On the formation of complex predicates in Bengali

Abstract

AbstractIn this article we show, in the light of Bengali data, how verbal constructions known as Complex predicates can be handled in grammar. These constructions are generally described as constituted of two items, the former chosen among various categories of words: noun, verbal forms, adjective, preposition, etc., and the latter, a normally inflected verb. We argue that such constructions are words, and it is preferable to handle them exclusively in morphology. We assume, in the light of Whole Word Morphology, that a Word Formation Strategy may become part of the morphological module of a speaker-hearer if her lexica contains a set of semantically related word-pairs based on the same (i) formal contrast and (ii) categorial affiliation. Hence the individual mental lexica of Bengali speaker-hearers contain sets of pairs of words constituted of simple and complex predicates (such aslikhe‘he writes’ ~likhejay‘he continues to write’, etc.). These pairs license particular WFSs (such as /Xe/v,3sg prs↔ /Xejay/v,3sg prs) which can be activated as needed, to form, remember or retrieve other complex predicates such asbolejay‘he continues to speak’. Therefore, there is no need to list each one of them separately in a mental lexicon.