Hypothetical manner constructions in world-wide perspective

Abstract

Similatives (e.g. she swims like a fish) have been the focus of a number of investigations (e.g. Treis & Vanhove 2017). However, hypothetical manner constructions (e.g. She treats me as if I were a stranger) have received little attention cross-linguistically. Therefore, our typological knowledge of this type of comparative clause is still in its infancy. This paper offers an analysis of the cross-linguistic variation in the expression of hypothetical manner constructions in a sample of 61 languages. Among the most common strategies found are similative ‘like’ markers and free adverbial conjunctions. Also discussed are other rare strategies, which seem to show clear areal patterns. In particular, some languages from Mesoamerica use correlative words, some Australian languages use counterfactual mood markers and some African languages employ head nouns meaning ‘thing’. This paper also explores whether hypothetical manner constructions show formal resemblances to other constructions.