Abstract :
[en] This paper, based on first-hand data recorded in the field, focuses on a set of spatial verbal prefixes in the underdescribed language Harakmbut, more specifically the Arakmbut (Amarakaeri) dialect, spoken in the departamentos of Cuzco and Madre de Dios in Peru. Harakmbut is still considered as an unclassified (Amazonian) language (cf. Wise 1999: 307; WALS), although Adelaar (2000) has argued for a genetic link with the Brazilian Katukina family, which may be further linked to Macro-Jê.
The spatial prefixes studied here specify locative or directional circumstances of (participants in) the event denoted by the verb. Examples include ti- (1), which indicates location high up, on-~n- (2), which signals the spatial relation of ‘in’, ‘to’ (Tripp 1976: 8) or ‘on’, and ok-~k- (3), which expresses ‘separation’ (Tripp 1995: 219). While ti- in (1) is valence-neutral, n- in (2) and ok- in (3) increase the valence of the verb.
(1) ken on-ti-pok mboerek-ta
then 3PL-SPAT:UP-pass man-ACC
‘Then they pass the man (who is high up, on a ladder).’ (Pear story)
(2) o-wedn-ato ãnĩ bisikleta o-n-kot
3SG-lie-MOVE&DO FILLER bicycle 3SG-SPAT:ON-fall
‘He falls (literally: ‘moves and lies down’), eh, he falls on his bike.’ (Pear story)
(3) wambo-ta i-mba-uk-i tareʔ men-ok-mbere-me-niŋ-ta
boy-ACC 1SG-VPL-search-1.IND manioc 3PL>1SG-SEPARATION-steal-REC.PST-REL-ACC
‘I am looking for the boys that stole manioc from me.’ (elicitation)
In (1), ti- does not introduce an applied phrase, but specifies the location of the object participant (mboerek-ta). In (2), n- introduces an applied phrase for the intransitive verb root kot ‘fall’ (bisikleta), which is zero-marked, as typical for inanimate object participants of transitive verbs. In (3), finally, ok- promotes the person from whom the boys stole manioc to a core argument registered on the verb (resulting in a portmanteau person prefix, indexing both agent and applied object participant), and thus turns a transitive verb into a three-place predicate (note that ok-~k- does not serve as a general malefactive applicative in Arakmbut). As in (2) and (3) the spatial prefixes introduce a non-actor argument into a main clause, they can be analysed as applicative morphemes (cf. Peterson 2007). In (1), however, the function of the spatial prefix is non-syntactic; it characterizes the object participant in terms of location, just like verbal classifiers – also present in the language – characterize object participants (or subject participants in the case of intransitive verbs) in terms of shape or substance.
This paper aims to determine the conditions for valence-neutral versus valence-changing behaviour of this as yet poorly understood category of spatial prefixes, as well as the range of syntactic and non-syntactic functions associated with them. In the process, it will investigate whether constructions like (2) and (3) are obligatory or optional applicative constructions (cf. Mithun 2002), and it will compare spatial prefixes with non-spatial applicatives (e.g. benefactive and comitative applicatives). Finally, attention will be paid to cases in which (combinations of) spatial prefixes seem to have become fossilized, e.g. (4).
(4) e-ma-ti-on-ka
INF-VPL-SPAT:UP-SPAT:ON-do
‘hunt’
References
Adelaar, Willem (2000), Propuesta de un nuevo vínculo genético entre dos grupos lingüísticos indígenas de la Amazonía occidental: Harakmbut y Katukina, in L. Miranda Esquerre (ed.), (2000), Actas del I Congreso de Lenguas Indígenas de Sudamérica, Lima: U. Ricardo Palma, vol. 2, 219-236.
Mithun, Marianne (2002), Understanding and explaining applicatives, in M. Andronis, C. Ball, H. Elston & S. Neuvel (eds.), (2002), Proceedings of the Thirty-seventh Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society: Functionalism and formalism in linguistic theory, Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, 73–98.
Peterson, David A (2007), Applicative constructions, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tripp, Robert (1976), Los verbos Amarakaeri: Datos Etno-Lingüísticos 33, Lima: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.
Tripp, Robert (1995), Diccionario amarakaeri-castellano, Yarinacocha: Min. de Educación & SIL.
Wise, Mary (1999), Small language families and isolates in Peru, in W. Dixon & A. Aikhenvald (eds.), The Amazonian languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 307-340.
