Speaker: András Bárány (Leiden University)
Title: Syntactic and typological aspects of a typological gap in ditransitive constructions
Date: Thursday 7 November
Venue: Lipsius 2.28
Time: 15.15-16.30 hrs (drinks afterwards at Café de Keyser)
Abstract
Like (in)transitive constructions, ditransitive constructions can be characterised as showing different alignment types in case and agreement. The English ditransitive alternation, /I give the book to her/ vs. /I give her the book/, represents different types of case-marking alignment that are also found in other languages.
In languages with object agreement, the verb can also show different alignment types: in some languages it is the recipient that controls agreement, while in others it is the theme. Combining case and agreement, it turns out that certain alignment types are unattested: no language allows the verb to only agree with a theme in a double object construction such as /I give her the book/, for example. The recipient must always be available for agreement in such constructions.