Equational predications and nothing else? The case of Movima

Katharina Haude (1, 2)

1 SeDyL - Structure et Dynamique des Langues
2 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

In previous studies it has been argued that the structure of basic clauses in Movima (isolate, Bolivia) is basically equational (“X is Y”): There is no copula, and the predicate can be a noun just as well as a verb. Moreover, verbs can occupy all nominal domains without undergoing any morphological modification; possessed nouns can undergo the same valency decreasing operation as transitive verbs; and identificational predication (“the X [is] the Y”), in which no constituent is syntactically a predicate, is not possible for a simple clause. Also non-basic structures seem to adhere to this principle: dependent clauses are nominal constituents, and negation is formed with a dedicated copula. Based on corpus data of spontaneous oral discourse, the paper looks for potential grammatical restrictions on the syntactic flexibility of nouns and verbs. So far, no such restrictions can be found.

Mots clés: Copula; Omnipredicativity; Equational clauses; Parts of Speech

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Katharina Haude. Equational predications and nothing else? The case of Movima. Equational predications: Omnipredicativity, non-verbal predications, or zero verb constructions and the diachrony of copulas, Zarina Estrada Fernández; Albert Alvarez González, Nov 2023, Hermosillo, Mexico. ⟨hal-04321818⟩