Cover not available

In:Antipassive: Typology, diachrony, and related constructions
Edited by Katarzyna Janic and Alena Witzlack-Makarevich
[Typological Studies in Language 130] 2021
► pp. 515–548

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 16
Antipassives in Nakh-Daghestanian languages

Exploring the margins of a construction

 | University of California, Santa Barbara
 | Friedrich Schiller University Jena
 | Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
 | Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
Published online: 23 March 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.130.16com
Abstract
Several Nakh-Daghestanian languages present constructions that are candidate antipassives, in that the construction is intransitive and is (at least sometimes) related to a corresponding transitive construction, with A of the transitive construction appearing as S of the intransitive, and P of the transitive either corresponding to an oblique in the intransitive or being omitted. All Nakh-Daghestanian antipassives are lexically restricted, and their function is typically to shift aspectual value in the direction of durativity, atelicity, iterativity, etc. However, only Dargwa restricts the construction to transitive verbs, while other languages also allow it with intransitive verbs, in which case there is no change in argument structure. We explore the implications of this for the definition of “antipassive” from the perspective of canonical typology.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Avar-Andic-Tsezic languages
    • 2.1Godoberi
    • 2.2Tsezic
      • 2.2.1Tsezic: Syntactic properties
      • 2.2.2Tsezic: Semantics and pragmatics
    • 2.3Avar
      • 2.3.1Avar: Syntactic properties
      • 2.3.2Avar: Semantics
  • 3.Dargwa languages
    • 3.1Akusha and Sanzhi Dargwa: Syntactic properties
    • 3.2Akusha and Sanzhi Dargwa: Semantics and pragmatics
    • 3.3Antipassives in other Dargwa languages
  • 4.Antipassives and other detransitivizing operations in Nakh-Daghestanian languages
  • 5.The main tenets of the antipassive constructions in Nakh-Daghestanian
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (35)
References
Alekseev, Mikhail E., Alixanov, S. Z., Ataev, B. M., Magomedov, M. A., Magomodov, I. I., Madieva, G. I., Saidova, P. A. & Samedov, Dzh.S. 2014. Sovremennyj avarskij jazyk. Makhachkala: Aleph.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Arkadiev, Peter & Letuchiy, Alexander. 2021. Indirect antipassive in Circassian. In Antipassive: Typology, Diachrony, and Related Constructions [Typological Studies in Language 130], Katarzyna Janic & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bokarev, Evgenij A. 1949. Sintaksis avarskogo jazyka. Moscow: Izd. AN SSSR.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard. 2000. Valency-changing derivations in Tsez. In Changing Valency: Case Studies in Transitivity, R. M. W. Dixon & Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (eds), 360–374. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard & Khalilov, Madžid Š. 2007. Durativnye i iterativnye glagoly v cezskix jazykax. In Nasledie kak sistema cennostej: Jazyk, kul’tura, istorija, Gadzhi G. Gamzatov (ed.), 531–541. Makhachkala: Institut jazyka, literatury i iskusstva im. Gamzata Cadasy Dagestanskogo nauchnogo centra Rossijskoj akademii nauk.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard, Khalilov, Madzhid & Khalilova, Zaira. 2015. Valency and valency classes in Bezhta. In Valency Classes in the World’s Languages, Andrej Malchukov & Bernard Comrie (eds), 541–570. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cooreman, Anne. 1994. A functional typology of antipassives. In Voice: Form and Function [Typological Studies in Language 27], Barbara A. Fox & Paul Hopper (eds), 49–88. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daniel, Michael. 2019. Mehweb verb morphology. In The Mehweb Language: Essays on Phonology, Morphology and Syntax, Michael Daniel, Dmitry Ganenkov & Nina Dobrushina (eds), 73–115. Berlin: Language Science Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dixon, R. M. W. 1972. The Dyirbal Language of North Queensland. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1994. Ergativity. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Forker, Diana. 2012. The bi-absolutive construction in Nakh-Daghestanian. Folia Linguistica 46(1): 75–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013a. A Grammar of Hinuq. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013b. Differential agent marking in Hinuq. In Argument Structure in Flux: The Naples Capri Papers [Studies in Language Companion Series 131], Elly van Gelderen, Jóhanna Barðdal & Michaela Cennamo (eds), 33–52. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2020. A Grammar of Sanzhi Dargwa. Berlin: Language Science Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gagliardi, Annie, Michael Goncalves, Maria Polinsky & Nina Radkevich. 2014. The biabsolutive construction in Lak and Tsez. Lingua 150: 137–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ganenkov, Dmitry, Maisak, Timur & Merdanova, Solmaz. 2007. Non-canonical agent marking in Agul. In Differential Subject Marking, Helen de Hoop & Peter de Swart (eds), 173–198. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ganenkov, Dmitry. In preparation. A Grammar of Chirag Dargwa. Bamberg.
Hopper, Paul J. & Thompson, Sandra A. 1980. Transitivity in grammar and discourse. Language 56(2): 251–299. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janic, Katarzyna. 2013. L’antipassif dans les langues accusatives. PhD dissertation, Lumière University Lyon 2.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janic, Katarzyna & Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena. 2021. The multifaceted nature of antipassive constructions. In Antipassive: Typology, Diachrony, and Related Constructions [Typological Studies in Language 130], Katarzyna Janic & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. (This volume). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kazenin, Konstantin. 1998. On patient demotion in Lak. In Typology of Verbal Categories, Leonid Kulikov & Heinz Vater (eds), 95–115. Tübingen: Niemeyer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khalilov, Madžid Š. 1999. Cezsko-russkij slovar’. Moscow: Academia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khalilov, Madžid Š. & Khalilova, Zaira. 2016. Avar. In Word-formation: An International Handbook of the Languages of Europe, Vol. 5, Peter O. Müller, Ingeborg Ohnheiser, Susan Olsen & Franz Rainer (eds), 3633–3647. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kibrik, Andrej A. 1996. Transitivity in lexicon and grammar. In Godoberi, Aleksandr E. Kibrik (ed.), 108–147. Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mallaeva, Zulajkhat M. 2007. Glagol avarskogo jazyka: Struktura, semantika, funkcii. Makhachkala: Institut jazyka, literatury i iskusstva im. G. Cadasy.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nichols, Johanna, Peterson, David A. & Barnes, Jonathan. 2004. Transitivizing and detransitivizing languages. Linguistic Typology 8(2): 149–211. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polinsky, Maria. 2013. Antipassive constructions. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds). Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. <[URL]> (21 August 2018).
. 2017. Antipassive. In The Oxford Handbook of Ergativity, Jessica Coon, Diane Massam & Lisa Travis (eds), 303–331. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Radzhabov, Ramazan. 1999. Sintaksis cezskogo jazyka. Moscow: Moscow State Linguistic University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sumbatova, Nina. 2011. Person hierarchies and the problem of person marker origin in Dargwa: facts and diachronic problems. In Tense, Aspect, Modality and Finiteness in East Caucasian Languages, Gilles Authier & Timur Maisak (eds), 131–160. Bochum: Brockmeyer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sumbatova, Nina R. & Lander, Jury A. 2014. Darginskij govor selenija Tanty: Grammatičeskij očerk, voprosy sintaksisa. Moscow: JaSK.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tatevosov, Sergei. 2011. Detelicization and argument suppression: Evidence from Godoberi. Linguistics 49(1): 135–174. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van den Berg, Helma. 1995. A Grammar of Hunzib: With Texts and Lexicon. Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. Dargi Folktales: Oral Stories from the Caucasus with an Introduction to Dargi Grammar. Leiden: Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Antipassive constructions in Nakh-Daghestanian languages. Ms, Leipzig.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Creissels, Denis
2024. Transitivity, Valency, and Voice, DOI logo
Janic, Katarzyna
2021. Variation in the verbal marking of antipassive constructions. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 249 ff. DOI logo
Janic, Katarzyna & Alena Witzlack-Makarevich
2021. The multifaceted nature of the antipassive construction. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Payne, Doris L.
2021. The profile and development of the Maa (Eastern Nilotic) antipassive. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 447 ff. DOI logo
Say, Sergey
2021. Antipassive and the lexical meaning of verbs. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 177 ff. DOI logo
Vidal, Alejandra & Doris L. Payne
2021. Polyfunctional vanka- in Nivaĉle and the antipassive category. In Antipassive [Typological Studies in Language, 130], ► pp. 349 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 7 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue