Predicative possession in Paraguayan Guaraní: Against the zero copula hypothesis

P. 96–112.

Gerasimov D. V.

Tupí-Guaraní (and a few other Tupí) languages manifest a distinctive construction of predicative possession, minimally consisting of the possessee noun marked with a pronominal prefix cross-referencing the possessor. Some authors suggested analyzing such structures as existential clauses containing a zero copula. In this paper, I attempt to show that such an analysis is not viable for Paraguayan Guaraní. After a brief summary of the modern typology of predicative possession (§1) and the distinctive Tupí-Guaraní pattern (§2), I outline basic facts of predicative possession in Paraguayan Guaraní (§3), and provide arguments against the zero copula hypothesis (§4), drawing evidence from distribution of cross-reference markers, locus of predicative inflection, and possessor accessibility for questioning and relativization. Some of these arguments have not previously been brought into discussion of predicative possession in Tupí-Guaraní and thus open new avenues for further comparative and language-specific research.

Keywords: синтаксис, посессивные конструкции, possessive construction, zero copula, нулевая связка, copula construction, связочные конструкции, possession, predicative possession, diachronic syntax, Paraguayan Guaraní, Tupí-Guaraní, парагвайский гуарани, тупи-гуарани

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Типология морфосинтаксических параметров. Материалы международной конференции «Типология морфосинтаксических параметров 2016»

Вып. 3. , М.: МГПУ, 2016.