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In:Argument Selectors: A new perspective on grammatical relations
Edited by Alena Witzlack-Makarevich and Balthasar Bickel
[Typological Studies in Language 123] 2019
► pp. 257–299

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Grammatical relations in Balinese

 | Australian National University/Udayana University
Published online: 5 March 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.123.08ark
Grammatical relations in Balinese show good empirical evidence for the classification of syntactic dependents into core arguments, obliques and adjuncts. One of the core arguments is selected as Pivot, a well-defined syntactic notion with certain exclusive selectors, such as control and relativisation. The selectors distinguishing core arguments from obliques and adjuncts include phrasal flagging, fixed structural positioning, and possibility of quantifier float, depictive predicates, and argument elision in imperatives. Pivot selection and valence-changing operations, such as applicativisation, provide ample evidence for a symmetrical voice system, and clausal arguments which do not constitute a distinct grammatical relation. These properties, particularly that of passive-like voice alternation without demoting the actor argument to an oblique, pose a challenge in linguistic typology and linguistic theory.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Grammatical relations and classes of arguments
  • 3.Pivot and its selectors in Balinese
    • 3.1Structural position
    • 3.2Voice marking
    • 3.3Behavioural properties
  • 4.Core arguments
    • 4.1Argument flagging
    • 4.2Structural rigidity
    • 4.3Quantifier float
    • 4.4Left dislocation
    • 4.5Depictive predicates
    • 4.6Reflexives
    • 4.7Argument elision in imperatives
  • 5.Obliques
  • 6.Three-place predicates
  • 7.Adjuncts
  • 8.Clausal arguments
  • 9.Adverbial clauses
    • 9.1Adverbial clause marking
    • 9.2Anaphoric control of the adverbial argument
  • 10.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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