Re: THEORY: Cross-Referencing the Arguments of Consecutive Verbs, And Similar Things

Tom Chappell wrote at 2005-06-30 17:49:29 (-0700)

 > [WHAT ABOUT A MAIN AND A SUBORDINATE CLAUSE?]
 > So far the examples I've given have either been co-ordinate clauses
 > or what the Role-and-Reference Grammarians call "co-subordinate"
 > clauses.
 >
 > But there's no reason I know of to doubt that some natlang out
 > there does something similar for marking the common arguments
 > between a main clause and its subordinate clause.
 >
 > Who knows one?

I think the use of long-range reflexives in e.g. Eskimo-Aleut
languages might qualify (or at least interest you as a related topic).

Here's the section from Mithun's _The Languages of Native North
America_ on the subject - I think I've posted it before, but I can't
find it in the archives.  Fortunately I had a copy saved for other
reasons, so I didn't have to type it out again:

| 2.1.2 Long-distance coreference and empathy
|
| Reflexive constructions, which mark coreference between the subject
| and another argument of clauses, appear throughout North America, as
| elsewhere: Mohawk _wa'k*atát*ken_ 'I saw *myself*'.  Some languages
| also contain devices for specifying coreference over longer stretches
| of speech, termed variously fourth persons, long-distance reflexives,
| coreferential third persons, logophoric pronouns, and more.  Examples
| of such structures can be seen in languages of the Eskimo-Aleut
| family.
|
| In Central Alaskan Yup'ik, as in related languages, all verbs contain
| pronominal suffixes referring to their core arguments, one for
| intransitives and two for transitives.  Posessed nouns contain
| suffixes referring to the possessor and the possession.
|
| (10)   YUP'IK PRONOMINAL SUFFIXES         Elizabeth Ali, speaker
|   paqeta*nka*                           ila*nka*
|   paqete-a-*nka*		        ila-*nka*
|   visit-INDICATIVE-*1SINGULAR/3PLURAL*  relative-*1SINGULAR/3PLURAL*
|   '*I* visited *them*'			'*my* relative*s*'
|
| The pronominal suffixes always appear on verbs, whether or not
| independent nouns appear in the sentence as well.  The verb and noun
| in (10), for example, could be combined into a sentence.  Gender is
| not distinguished in Yup'ik, so the same pronominal forms are used for
| males, females and objects.  There are two different third person
| categories however, one basic and one for arguments coreferent with
| the subject of the matrix clause.
|
| (11)   YUP'IK COREFERENTIAL THIRD PERSON  Elizabeth Ali, speaker
|   Tuai-llu-gguq  tauna tutgara'urluq,
|   tuai=llu=gguq  tauna tutgar-'urlur
|   so=too=HEARSAY that  grandchild-dear
|   'And so that dear grandchild,
|
|   apa'urlu*ni*                 kenekenga*miu*
|   apa-'urlur-*ni*	       keneke-nga-*miu*
|   grandfather-dear-*3R.SG*/3SG love-CONSEQUENTIAL-*3R.SG*/3SG
|   because she (*herself*) loved her (*own*) grandfather,
|
|   neqkanek                  assilrianek,
|   neqkaq-nek		    assir-lria-nek
|   prepared.food-ABLATIVE.PL good-NM-ABLATIVE.PL
|   paiveskii.
|   paivte-ke-ii
|   put.out-PARTICIPIAL.TR-3SG/3PL
|   she was putting out good foods [on his plate].
|
| The subject of the main clause in (11) is the grandchild.  She is
| referred to by a basic third person pronoun in the main verb
| _paivesk*ii*_ '*she* put them out'.  In the embedded clause, 'because
| *she* loved her grandfather', she is referred to by the coreferential
| pronoun because the subject of the subordinate clause is the same as
| that of the main clause.  The coreferential pronoun appears in '*her*
| grandfather' as well, indicating that the possessor of the grandfather
| is the same individual as the subject of the clause in which it
| occurs:  'she_i loved her_i grandfather'.  (Basic reflexives are
| expressed in a different way in Yup'ik.