A Bird’s Head view on complex predicates as part of the ComPLETE project

A Bird’s Head view
on complex predicates
as part of the project
Daniel Krauße
CNRS-Lattice, ENS–PSL & USN, Paris
Diversity Linguistics Seminar, 23 February 2024, Leipzig

What is this talk about?
• Complex predicates
❑ serial verb constructions
❑ prepositional verbs / verbal prepositions
❑ multi-predicational constructions
❑ other verb juxatpositions and related constructions
Daniel Krauße: A Bird’s Head view on complex predicates as part of the ComPLETE project 2
❑ other verb juxtapositions and related constructions
• Introduction to the ComPLETE project

❑ cross-linguistic investigation and database of verbal complex predicates
❑ other verb juxtapositions and related constructions
• Introduction to the ComPLETE project

❑ cross-linguistic investigation and database of verbal complex predicates
• Bird’s Head languages

❑ Eastern Indonesia / Western New Guinea / Tanah Papua
❑ several language families
❑ Austronesian > Eastern Malayo-Polynesian > Raja Ampat–South Halmahera (RASH)
❑ Non-Austronesian / Papuan: East Bird’s Head, South Bird’s Head, West Bird’s Head, Hatam-Mansim, Konda-Yahadian, Maybrat-Karon
❑ isolates: Abun, Mpur
What is a complex predicate?
• Sounds complicated, sounds like a complex topic, so let us look at some examples:
(1) Akan (Kwa, Ghana):

Agyenkwã́ no wú mã-ã̀ yɛn.
Savior that die give-PFV 1PL.OBJ

‘The Saviour died for us.’
(Christaller 1875:139, cited in Krauße 2021:99)

‘The Saviour died for us.’
(Christaller 1875:139, cited in Krauße 2021:99)
• This clause also contains two verbs: wú ‘die’ and mã ‘give’
• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘die for (someone)’
• Which verb determines the subject, which the object?
• What does this combination have to do with giving?
(2) Kamu (Eastern Daly, Australia):

Yim may=ma goerr∼goerr-wa-ga=anyayn?.
firewood that=FOC REDUP∼drag-get-come=go:2SG.PST.PFV

‘Did you drag that firewood back here?’.
(Harvey 1990:92-93, cited in Krauße & Harvey 2021:122)

‘Did you drag that firewood back here?’.
(Harvey 1990:92-93, cited in Krauße & Harvey 2021:122)
• This clause contains four verbs: goerr ‘drag’, wa ‘get’, ga ‘come’ & anyayn ‘you go’
• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘drag here’
• Which verb determines the subject, which one the object, which one the direction?
• What does this combination have to do with coming?
(3) Hualapai (Cochimi-Yuman, Arizona):

Ɲâ-č hmí-táv-k pà ɲ-kwíl-we.
1SG-NOM be.tall-be.much-SS 3 SUBORD-pass-do

‘I am much taller than they are’. (Redden 1990:241)

‘I am much taller than they are’. (Redden 1990:241)
• This clause also contains four verbs: hmí ‘be tall’, táv ‘be much’, kwíl ‘pass’ & we ‘do’
• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘drag here’
• Which verb determines the subject, which one the object, which one the direction?
• What does this combination have to do with passing?
• Quite exotic …
(4) Japanese (Japonic, Japan):

女の人が洞穴に降りて行きました。
Onna-no hito-ga horaana-ni ori-te iki-masi-ta.
woman-GEN person-NOM cave-LOC go.down-CNV go-POL-PST

‘A woman went down into a cave.’

‘A woman went down into a cave.’
• This clause contains two verbs with similar meanings: ori ‘go down’ & iki ‘go’
• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘go down’
• Which verb determines the subject and which one the direction?
• Why do we even need an extra verb referring to going?
(5) Basque (isolate, France/Spain):

Herri-a-Ø handi-tu-z d-oa-Ø.
place-SG-ABS grow-INF-INSTR 3-go-SG

‘The place keeps growing’. (Silvie Strauß, p.c.)

‘The place keeps growing’. (Silvie Strauß, p.c.)
• This clause contains two verbs: handitu ‘grow’, doa ‘it goes’
• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘keep growing’
• Which verb determines the subject, and which one the aspect?
• What does this combination have to do with going?
• Basque is also quite exotic …
(25) Seget (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Yakobus w-are di w-ade Yuhannis.
Jacob 3SG.M-be.angry RECIP 3SG.M-be.with John
‘Jacob quarrels with John.’ (Verdizade 2023:12)
• This clause presumably contains two verbs: -are ‘(be) angry’, -ade ‘(be) with’
• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘be angry with’
• Are both verbs real verbs (just because they have subject indexing)?
• Let’s explore …
• What do Akan, Kamu, Hualapai, Japanese, Basque and Seget have in common?
• The common feature of these languages:
• At least 2 verbs can appear in the same clause
• The meanings of the verbs are combined
• There is one combined argument structure (e.g. one subject [+ one object] for all verbs)
• The common feature of these languages:
• At least 2 verbs can appear in the same clause
• The meanings of the verbs are combined
• There is one combined argument structure (e.g. one subject [+ one object] for all verbs)
• However, they also display differences, therefore various names for such complex predicates exist:
• serial verb construction
• light verb construction
• coverb construction different surface structures of a complex predicate
• converb construction
• verb-adjunct construction …
• Various definitions have been proposed for the term ‘complex predicate’, two should suffice here:
The argument structure is complex (two or more semantic heads contribute arguments). The grammatical
functional structure is that of a simple predicate. It is flat: there is only a single predicate […] and a single subject.
(Butt 1995:2)
A complex predicate is a theoretical concept which refers to 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. A complex predicate may be
discontinuous. (Krauße 2021:8)
ComPLETE Project & Database
ComPLETE Project & Database
• French-German project funded by the ANR (France) and the DFG (Germany)
• The project runs from April 2022 to June 2025 (https://complete.huma-num.fr/)
• Led by four PIs and managed by one postdoc and two PhD students in Paris/Mainz
• A questionnaire has been designed, which includes the theoretical points we are interested
in for each construction supplied (Vanhove et al. 2021)
• The questionnaire has been converted into a web-interface (HTML/Javascript) using a

MySQL database and Python
• A consortium of 35 linguists and engineers from several countries will supply their data to
the database
• Definition of the term: A verb-based complex predicate is a grammatical construction

serving as a predicative constituent to a single syntactic subject, and involving at least
two lexical items belonging, either synchronically or historically, to the class of verbs.
ComPLETE Database – User Interface
• Step 1: Adding a new language to the database
• Step 2: Check the data you have added for your language
• Step 3: Adding a new construction to the database
• Step 3: When adding a new construction, conditional selections are possible
• Step 4: Checking the constructions that have so far been submitted
• Step 5: Adding a new example to a
construction in the database
• Step 6: Check your example
• Step 6: View and update/delete all your other examples
• Step 6: Add a new grammaticalization path to an existing example
• Step 6: Suggest a new grammaticalization path to the database and add it to an existing example
• Step 7: Add or suggest a new lexicalization path to an existing example
ComPLETE Database – Manual
• The ComPLETE database comes with a detailed manual with examples and instructions about how to answer each question
ComPLETE Database – Why?
• We want to explain what is going on in multi-verb structures
• How does the merger of two verbs work across languages?
• Which verb determines the arguments (subject, object) and how do they “pool” their arguments?
• What combinations are possible? What combinations are not possible?
• How do we distinguish these constructions from coordination (cf. Latin veni, vidi, vici)?
• How can we compare these complex structures across languages?
• Which languages allow combination A, B, or C?
• Is there a correlation between word order and the type of complex predication?
• Are certain geographical areas more prone to have complex predicates?
• Are complex predicates universal?
• …
Complex Predicates in Melanesia
• Location of Melanesia
Spin-off Database – Complex Predicates in Melanesia
• Location of Melanesia
• Bird’s Head / Vogelkop / Semenanjung Bomberai
SVCs in Melanesia
• Language families in the New Guinea area, the linguistically most diverse region in the world
Complex Predicates in the Bird’s Head area
• Language families in the New Guinea area, the linguistically most diverse region in the world
❑ Many of these languages need urgent description
❑ Endangerment:
△ = nearly extinct
◇ = moribund
= endangered)
❑ Description status:
green: long or short grammar
orange: grammar sketch
red: phonology/text/wordlist or less
❑ Some of these languages have never been documented
(Arnold 2022)
• Expression of direction:
(6) Batanta (SHWNG, Austronesian): → Is this a complex predicate and/or an

Yen y-a y-u³t d<y>o³g qana¹²nh. adverbial construction?
1SG 1SG-want:FUT 1SG-carry <SG>descend areca
‘I’m going to bring [this] areca nut down [from the tree].’ (Arnold f/c)
(7) Wauyai (SHWNG, Austronesian):

ˈYene ˈy-el y-ut kamˈcu³ ge-ta.
1SG 1SG-descend 1SG-bring areca.nut DEF-DIST
‘I am bringing down that areca nut.’ (Arnold f/c)
(8) Meyah (East Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Ge-orka en beda ge-ocunc gu ge-osu.
2/3DU-carry come then 2/3DU-point to 2/3DU-mother
‘They carried it back and then showed it to their mother.’ (Gravelle 2010a:207)
• Expression of prior-motion predicate serialization (cf. Guillaume & Koch 2021):
(9) Mooi (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Te-feden kemaina t-amu-san nin om.
1SG-arrive because 1SG-come-get 2SG EMPH
‘I came because I (wanted) to meet (lit. come and get) you.’ (Menick 1996:50)
(10) Kalabara (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Nan n-mu n-bet.
2SG 2SG-go 2SG-play
‘You go playing.’ (Purba et al. 1987:72)
→ Is this a complex predicate or two independent clauses?
• Expression of aspect:
(12) Mooi (West Bird’s Head, Papuan): → Is this a complex predicate and/or an
Ta-laagi t-a m-aagi m-ein-s. auxiliary construction?
1SG-woman 1SG-POSS 3SG.F-die 3SG.F-finish-PERF
‘My wife already died.’ (Menick 1996:53)
(13) Hatam (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Noni coi kep dimbou dini.
3SG enter keep door DEM.PROX
‘He/she always enters this door.’ (Reesink 2000:238)

Me-ah emesa.
1PL.EXCL-lie.down be.afraid
‘We are still afraid.’ (Gravelle 2010a:209)
• Expression of associated position (cf. Guillaume & Koch 2021):
(15) Biak (SHWNG, Austronesian): → Is this a complex predicate or two

S-kain us ena mar~mar.. independent clauses?
3PL-sit protect 3PL RED~die
‘They sit down with (i.e. and protect) the corpse.’ (Reesink 2000:239)
(16) Ambel (SHWNG, Austronesian):

Jadi wa-ne ta-kátown ta-tabón bi …
so DEM.CNT-PROX 1PL-sit 1PL-wait just
‘So, these days we just sit and wait …’ (Arnold 2018:447)
(17) Moskona (East Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Eri i-ot i-eregejg(a) ofa.
3PL 3PL-stand 3PL-surround 3SG
‘They were standing around (i.e. surrounding) him/her.’ (Gravelle 2010b:296)
• Expression of instrument:
(18) Sougb (East Bird’s Head, Papuan): → Is this a complex predicate or a

En eic kepta a-tkwa hwej. constructions of a verb + prepositional?
3SG take machete INS-cut.up pig
‘He/she cut up the pig with (i.e. taking) a machete.’ (Reesink 2002a:14)
(19) Hatam (Hatam-Mansim, Papuan):

Nyeni ni-ba micim ni-bi-dat yani.
1PL.EXCL 1PL.EXCL-use spear 1PL.EXCL-INS-pierce 3PL
‘We pierced them with (i.e. using) spears..’ (Reesink 2002a:15)

M-era medeb efeyi m-er-ei mod.
1PL.EXCL-use sago leaf 1PL.EXCL-INS-assemble house
‘We use sago leaves to construct a house.’ (Reesink 2002a:7)
• Expression of resultatives:
(21) Abun (isolate, Papuan): → Is this a complex predicate and/or

An grem buku ne kwop mo nu mit. two independent (small) clauses?
3SG put book DEF die LOC house inside
‘He put the book down inside.’ (Berry & Berry 1999:67)
(22) Maybrat (Maybrat-Karon, Papuan):

Y-ehoh fane m-hai.
3SG.M-hit pig(F) 3SG.F-die
‘He killed the pig dead (i.e. he hit it and it died).’ (Dol 1996:26)
(23) Mansim (Hattam-Mansim, Papuan):

D-iyani nan nə-prot wayi monen.
1SG-push 2SG 2SG-fall hit ground
‘I push you to (lit. fall and hit) the ground.’ (Reesink 2002b:295)
• Prepositional verbs or verbal prepositions?
(24) Tehit (West Bird’s Head, Papuan): → Is this a complex predicate or a

T-aheit t-aq mbol. construction of verb + preposition?
1SG-stay 1SG-be.at house
‘I stay (at) home.’ (Flassy 1991:47)
(25) Seget (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Yakobus w-are di w-ade Yuhannis.
Jacob 3SG.M-be.angry RECIP 3SG.M-be.with John
‘Jacob quarrels with John.’ (Verdizade 2023:12)
(26) Mooi (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

Aa-y-ei n-oosu man-ow.
DU-3PL.HUM-pull 3PL.HUM-move.to seawards-DEM
‘The two of them pulled (the boats) to the sea.’ (Menick 2000:8)
Spin-off Database – Complex Predicates in Melanesia (ComPLETEsia)
• To answer these questions, we will make use of the ComPLETE database
• As a preparation for that, a spin-off database for complex predicates in Melanesia (ComPLETEsia) is being developed
• Focus on complex predicates in Eastern Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia
• Possible outcome:
❑ Detect complex predicate patterns based on morphosyntax, affiliation and geography
❑ Offer hypotheses on possible/impossible complex predicates
❑ Run dependency tests (if language A has X because its structure is Y, should language B also have X because its structure is Y?)
❑ Store the data in an online database (with possible contribution by other linguists?)
• Step 1: Data crawling from various resources
• Stage 2: Import data from secondary sources and analyze them
Access to database
Thank you!
Thank you very much for having attended this seminar!
Thank you!
References
Arnold, L. (2018). A Grammar of Ambel: An Austronesian language of Raja Ampat, west New Guinea. PhD Thesis. Edinburgh: The University of Edinburgh.
——— (f/c). Sketch grammars of Wauyai Ma'ya and Batta: Two undocumented Austronesian languages of Raja Ampat, northwest New Guinea.
Berry, K. & C. Berry (1999). A Description of Abun: A West Papuan language of Irian Jaya. Pacific Linguistics, Series B (Vol. 115). Canberra: The Australian National University.
Christaller, J. G. (1875). A Grammar of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tshi [Chwee, Tw̍i]: Based on the Akuapem Dialect with Reference to the Other (Akan and Fante) Dialects. Basel: Basel
Evangelical Missionary Society.
Dol, P. (1996). Sequences of Verbs in Maybrat. In G. Reesink: Studies in Irian Languages: Part II (pp. 21-40). Jakarta: Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya.
Flassy, D. A. L. (1991). Grammar Sketch of Tehit, a Toror Language: The West Doberai Peninsula New Guinea (Irian Jaya). Thesis. Leiden: Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden.
Gravelle, G. (2010a). Meyah, a language of West Papua, Indonesia. Pacific Linguistics (Vol. 619). Canberra: The Australian National University.
——— (2010b). A Grammar of Moskona: An East Bird’s Head Language of West Papua, Indonesia. PhD Thesis. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Harvey, M. ([1990]). A Sketch Grammar of Kamu. Unpublished manuscript.
Krauße, D. (2021). Towards a Theory of Complex Predicates in Australian and Oceanic Languages: An Analysis of Coverb Constructions in Wagiman and Serial Verb Constructions in Vurës. PhD Thesis.
Newcastle: University of Newcastle.
Krauße, D. & M. Harvey (2021). Complex predication and adverbial modification in Wagiman. Australian Journal of Linguistics 41(1): 96-129.
Menick, R. H. (1996). Verb Sequences in Moi. In G. Reesink: Studies in Irian Languages: Part II (pp. 41-60). Jakarta: Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya.
——— (2000). Moi. In G. Reesink: Studies in Irian Languages: Part II (pp. 7-24). Jakarta: Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya.
Purba, T. T.; L. Animung & J. Lamera (1987). Struktur Bahasa Kalabra (Fonologi). Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
Redden, J. E. (1990). Serial vs. Consecutive Verbs in Walapai. In B. D. Joseph & A. M. Zwicky: When Verbs Collide: Papers from the 1990 Ohio State Mini-Conference on Serial Verbs (pp. 240-246).
Columbus: The Ohio State University.
Reesink, G. (2000). Austronesian Features in a Linguistic Area. In M. Klamer: Proceedings of AFLA7: The Seventh Meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (pp. 231-243). Amsterdam: Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam.
——— (2002a). Languages of the eastern Bird's Head. Pacific Linguistics (Vol. 524). Canberra: The Australian National University.
——— (2002b). Mansim, a lost language of the Bird’s Head. In G. Reesink: Languages of the eastern Bird's Head (pp. 277-340).
Vanhove, M., W. Bisang, A. Malchukov and A. François (2021). ComPLETE: Complex Predicates in Languages: Emergence, Typology, Evolution. Presentation of ComPLETE, a project funded by the ANR and
DFG (2022–2025). Available at https://complete.huma-num.fr.
Verdizade, A. (2023). Prepositional verbs in Seget. Paper presented at the 6th Workshop on the Languages of Papua (WLP6) in Sorong.

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A Bird’s Head view

CNRS-Lattice, ENS–PSL & USN, Paris

Diversity Linguistics Seminar, 23 February 2024, Leipzig

• Introduction to the ComPLETE project

• Introduction to the ComPLETE project

• Bird’s Head languages

(1) Akan (Kwa, Ghana):

(1) Akan (Kwa, Ghana):

(1) Akan (Kwa, Ghana):

• This clause also contains two verbs: wú ‘die’ and mã ‘give’

• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘die for (someone)’

• Which verb determines the subject, which the object?

• What does this combination have to do with giving?

(2) Kamu (Eastern Daly, Australia):

(2) Kamu (Eastern Daly, Australia):

(2) Kamu (Eastern Daly, Australia):

• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘drag here’

• What does this combination have to do with coming?

(3) Hualapai (Cochimi-Yuman, Arizona):

(3) Hualapai (Cochimi-Yuman, Arizona):

(3) Hualapai (Cochimi-Yuman, Arizona):

• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘drag here’

• What does this combination have to do with passing?

(4) Japanese (Japonic, Japan):

(4) Japanese (Japonic, Japan):

(4) Japanese (Japonic, Japan):

• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘go down’

• Why do we even need an extra verb referring to going?

(5) Basque (isolate, France/Spain):

(5) Basque (isolate, France/Spain):

(5) Basque (isolate, France/Spain):

• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘keep growing’

• What does this combination have to do with going?

• Basque is also quite exotic …

(25) Seget (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

• The combined meaning of these verbs is ‘be angry with’

• The common feature of these languages:

• At least 2 verbs can appear in the same clause

• The meanings of the verbs are combined

• The common feature of these languages:

• At least 2 verbs can appear in the same clause

• The meanings of the verbs are combined

• serial verb construction

• light verb construction

• coverb construction different surface structures of a complex predicate

• The project runs from April 2022 to June 2025 (https://complete.huma-num.fr/)

• The questionnaire has been converted into a web-interface (HTML/Javascript) using a

• Definition of the term: A verb-based complex predicate is a grammatical construction

construction in the database

• How does the merger of two verbs work across languages?

• What combinations are possible? What combinations are not possible?

• How can we compare these complex structures across languages?

• Which languages allow combination A, B, or C?

• Are certain geographical areas more prone to have complex predicates?

• Are complex predicates universal?

(6) Batanta (SHWNG, Austronesian): → Is this a complex predicate and/or an

(7) Wauyai (SHWNG, Austronesian):

(8) Meyah (East Bird’s Head, Papuan):

(9) Mooi (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

(10) Kalabara (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

→ Is this a complex predicate or two independent clauses?

(13) Hatam (West Bird’s Head, Papuan):

(14) Meyah (East Bird’s Head, Papuan):

(15) Biak (SHWNG, Austronesian): → Is this a complex predicate or two