Complex Predicates in q’anjob’al (Maya): The Verbal Resultative1

Abstract

This paper describes a resultative construction in Q’anjob’al that has not been previously described in Mayan. It occurs in languages of the Q’anjob’al group and Chuj. This construction encodes a resultative semantics through two verbs, where the first verb causes the change of state denoted by the second verb. It resembles serial verbs, because the result is a verb and not a stative word. I propose a complex predicate analysis of this resultative; it has the morphosyntax and structure of simple clauses, the verbs map into a single cause–change-of-state event (where the first verb denotes the cause and manner and the second verb the change of state), and the argument structure involves argument fusion. It follows transitivity and lexical-semantic restrictions; the first verb is transitive and denotes a process and the second verb is a lexical intransitive and denotes a change of state. I argue that the lexical-semantic restrictions are predictable from event structure and the transitivity restrictions from the argument realization.