Non-contiguous complex predicates: Daniel Krauße

A view from Wagiman Lattice-CNRS, ENS, Paris

2nd FEMIDAL Workshop, Fontainebleau, 19 September 2023

Complex Predicate (CP) 2

• Various definitions of complex predicate exist (Baker & Harvey 2010; Bril & Ozanne-Rivierre 2004; Butt 1995;
Bowern 2014; Krauße 2021; Krauße & Harvey 2021; Verma 1993)
• Quote Krauße (2021:331) on CPs:

“a monoclausal structure consisting of multiple predicational constituents, which can be accommodated in a single VP-
shell. The overall argument and event structure of these merged constituents corresponds to that of a simple predicate.”

• Not all coverb constructions are complex predicates in the theoretical literature, and not all complex predicates
are coverb constructions (Krauße 2021:334)
• Complex predicates may also include serial verb constructions, verb-adjunct constructions, converb
constructions, auxiliary constructions, etc.
Complex Predicate (CP) 3

• Examples of a CP from Wagiman, Wardaman and Bilinarra:

(1) Ngonggo-gin warren lek-ka Ø-ya-nggi langarn-ga. [Wagiman]

2SG.OBL-GEN child go.down-NPFV 3PST-go-PST billabong-ALL
‘Your child went down to the billabong.’ (Wilson 1999:107)
Complex Predicate (CP) 4

• Examples of a CP from Wagiman, Wardaman and Bilinarra:

(1) Ngonggo-gin warren lek-ka Ø-ya-nggi langarn-ga. [Wagiman]

2SG.OBL-GEN child go.down-NPFV 3PST-go-PST billabong-ALL
‘Your child went down to the billabong.’ (Wilson 1999:107)

(2) Gurryu-ma Ø-we-ndi wiya-ya. [Wardaman]

dive-SUF 3PST-fall-PST water-LOC
‘He dived in the water.’ (Merlan 1994:76)
Complex Predicate (CP) 5

• Examples of a CP from Wagiman, Wardaman and Bilinarra:

(1) Ngonggo-gin warren lek-ka Ø-ya-nggi langarn-ga. [Wagiman]

2SG.OBL-GEN child go.down-NPFV 3PST-go-PST billabong-ALL
‘Your child went down to the billabong.’ (Wilson 1999:107)

(2) Gurryu-ma Ø-we-ndi wiya-ya. [Wardaman]

dive-SUF 3PST-fall-PST water-LOC
‘He dived in the water.’ (Merlan 1994:76)

(3) Darugab-ba=yina yuwa-rra gubuwubu-yawung na. [Bilinarra]

bathe-EP=3AUG.O put-PRS lemon.grass-PROP FOC
‘Then she bathes them with the lemon grass tea.’ (Meakins & Nordlinger 2014:90)
Complex Predicates in Australian languages 6
Highlighted area marks Australian
languages with productive complex
predicates
(Bowern 2006:8)
The Wagiman language 7

• spoken around Pine Creek, 200 km south of Darwin, moribund (2 fluent speakers in their 70s)
The Wagiman language 8

• spoken around Pine Creek, 200 km south of Darwin, moribund (2 fluent speakers in their 70s)

(based on Koch & Nordlinger 2014)

The Wagiman language 9

• The order within a constituent phrase is flexible, but phrases normally cannot be intervened by other parts-of-speech
(Wilson 1999:11, Krauße & Harvey 2021:113)
The Wagiman language 10

• The order within a constituent phrase is flexible, but phrases normally cannot be intervened by other parts-of-speech
(Wilson 1999:11, Krauße & Harvey 2021:113)
• There is a preference for SOV order, but all other combinations are also attested, pragmatically determined word
order (Krauße 2021:172-173).
The Wagiman language 11

• The order within a constituent phrase is flexible, but phrases normally cannot be intervened by other parts-of-speech
(Wilson 1999:11, Krauße & Harvey 2021:113)
• There is a preference for SOV order, but all other combinations are also attested, pragmatically determined word
order (Krauße 2021:172-173).
• Typical features of a non-configurational language (Wilson 1999:10).
The Wagiman language 12

• The order within a constituent phrase is flexible, but phrases normally cannot be intervened by other parts-of-speech
(Wilson 1999:11, Krauße & Harvey 2021:113)
• There is a preference for SOV order, but all other combinations are also attested, pragmatically determined word
order (Krauße 2021:172-173).
• Typical features of a non-configurational language (Wilson 1999:10).
• Wagiman has rigid word classes (Krauße 2021:16, 155):
• nouns are necessarily referential and cannot be used as verbs unless formally derived
• coverbs constitute their own word class and cannot be used as verbs unless formally derived (Krauße
2021:184; Wilson 1999:45)
The Wagiman language 13

• The order within a constituent phrase is flexible, but phrases normally cannot be intervened by other parts-of-speech
(Wilson 1999:11, Krauße & Harvey 2021:113)
• There is a preference for SOV order, but all other combinations are also attested, pragmatically determined word
order (Krauße 2021:172-173).
• Typical features of a non-configurational language (Wilson 1999:10).
• Wagiman has rigid word classes (Krauße 2021:16, 155):
• nouns are necessarily referential and cannot be used as verbs unless formally derived
• coverbs constitute their own word class and cannot be used as verbs unless formally derived (Krauße
2021:184; Wilson 1999:45)
• agglutinative morphology for nouns, inflectional morphology on verbs, very little morphology on coverbs
The Wagiman language 14

• The order within a constituent phrase is flexible, but phrases normally cannot be intervened by other parts-of-speech
(Wilson 1999:11, Krauße & Harvey 2021:113)
• There is a preference for SOV order, but all other combinations are also attested, pragmatically determined word
order (Krauße 2021:172-173).
• Typical features of a non-configurational language (Wilson 1999:10).
• Wagiman has rigid word classes (Krauße 2021:16, 155):
• nouns are necessarily referential and cannot be used as verbs unless formally derived
• coverbs constitute their own word class and cannot be used as verbs unless formally derived (Krauße
2021:184; Wilson 1999:45)
• agglutinative morphology for nouns, inflectional morphology on verbs, very little morphology on coverbs
• 43 attested verb roots and 553 attested coverb roots (Krauße 2021:158, 166)
Complex Predicates in Wagiman 15

• Coverbs do not take the same affixes as verbs, no tense/person marking, only aspect
• Wagiman is a rare case of Australian (and other?) languages in that the aspect of the coverb nearly always
corresponds to the aspect expressed by the verb in past tense (Krauße 2021:179), but Worrorra has a similar pattern
(Clendon 2014:280) for the progressive.
Complex Predicates in Wagiman 16

• Coverbs do not take the same affixes as verbs, no tense/person marking, only aspect
• Wagiman is a rare case of Australian (and other?) languages in that the aspect of the coverb nearly always
corresponds to the aspect expressed by the verb in past tense (Krauße 2021:179), but Worrorra has a similar pattern
(Clendon 2014:280) for the progressive.

(4) Bewh-ma ng-a-Ø-bu-ni boran.

cross-NPFV PST-1SG.A-3P-hit-PST.NPFV river
‘I was crossing the river.’ (Wilson 1999:64)

(5) Bewh-Ø ba-Ø-bu-ng nganku-garang wakkala=ma..

cross-PFV 3PST-PL-hit-PST.PFV whatsit-COM paperbark=FOC
‘We crossed that creek.’
Complex Predicates in Wagiman 17

• The vast majority of CVCs are a contiguous string of exactly one coverb and one main verb.
• Despite Wagiman having flexible word order, the coverb and main verb must be adjacent and form a prosodic unit.
• Coverb and verb are prosodic words on their own with individual semantics.
• It can be argued that the coverb+verb bond forms a single constituent of the clause.
• Arrangement of constituents within a CP based on 519 clauses (Krauße 2021:178):
• CV+V: 81%
• V+CV: 13%
• V+(other constituent)+CV: 4%
• CV+(other constituent)+V: 2%

• The overwhelming majority of clauses (94%) has contiguous CPs

• What has happened to the remaining 6%?
(Non-)Adjacency in Australian complex predicates 18
• There is a cross-linguistic tendency of constituent adjacency within a complex predicate, of which a type is CVCs (cf.
Krauße 2021:179, fn. 99)

• Singer (2016:31) on Mawng:

• “The verb and coverb form a tight syntagmatic unit between which no other words can intervene.”

• Bowern (2010:48) on Australian languages in general:

• “Rigid constituency is common in complex predicate constructions within Australia and elsewhere, but it is not required.”

• Bowern (2012:654) on Bardi complex predicates:

• “Only clitics may intervene between a preverb and the associated light verb.”

(6) Iyi a-n-arli manyjal =gorror mi-n-j-ij. [Bardi]

yes 2IMP-TR-eat hungry =IF 2-TR-do/say-PFV
‘Yes, you can eat them if you are hungry.’ (Bowern 2012:655)
(Non-)Adjacency in Australian complex predicates 19
• Schultze-Berndt (2000:120-122) on Jaminjung:
• “A coverb and a generic verb in a canonical complex verb construction are usually contiguous; the only constituents that can
freely intervene between the two constituents are clitics. […] Cases where a constituent (other than a clitic) intervenes between
a coverb and a generic verb in the same intonation unit are relatively rare.”
• “… in all texts in the Appendix, only two examples [of intervening elements] can be found.”

(7) Dalb guyug yirr-arra-m=ngarndi. [Jaminjung]

light.fire fire 1PL.EXCL:3SG-put-PRS=SFOC2
‘We set fire to the firewood’.’ (Schultze-Berndt 2000:123)

(8) Ga-jga-ny=ni wagurra-bina burduj. [Jaminjung]

3SG-go-PST=SFOC1 rock-ALL go.up
‘He went up on a rock.’ (Schultze-Berndt 2000:123)
(Non-)Adjacency in Australian complex predicates 20
• Meakins & Nordlinger (2014:313) on Bilinarra:
• “Although the order of the inflecting verb and coverb varies, the coverb generally precedes the inflecting verb.”
• “Coverbs may precede the inflecting verb or they may follow. The complex verb may also be non-contiguous.

(9) Nyawa=ma jalyi=ma jag~jag =barla wan.gu. [Bilinarra]

DEM.PROX=TOP leaf=TOP RED~fall =FOC fall:POT
‘Those leaves are going to fall.’ (Meakins & Nordlinger 2014:316)

(10) Winingili-ngurlu=ma=rnalu ya-ni gan.gula bardaj. [Bilinarra]

PN.GEO-ABL=TOP=1AUG.EXC.S go-PST up climb
‘From Winingili we went uphill.’ (Meakins & Nordlinger 2014:313)

(11) Nyila=ma=n garra wurrumu-la=rni gudij. [Bilinarra]

DEM.DIST=TOP=2SG.S be.PRS road-LOC=ONLY stand
‘You’re standing right on the road.’ (Meakins & Nordlinger 2014:320)
(Non-)Adjacency in complex predicates 21
• There are also reports of discontinguous CPs in other Australian languages, such as Gurindji Kriol (Meakins
2010:13, 22), Wambaya (Nordlinger 2010:242-243), and Arrernte (Dras et al. 2012:7)

• In Japanese complex predicates with the auxiliary suru, no material can intervene (Matsumoto 1996:96) :
• “The verbal noun and suru are required to be adjacent to each other in order to be fully grammatical.”

• The Nilo-Saharan language Tama also does not allow other words to intervene within a complex predicates
Dimmendaal (2009:314):
• “Even though no other word can intervene between them, there does not seem to be any clearcut phonological interaction
between the two syntactic elements.”

• Depending on the definition of ‘complex predicate’, many languages have non-contiguous CPs, such as German,
English, Dutch, …
(Non-)Adjacency in clauses 22
• German linguist Otto Behaghel (1932:4), using German, proposed a law explaining the disfavor for discontinuous
expressions (Behaghel’s first law) in free-word order languages:

“The most important law is that what belongs together mentally [semantically] is placed close together [syntactically].”
(Translated from German by Vennemann (1974:339))

• Such a disfavor of discontinuity is also found in NPs in Australian languages (Nordlinger 2014:237-241, Louagie &
Verstraete 2016):
• Jaminjung, 1% discontinuous NPs (Schultze-Berndt & Simard 2012:1032)
• Wardaman, 3% discontinuous NPs (Croft 2007:6)
• Gooniyandi, less than 5% discontinuous NPs (McGregor 2004:276).

• Given that the coverb and verb in a CP function as a single predicate (cf. Baker & Harvey 2010:24; Krauße
2021:217), it is expected that these two lexical items are also always placed close together.
Non-contiguous CPs in Wagiman: focus/adverbials 23
• Several non-contiguous complex predicates are attested with focus particles and adverbials

(12) Neyenggorn gahan bijip-pa =ma g-a-yu.

other DEM.DIST roll.up-IPFV =FOC PRS-3-be
‘That other one (which) is rolled up.’ (2015-07-02-LGL.178)

(13) Gahan marluga g-a-yu minygu dup-pa guda-ubaw.

DEM.MED old.man PRS-3-be always sit-NPFV fire-LOC
‘That old man always sits by the fire.’ (Cook 1987:144)

(14) Jenh-Ø nyama ng-i-Ø-bu-jan walanyja, gangaman, ngalwarnka.

spear-PFV also PST-1PL.A-3P-hit-PST.HAB goanna kangaroo snapping.turtle
‘We also used to spear goannas, kangaroos, and snapping turtles.’ (1997-01-11-PHB1.52)
Non-contiguous CPs in Wagiman: demonstratives 24
• There are very few attested example of an intervening demonstrative

(15) Ø-ba-ni-nginy gayh=giwu guk-ka mamin gahan jilimakkun

3PST-NSG-be-PST.PFV DEM.DIST=DU sleep-NPFV white.man DEM.DIST woman
‘These two, the white man and that woman, were sleeping (there).’ (1997-01-22-HIL.44)

(16) Ng-i-ga-ndi-guju magu wurnh~wurn-na.

1PL.A-3SG.P-take-PST-DU over there RED~carry.on.back-NPFV
‘These two, the white man and that woman, were sleeping (there).’ (Wilson 2006:16)
Non-contiguous CPs in Wagiman: NP arguments 25
• There are a few examples with intervening NP arguments, both as subjects (16, 18) and as objects (17)

(17) Dalala-ma wirin g-a-ba-yu magu.

be.lined.up-NPFV tree PRS-3-NSG-be over there.
‘Those trees are in a line over there.’ (2015-07-03-LGL.18)

Jurrnga gabaman lawel gahan.

‘They are winding that cloth [to make a rope]’.
(18) Jurrnga-Ø lawel g-a-ba-bu-n.
wind.up-NPFV cloth PRS-3-NSG-get-PRS
‘They are winding up the cloth.’ (2015-07-03-LGL.87)

(19) Ø-ba-di-nya=giwu marluga ngal-marttiwa=giwu wilh-ma.

3PST-NSG-come-PST=DU old.man FEM-old.woman=DU walk-IPFV
‘The old man and woman came walking.’ (Cook 1987:243)
Non-contiguous CPs in Wagiman: temporal markers 26
• At least one non-contiguous CP is attested with the future particle banba (< by and by) and one example with the
temporal particle minygu ‘always’.

(20) Bornh-Ø banba … bornh-Ø banba g-i-ya.

be.in.water-PFV FUT be.in.water-PFV FUT PRS-1PL-go
‘Maybe we’d go swimming.’ (1997-01-11-PHB1.85)

(21) Gahan marluga g-a-yu minygu dup-pa guda-ubaw.

DEM.MED old.man PRS-3-be always sit-NPFV fire-LOC
‘That old man always sits by the fire.’ (Cook 1987:144)
Non-contiguous CPs in Wagiman: negation 27
• There is one attested example with the negator wuji intervening between the coverb and the verb

Ngagun wiya en wuji ngangayangga dalmerdal jemena…

‘I don’t know which ones are mine.’

(22) Dalmerdal jemen-a wuji ng-a-yangga.

ear hear-NPFV NEG PST-1SG-go:PST
‘I don’t know.’ (2015-07-31-LGL.13)
[Literally: ‘I didn’t get it heard in my ear.’]
Non-contiguous CPs in Wagiman: the particle mama 28
• The majority of non-contiguous CPs are examples with the intervening iterative particle mama

(23) Yerdengh-Ø mama ng-a-n-ba-ga-jan..

hide-PFV ITER 1PRS-3A-1P-NSG-take-PST.HAB
‘They used to hide me (again and again).’ (1997-01-20-LGL.35)

(24) Lawh-Ø mama ng-a-n-ba-ge-n.

get.up-PFV ITER 1PRS-3A-1P-NSG-cause-PRS
‘They are always waking me up.’ (2015-07-30-LGL.283)

(25) Dorong~dorong-Ø mama ng-i-Ø-da-jan danganyin.

RED~be.full-PFV ITER PST-1PL.A-3P-consume-PST.HAB tucker
‘We used to eat tucker until we were full up.’ (1997-01-11-PHB1.42)

(26) Danorrot-Ø mama ng-e-Ø-ge-jan jwek.

be.across-PFV ITER PST-1PL.A-3P-put-PST.HAB swag
‘We used to put the swag across (their backs)’. (1997-01-11-PHB1.76)
Observations 29
• In general, non-contiguous CPs remain very rare in Wagiman and other Australian languages.

• Out of 519 sentences, I have only found 20 sentences (4%) with the structure V-(word)-CV and 11 sentences (2%)
with the structure CV-(word)-V.

• Sometimes even multiple words can intervene between the coverb and the verb.

• More research is needed to determine the exact prosodic structure in non-contiguous CPs: Is it the same as in
contiguous CPs?

• There seems to be a very slight overall preference for the verb to precede the coverb when the CVC is non-
contiguous, but there are too few attestations to make any definitive statement.
Thoughts … 30
• If the syntax of Wagiman was in fact fully non-configurational (as is typical for Australian languages), we would
expect a much higher number of non-contiguous occurrences, as the coverb and the main verb are prosodic words
on their own and should allow for more positional flexibility within the clause.
• A complex predicate is a conceptual unit which has a tighter bond than, for example, a noun and its determiner.
• If a complex predicate in Wagiman and other languages is defined as a single phrasal constituent (cf. Wilson
1999:71), they should not allow any other lexical items in between.
• A CP is in fact not a single constituent but consists of at least two syntactically independent constituents, which are
mutually dependent on each other.
• Based on previous CP analyses (Baker & Harvey 2010:15, Krauße 2021:181-187) that a CP consists of two
inherently predicating constituents in which the arguments of each are merged, non-contiguous CVCs are also
genuine complex predicates (contra Wilson 2006:16).
• Research on information structure needed …
• Hypothesis: mama is not an independent particle or enclitic but a coverb suffix with an aspectual (iterative) function?
→ needs further investigation
 References 31
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