The order of OVX and the argument-adjunct distinction

Authors

  • Hisao Tokizaki Sapporo University
  • Yasutomo Kuwana Asahikawa Medical University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5708

Keywords:

word order, oblique, typology, complement, adjunct

Abstract

As for the order of verb (V), object (O), and oblique (X), Dryer (with Gensler) (2013) finds the asymmetry between VO and OV languages in terms of the position of X: VO languages are almost exclusively VOX, and OV languages are of all three types (XOV, OXV, and OVX). Hawkins (2008) argues that “[t]he OVX languages should be more head-initial and have head ordering correlations more like those of VO” (e.g., preposition: OVX 33%, VO 86%). However, we claim that high percentages of OVX languages have head-final orders unlike VO languages in complement-head orders (e.g., postposition: OVX 67%, VO 14%). We also claim that OVX languages have more head-initial orders than XOV and OXV languages in head-adjunct orders (e.g., Noun-Adjective: OVX 100%, XOV 56%, OXV 67%).  We propose the universal tendency to complement-head-adjunct order.

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Published

2024-05-15

How to Cite

Tokizaki, Hisao, and Yasutomo Kuwana. 2024. “The Order of OVX and the Argument-Adjunct Distinction”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 9 (1): 5708. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5708.