Chapter 85: ‘Take’ serial verb constructions

Feature information for this chapter can be found in feature 85.

1. Feature description

In this feature, we consider serial verb constructions in which one of the two verbs (almost always the first one) means ‘take’ (or has a closely related meaning such as ‘raise’) and expresses an instrumental role as in (1), or a theme role as in (2).

(1)
I
3sg
pwan
take
hach
axe
a-y
poss-3sg
koupé
cut
bwa.
wood
He cut the wood with the axe.
(2)
Katxor
dog
toma
take
pónta
tip
di
of
si
poss.3sg
rábo
tail
e
3sg
po
put
dibáxu
under
di
of
si
poss.3sg
bariga.
belly
The dog put the end of his tail under his belly.

Following Aikhenvald (2006: 1), we define serial verb constructions as referring to single, monoclausal events which have just one tense, aspect, and polarity value and which do not show any sign of coordination or subordination. Some languages allow for (or require) the repetition of the subject as well as tense and aspect markers on the second verb of the serial verb construction (examples 2, 5, and 8; see also Aikhenvald (2006: 40f.).

‘Take’ serials may have different functions; in our feature, we will focus on instrumental-introducing and theme-introducing ‘take’ serials.

Some languages allow for constructions with an optional marker of coordination, as in Papiamentu kue kuchú kòrta karni (literally ‘take knife cut meat’) ‘cut meat with a knife’ or ‘take a knife and cut meat’ vs. kue kuchú i kòrta karni ‘take a knife and cut meat’ (see Maurer 1988: 256). In such cases, the construction without a marker is not considered a serial verb construction but a variant of the coordinate construction with the coordination marker.

The possibility existing in most APiCS languages of giving ‘take’ serials a biclausal reading (as in the Papiamentu examples) raises the question of whether ‘take’ serials are real serial verb constructions in all the cases described in this chapter, in the sense that they describe a single event and are monoclausal. This is especially problematic if the ‘take’ serial introduces a theme argument of the second verb, allowing for a literal interpretation (value 1), and, generally speaking, if the object of the ‘take’ serial functions, at least semantically, as an instrumental of the second verb (values 3 and 4). It is only in cases where no literal interpretation of the construction is possible (value 2) that we know without any doubt that these are cases of true ‘take’ serials.

2. The values

We distinguish the following five values; values 1-4 refer to the role of the object of ‘take’:

exclshrdall
Theme of the second verb, literal interpretation possible92231
Theme of the second verb, literal interpretation impossible01212
Instrument of the second verb, no resumptive pronoun31922
Instrument of the second verb, with resumptive pronoun077
No ‘take’ serials41041
Representation:75

Value 1 (the object of ‘take’ corresponds to the theme of the second verb, a literal interpretation is possible) occurs in eight Ibero-Romance-based languages, in fourteen English-based languages, in three French-based languages, as well as in Berbice Dutch, in Sango, in Kikongo-Kituba, in Sri Lankan Malay, in Singapore Bazaar Malay, and in Yimas-Arafundi Pidgin.

(3)
Lanta
raise
komer
food
tridji
bring
na
loc
medja.
table
Bring the food to the table.
(4)
Kirringku
woman. erg
im
3sg
teikim
take. tr
lajap
carry.on.shoulders
karu
child
nyanuny.
3sg.dat
The woman carries his child on her shoulders.

Value 2 (the object of ‘take’ corresponds to the theme of the second verb, a literal interpretation is impossible) occurs in five Portuguese-based languages (Angolar, Cape Verdean Creole of Santiago, Fa d’Ambô, Principense, Santome), in six English-based languages (Creolese, Ghanaian Pidgin English, Nigerian Pidgin, Pichi, Sranan, Vincentian Creole), and in Berbice Dutch.

(5)
1sg.poss
man
man
tek
take
ìn
3sg.poss
yay
eye
è
3sg
putàn
put. 3sg
bɔtɔn
bottom
grɔn
ground
so.
so
My husband diverted his gaze to the ground.
(6)
di
art
wɛtɛ
white
kɛnap
person. pl
justu
pst.hab
dek
take
di
art
kurkur
black
kɛnap
person. pl
make
slev.
slave
The white people used to make slaves out of the black people.

In example (7), a literal interpretation is not possible either; however, the object of ‘take’ does not correspond to the theme complement of the following verb but to its temporal complement:

(7)
À
1sg
fut
tek
take
midnayt
midnight
du-am.
do- 3sg
I'll do it at midnight.

The following Sranan example illustrates aspect repetition on the second verb in the series:

(8)
[...]
[...]
den
art.pl
man
man
e
ipfv
teki
take
a
det
sani
thing
e
ipfv
meki
make
grap.
joke
Hey, they are making a joke of the matter.

Value 3 (the object of ‘take’ corresponds to the instrument of the second verb, without resumptive pronoun) occurs in six Portuguese-based languages, in eleven English-based languages, in two French-based languages, as well as in Kikongo-Kituba, Singapore Bazaar Malay, and Chinuk Wawa.

(9)
Náyka
1sg
iskam
take
máskit
gun
mámuk
make
tlxwap.
hole
I make a hole with a gun.

Value 4 (the object of ‘take’ corresponds to the instrument of the second verb, with resumptive pronoun) occurs in five Portuguese-based languages and in two English-based languages.

(10)
N
1sg
tambu
take
faka
knife
kota
cut
situ
meat
ku
with
ê.
3sg
I cut the meat with a knife.
(11)
Ìm
3sg
tek
take
nayf
knife
chuk
pierce
1sg
fòr
loc
ay
eye
wìt
with
am.
3sg
S/he stabbed me in the eye with a knife.

The possibility of resuming the object of ‘take’ as an argument of the second verb casts some doubt on the status of these constructions as serial verb constructions since the instrumental would be marked twice within the same clause. It is therefore not surprising that the authors of two Cape Verdean varieties and Casamancese Creole translate ‘take’ only literally in their examples (e.g. ‘I took a knife and cut the meat’).

Most APiCS languages with an instrumental serial verb also possess an instrumental adposition. The difference between the two constructions is left unexplained in most cases. An exception to this is Creolese.

(12)
Ii
3sg
tek
take
wan
art
klaat
cloth
waip
wipe
di
art
teebl.
table
He wiped the table with a cloth.

In Creolese, the serial verb construction implies that the action is deliberate and planned, which is not the case with the corresponding adpositional construction (Ii waip di teebl wid wan klaat ‘He wiped the table with a cloth’).

This means that more research is needed in order to establish the exact syntactic and semantic status, and possibly the pragmatic status of the different ‘take’ serial verb constructions discussed in this chapter.

Value 5 (no ‘take’ serials) occurs in 54% of the APiCS languages – in creoles, in pidgins, and in bilingual mixed languages in all geographical areas.

3. Distribution

Although ‘take’ serials occur mainly in the Atlantic area (23 languages), they do occur in 12 languages outside this area: Chinuk Wawa in North America, Kikongo-Kituba and Sango in continental Africa, Seychelles Creole in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lankan Malay in South India, Papiá Kristang, Batavia Creole, Singapore Bazaar Malay, and Chinese Pidgin English in South East Asia, Gurindji Kriol in Australia, and Yimas-Arafundi Pidgin in the Pacific area.