Secondary Predication in Q’anjob’al (Maya): Structure and Semantic Types

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of a Q’anjob’al secondary predicate construction (SPC) that surfaces with or without a light verb and encodes depictive and end-state meanings. Regardless of the light verb, the SPC is a finite monoclause in structure, distribution, and intonation, but the secondary predicate is an uninflected nonverbal predicate and the primary predicate is a nonfinite verb. I propose that the SPC has the syntax of a complex clause; the finite light verb is the matrix verb (which can be elided), the primary predicate is a nonfinite complement of the light verb (and a semantic main verb), and the secondary predicate left-adjoins to the light verb. Regarding the meaning, the depictive and end-state distinction is semantic and not structural; the end-state forms a semantic complex predicate as evidenced in its argument and event structures, but depictives may involve a process of linking. The end-state semantics has not been reported in other Mayan languages.