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Ditransitive constructions in East Caucasian
After giving a general account of ditransitive constructions in East Caucasian languages, the paper focuses on the most salient and unique property of ‘give’-verbs in the languages of the family – the distinction made between two types of transfer. This distinction reflects the double nature of ‘give’-situations which involve both metaphorical transfer of legal possession rights and physical transfer of the object, and the consequent double nature of the Recipient which combines properties of a Beneficiary and a Goal. East Caucasian languages break Recipient down into two different marking strategies which may be called dative and lative, respectively. After giving a brief introduction to genetic grouping and areal spread of the family, as well as sketches its typological profile, we provide a general characteristic of the ditransitive constructions. Then we discuss some specific properties of dative marking in East Caucasian, focussing on the alternation in Recipient/Goal marking in ‘give’-situations, non-dative marking of the Addressee with speech verbs, and dative with verbs of contact. Finally, § 8 is a summary of the discussion.