Bohnemeyer 2004: Split Intransitivity in Yukatek Maya #
@cite{bohnemeyer-2004}
Split intransitivity in Yukatek Maya is governed by event structure — specifically the distinction between internally- and externally-caused events — rather than by lexical aspect alone (contra @cite{kraemer-wunderlich-1999}).
Core Claims #
Three semantic information structures: event structure, participant structure, and lexical aspect. Event structure partially determines both; linking rules operate on event structure directly.
Internal causation determines transitivization type: internally-caused bases → applicative -t (add applied object as U); externally-caused bases → causative -s (add instigator as A).
Linking-by-viewpoint: imperfective aspect aligns with the head of the causal chain (accusative default); perfective aligns with the tail (ergative default).
Against Aspect-Based Linking #
@cite{kraemer-wunderlich-1999} propose lexical aspect as the sole linking-relevant property. Two classes of counterevidence:
- Degree achievements (grow, darken): aspectually like processes (atelic) but transitivize like state-change verbs (causative pattern).
- Non-internally-caused active verbs (roll, buzz): same stem class and aspect as internally-caused actives (work, play) but show causative linking under transitivization.
Position in the causal chain of subevents. A complex event decomposes into subevents ordered in a causal chain. Thematic relations are projected from this chain.
- head : CausalChainPosition
- tail : CausalChainPosition
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Thematic hierarchy from causal chain position. rule (31): participant of a causing subevent outranks participant of the caused subevent.
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- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.outranks x✝¹ x✝ = false
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Which end of the causal chain provides the linking default. §7 rule (32):
- Imperfective viewpoints align with the initial (causing) subevent → the highest-ranking role defines the default → accusative pattern.
- Perfective viewpoints align with the final (caused) subevent or the chain as a whole → the lowest-ranking role defines the default → ergative pattern.
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- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.linkingDefault Semantics.Tense.Aspect.Core.ViewpointAspectB.imperfective = Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.CausalChainPosition.head
- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.linkingDefault Semantics.Tense.Aspect.Core.ViewpointAspectB.perfective = Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.CausalChainPosition.tail
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Under linking-by-viewpoint, which marker set does the sole argument (S) of an intransitive receive?
- Head default (imperfective): S patterns with A → set-A
- Tail default (perfective): S patterns with U → set-B
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- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.sMarkerFromViewpoint Semantics.Tense.Aspect.Core.ViewpointAspectB.imperfective = Fragments.Mayan.MarkerSet.setA
- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.sMarkerFromViewpoint Semantics.Tense.Aspect.Core.ViewpointAspectB.perfective = Fragments.Mayan.MarkerSet.setB
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The linking-by-viewpoint mechanism derives the Yukatek split: perfective status → ergative (set-B), imperfective → accusative (set-A). This matches the observed pattern in the fragment.
Type of transitivization operation, determined by the causation type of the intransitive base (§6, rules 26–27).
- applicative : TransitivizationType
- causative : TransitivizationType
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The causation type of the intransitive base determines which transitivization operation applies.
rules (26)–(27):
- Internally caused base (sing, walk, play): -t applicative, adding an applied object. The original S keeps its position.
- Externally caused base (die, fall, roll): -s causative, adding an instigator as A. The original S is reassigned to U.
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Under applicative transitivization, the added participant is linked to U (set-B) and the original S keeps A (set-A). Under causative transitivization, the added instigator takes A (set-A) and the original S moves to U (set-B).
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Predict transitivization for a Yukatek verb from its causation type.
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"work" (internally caused active) → applicative transitivization. ex. (4): Túun meyah ich u=kòol → 'He's working on his milpa' Túun meyah-t-ik u=kòol → 'He's making his milpa'
"play" (internally caused active) → applicative. ex. (5).
"die" (inactive, externally caused) → causative. ex. (6): Túun kim-il Pedro → 'Pedro's dying' Juan=e' túun kim-s-ik Pedro → 'Juan is killing Pedro'
"fall" (inactive, externally caused) → causative. ex. (7).
"roll" (active class but externally caused) → causative transitivization. Despite being an active verb (same stem class as "work"), balak' shows causative linking because its base is not internally caused. ex. (10), (22): the original S is linked to U, and the added participant is the instigator linked to A.
"buzz" (active class but externally caused) → causative. ex. (11).
All positional verbs transitivize with causative linking, since they denote externally-caused state changes at the event-structure level. Control is a participant-structure property, not an event-structure one. ex. (25), §6.
Degree achievements are event-structurally state changes, not processes, even though they behave atelically.
§5: ka'n 'get tired' passes state-change diagnostics (resultative -a'n, universal quantifier láah) despite being atelic in the realization-under-cessation test.
Degree achievements transitivize like state-change verbs (causative), not like process verbs.
This is the first direct counterevidence against @cite{kraemer-wunderlich-1999}'s aspect-based linking: rule (14) predicts applicative for degree achievements (since they are [-perf] bases), but they exclusively causativize. ex. (21).
Active verbs are processes regardless of causation type.
All non-active intransitive classes are state changes.
The process/state-change distinction is orthogonal to causation type for active verbs: both internally-caused (meyah) and externally-caused (balak') actives are processes, but they differ in transitivization.
This is the core argument of: linking under transitivization depends on causation type, not event type or aspect.
Conversely, verbs with the same causation type but different stem classes get the same transitivization — because it is causation, not class membership, that determines linking.
kim (inactive) and balak (active) are both externally caused → both causativize.
hàan "eat" is inactive by stem class but internally caused. ex. (9): hàan takes applicative -t (not causative -s), exactly as predicted by internal causation.
This directly refutes stem-class-based linking: if stem class determined transitivization, hàan (inactive) would causativize like kim "die". Instead, it applicativizes like meyah "work".
hàan patterns with internally-caused active verbs, not with its own (inactive) stem class, for transitivization.
hàan and kim are both inactive but get different transitivization because they differ in causation type.
Internal causation corresponds to the Proto-Agent "causation" entailment in @cite{dowty-1991}'s framework: an internally-caused event has a participant who causes (instigates) the event.
§2: internal causation is "closely correlated with the properties of control and agentivity."
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- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.CausationType.impliesCausationEntailment Semantics.Lexical.Verb.EventStructure.CausationType.internal = true
- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.CausationType.impliesCausationEntailment Semantics.Lexical.Verb.EventStructure.CausationType.external = false
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Internally caused verbs predict a Proto-Agent subject (has causation entailment); externally caused verbs predict a Proto-Patient subject (lacks causation entailment). This connects Bohnemeyer's event-structure analysis to Dowty's ASP.
Detransitivization type in Yukatek, from rules (28)–(30).
- Antipassive (rule 28): removes the caused event, retaining the causing process. Active intransitives inflect like antipassive stems.
- Anticausative (rule 29): removes the causing event, retaining the caused state/change. Inactive intransitives inflect like anticausative stems.
- Passive (rule 30): like anticausative but adds PROC_C and instigator to the caused event.
- antipassive : DetransitivizationType
- anticausative : DetransitivizationType
- passive : DetransitivizationType
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Map Yukatek detransitivization to the general intransitivization
typology from MorphologicalCausation.lean. Anticausatives remove
the external cause (monoeventive); antipassives retain it.
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- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.DetransitivizationType.anticausative.toGeneral = Semantics.Causation.MorphologicalCausation.IntransitivizationType.anticausative
- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.DetransitivizationType.antipassive.toGeneral = Semantics.Causation.MorphologicalCausation.IntransitivizationType.unmarked
- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.DetransitivizationType.passive.toGeneral = Semantics.Causation.MorphologicalCausation.IntransitivizationType.anticausative
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Active transitive stems detransitivize like antipassive; inactive transitive stems detransitivize like anticausative or passive. ex. (12): p'eh "chip" → antipassive p'èeh, passive p'e'h-el, anticausative p'éeh-el.
Detransitivization as a template-level operation. rules (28)–(30) decompose detransitivization in terms of which subevent is retained:
- Antipassive: retain the causing process → accomplishment → activity
- Anticausative: retain the caused change → accomplishment → achievement
- Passive: like anticausative but adds PROC_C + instigator (same template output as anticausative, with additional participant structure)
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- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.DetransitivizationType.antipassive.templateResult = some Semantics.Lexical.Verb.EventStructure.Template.activity
- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.DetransitivizationType.anticausative.templateResult = some Semantics.Lexical.Verb.EventStructure.Template.achievement
- Phenomena.Ergativity.Studies.Bohnemeyer2004.DetransitivizationType.passive.templateResult = some Semantics.Lexical.Verb.EventStructure.Template.achievement
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Antipassive yields a process (activity); anticausative/passive yield a state change (achievement). This connects to the event type distinction that governs verb class membership.
Anticausative template result matches Template.intransitiveVariant
from EventStructure.lean: both yield achievement from accomplishment.
All externally-caused manner-of-motion verbs causativize, regardless of their active stem class.
Additional positional verbs causativize (externally caused).
Degree achievements in the inactive class causativize despite lacking discrete end states — additional evidence beyond ka'n and na'k.
The linking-by-viewpoint mechanism derives the same alignment
as the SplitErgativity system parameterized by status category.
Yukatek's split is aspect-conditioned, like Hindi and Georgian. All three use perfective → ergative, imperfective → accusative (modulo language-specific factor types).