Parameterizing split ergativity in Mayan

• Published in: Natural language and linguistic theory Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 151 - 200
• Main Author: Imanishi, Yusuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.02.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alignment; Case marking; Kaqchikel language; Linguistics; Mayan languages; Morphemes; Natural Language Processing (NLP); Philosophy of Language; Predicate; Social Sciences; Syntax; Verbs; United Kingdom > UK; England; Guatemala; Parameter; Nominalization; Comparative syntax; Split ergativity; Case
• ISSN: 0167-806X; 1573-0859
• DOI: 10.1007/s11049-018-09440-9

The purpose of this paper is to explain the variation of Case alignment in the accusative side of the ergative split of Kaqchikel, Chol and Q’anjob’al (Mayan). In particular, I will address contrastive alignments found in their accusative side. In the accusative side of Kaqchikel, the intransitive subject and the transitive subject alike are cross-referenced by the absolutive morpheme (also known as the set B marker in Mayan linguistics). On the other hand, the object of a transitive verb is cross-referenced by the ergative morpheme (or the set A marker ). In the accusative side of Chol and Q’anjob’al, by contrast, both the intransitive subject and the transitive subject are cross-referenced by the set A marker, while the set B marker cross-references the transitive object. This contrast is unexpected, given that these languages have a (nearly) identical biclausal structure for their accusative side, as I will claim building on Laka ( 2006 ) and Coon ( 2010a , 2013a ): the aspectual predicate forms a biclausal structure with a nominalized clause. I will argue that the contrastive alignments found in Kaqchikel, Chol and Q’anjob’al follow from a parametric difference regarding the nominalization involved in the accusative side of these languages. It will be proposed that the Restriction on Nominalization (RON) holds for Kaqchikel, whereas it does not apply to Chol and Q’anjob’al: the nominalized verb must lack a syntactically projected external argument. The RON will be developed, based on a similar observation made for nominalizations in Greek and some Indo-European languages among others (Alexiadou 2001 ). As will be demonstrated, the presence or absence of the RON and the type of alignment patterns in the accusative side of the ergative split are causally connected.