Abstract
AbstractArgument coding splits such as differential (= split) object marking and split ergative marking have long been known to be universal tendencies, but the generalizations have not been formulated in their full generality before. In particular, ditransitive constructions have rarely been taken into account, and scenario splits have often been treated separately. Here I argue that all these patterns can be understood in terms of the usual association of role rank (highly ranked A and R, low-ranked P and T) and referential prominence (locuphoric person, animacy, definiteness, etc.). At the most general level, the role-reference association universal says that deviations from usual associations of role rank and referential prominence tend to be coded by longer grammatical forms. In other words, A and R tend to be referentially prominent in language use, while P and T are less prominent, and when less usual associations need to be expressed, languages often require special coding by means of additional flags (case-markers and adpositions) or additional verbal voice coding (e.g., inverse or passive markers). I argue that role-reference associations are an instance of the even more general pattern of form-frequency correspondences, and that the resulting coding asymmetries can all be explained by frequency-based predictability and coding efficiency.
Highlights
Argument coding splits such as differential (= split) object marking and split ergative marking have long been known to be universal tendencies, but the generalizations have not been formulated in their full generality before
(5) The role-reference association universal (Universal 1) Deviations from usual associations of role rank and referential prominence tend to be coded by longer grammatical forms if the coding is asymmetric
Scenario splits in ditransitive constructions have become quite famous since the 1990s, but the discussion has almost exclusively centred on person-conditioned special R-coding (Section 7.1), and has almost exclusively taken place in the generative literature
Summary
The coding of core arguments depends on their semantic or syntactic role, and on their referential prominence in one way or another, i.e., on animacy, definiteness, person prominence, and so on. Argument coding splits may depend on the referential-prominence properties within a scenario. The present paper provides an overview of such coding splits in core arguments (A, P, T, R) and argues that a wide variety of splits, both in monotransitive and in ditransitive constructions, are best understood as special cases of the high-level generalization in (5). This paper makes the ambitious proposal that by considering all these constructions together, we have the chance of unifying a wide variety of phenomena under a single generalization, the rolereference association universal In addition to this primary goal, I will discuss the explanation of the generalizations, arguing that the role-reference association universal is a special case of a still more general pattern, the form-frequency correspondence universal of Haspelmath (2021). Special coding by longer forms needs to be used only when a construction deviates from these usual associations
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