Postpositions and agreement in Rajasthani languages: A comparative analysis of alignment features in Marwari and Harauti

Abstract

Alignment differences in two Rajasthani languages, Marwari and Harauti, illustrate the distinct functioning of two mechanisms that determine alignment, case marking and agreement. In both languages, the agreement pattern is consistently ergative in sentences constructed with a perfect finite verb form. However, the argument marking pattern differs between the two. Arguments in Rajasthani are either unmarked or marked with a postposition. In the related language Hindi, postpositional markings have been well-identified as case marking. If this were also the situation in Rajasthani, the marking would be accusative. In Marwari, such alignment would form an exception to the prototypical definition of ergativity, which says that ergative agreement is not (or rarely) combined with accusative case marking. To solve this contradistinction, I argue that the argument marking postposition nai in Marwari and Harauti, contrary to Hindi, does not display all the features of the traditional definition of case marking; for instance, the postposition does not indicate a relationship between the head it marks and the verb, but rather serves other purposes. In Marwari, the occurrence of the postposition is subject to Differential Object Marking based on semantics, and in Harauti the postposition is even less of a case marker, as the same postposition may be used for A and O. This points to the conclusion that postpositional marking in Rajasthani is first and foremost a semantic marking that adds an extra dimension to the argument it marks and has no influence on the relationship between the argument and the verb. The latter relationship is expressed by the agreement pattern, which fulfills a distinguishing function.