency; diachrony; subordination; indexation; cross-referencing; deranking; serial verb constructions

Domaines: Linguistique

Françoise Rose. The origins of serialization: The case of Emerillon. Studies in Language, 2009, 33 (3), pp.644-684. ⟨halshs-00454661⟩