Satish Kumar Nadimpalli1* & Sujani Tata2
1Associate Professor, Dept. of English and Foreign Languages, Sagi Rama Krishnam Raju Engineering College (A), Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India. *Corresponding author.
2Associate Professor, Dept. of Basic Sciences, Sri Vasavi Engineering College (A), Tadepalligudem, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 16, Issue 3, 2024. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v16n3.11g
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Abstract
Dravidian languages, spoken mostly in the Southern part of India, abound in multi-verbal constructions, which are now called Complex Predicates (CPs). A CP is a multiword compound that acts as a single verb with a Light Verb (LV) as an integral part. LVs significantly determine the argument structure and the meaning of the entire CP construction. They contribute a wide range of semantic values in combination with the preverbal elements of the CPs (Hook 1991, 1993, Butt 1995). Regarding Noun (N) +LV CPs, all N+LV constructions are not CPs. Noun Incorporation (NI) structures are a similar and wide phenomenon present across language families. These NIs are also composed of the same N+V constituents. Baker (1988) assumes a set of defining characteristics for NIs, which falls short for languages like Telugu and Kannada that have rich morpho-syntactic features, allowing multi-word constructions. The present study proposes some more criteria for differentiating CPs from NIs. The composition of the argument structure is also determined by the combinatorial possibilities of the constituents in an N +LV CP. The present study will also examine whether the N+LV type can be subcategorized for clausal arguments in Dravidian Languages, with Telugu data serving as a case in point. Moreover, it finds out what clauses the N+LV CPs subcategorize for and how the LVs play a role in determining the transitive value and argument/thematic structure of the whole sentence. This study would eventually contribute to the universality of CPs in particular and to the Universal Grammar at large.
Keywords: Argument Composition, Complex Predicates, Light Verbs, preverbal noun, Telugu.
| Conflicts of Interest: The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Ethical Consideration: Informed consent was obtained from all the participants of the study. Funding: No funding was received for this research. Article History: Received: 20 August 2024. Revised: 28 November 2024. Accepted: 29 November 2024. First published: 30 November 2024. Copyright: © 2024 by the author/s. License: License Aesthetix Media Services, India. Distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Published by: Aesthetix Media Services, India Citation: Nadimpalli, S. K. & Tata, S. (2024). Argument Patterns in Telugu Complex Predicates: Noun + Light Verb Combinations. Rupkatha Journal 16:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v16n3.11g |
