Double-finite Serial Verbs in Sanskrit and later Indo-Aryan

Abstract

Abstract Steever (1988. The serial verb formation in the Dravidian languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass) introduced to South Asian linguistics the notion “Serial Verb” – a Dravidian construction in which two morphologically finite verbs agree in person and number features in the same sentence. I show that similar “double-finite” structures are found in Sanskrit/Indo-Aryan, although details differ. One double-finite construction, inherited from Proto-Indo-European, does not seem to have continued in the post-Vedic language, but others do, and similar structures occur in Modern Indo-Aryan languages. While the historical developments are relatively clear for early Indo-Aryan, from Vedic down to Pāli, there are questions about whether the double-finite constructions of Modern Indo-Aryan are inherited , since comparable structures have not been noted in late Middle Indo-Aryan Apabhraṁśa, the near-ancestor of (peninsular) Modern Indo-Aryan. In the conclusion I discuss alternatives to Modern Indo-Aryan inheritance, including areal and typological factors and the proposal by Milizia (2018. Sul presente neoindoarico a doppio verbo finito. Atti del Sodalizio Glottologico Milanese 12(n.s.). 93–111) that the perhaps most widespread Modern Indo-Aryan double-finite construction results from analogical developments. (Unfortunately, the latter proposal does not account for the other Modern Indo-Aryan double-finite constructions.)