Dechticaetiative language
Encyclopedia
A dechticaetiative language is a language in which the indirect objects of ditransitive verb
s are treated like the direct objects of monotransitive verb
s. Etymologically, the first morpheme of the term comes from Greek dekhomai "to take, receive"; the second is obscure, but it is remotely possible it derives from kaitoi "further, indeed". The term was first introduced by Dr. Edward L. Blansitt, Jr. A more current term for the same phenomenon is secundative language
.
Ditransitive verbs have two arguments other than the subject: a patient that undergoes the action and a recipient or beneficiary that receives the patient (see thematic role
). In a dechticaetiative language, the recipient of a ditransitive verb is treated in the same way as the single object of a monotransitive verb, and this syntactic category is called primary object. The patient of a ditransitive verb is treated separately and called secondary object.
In dechticaetiative languages with passive
constructions, passivation promotes the primary object to subject.
Most dechticaetiative languages are found in Africa
, but English
arguably contains dechticaetiative constructions, traditionally referred to as dative shift
. For example, the passive of the sentence John gave Mary the ball is Mary was given the ball by John, in which the recipient rather than the patient is promoted to subject. This is complicated by the fact that some dialects of English may promote either the recipient (Mary) or the patient (the ball) argument to subject status, and for these dialects The ball was given Mary by John (meaning that the ball was given to Mary) is also well-formed.
Ditransitive verb
In grammar, a ditransitive verb is a verb which takes a subject and two objects which refer to a recipient and a theme. According to certain linguistics considerations, these objects may be called direct and indirect, or primary and secondary...
s are treated like the direct objects of monotransitive verb
Monotransitive verb
A monotransitive verb is a verb that takes two arguments: a subject and a single direct object. For example, the verbs buy, bite, break, and eat are monotransitive in English.Verbs are categorized in terms of transitivity A monotransitive verb is a verb that takes two arguments: a subject and a...
s. Etymologically, the first morpheme of the term comes from Greek dekhomai "to take, receive"; the second is obscure, but it is remotely possible it derives from kaitoi "further, indeed". The term was first introduced by Dr. Edward L. Blansitt, Jr. A more current term for the same phenomenon is secundative language
Secundative language
A secundative language is a language in which the indirect objects of ditransitive verbs are treated like the direct objects of monotransitive verbs. This language type was called dechticaetiative in an article by Edward L. Blansitt, Jr., but that term did not catch on...
.
Ditransitive verbs have two arguments other than the subject: a patient that undergoes the action and a recipient or beneficiary that receives the patient (see thematic role
Thematic role
Thematic role is a linguistic notion, which may refer to:* Theta role * Thematic relation...
). In a dechticaetiative language, the recipient of a ditransitive verb is treated in the same way as the single object of a monotransitive verb, and this syntactic category is called primary object. The patient of a ditransitive verb is treated separately and called secondary object.
In dechticaetiative languages with passive
Passive voice
Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
constructions, passivation promotes the primary object to subject.
Most dechticaetiative languages are found in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, but English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
arguably contains dechticaetiative constructions, traditionally referred to as dative shift
Dative shift
Dative shifting is a grammatical process by which an oblique argument of a verb, usually one functioning as a recipient or a benefactive , is placed in the same grammatical role as a patient, increasing the valency of the verb and forming a clause with two objects...
. For example, the passive of the sentence John gave Mary the ball is Mary was given the ball by John, in which the recipient rather than the patient is promoted to subject. This is complicated by the fact that some dialects of English may promote either the recipient (Mary) or the patient (the ball) argument to subject status, and for these dialects The ball was given Mary by John (meaning that the ball was given to Mary) is also well-formed.
See also
- Object (grammar)Object (grammar)An object in grammar is part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It denotes somebody or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. Basically, it is what or whom the verb is acting upon...
- Dative
- Ergativity
- Ditransitive verbDitransitive verbIn grammar, a ditransitive verb is a verb which takes a subject and two objects which refer to a recipient and a theme. According to certain linguistics considerations, these objects may be called direct and indirect, or primary and secondary...
- Morphosyntactic alignmentMorphosyntactic alignmentIn linguistics, morphosyntactic alignment is the system used to distinguish between the arguments of transitive verbs and those of intransitive verbs...