The emergence of goal-orientation

Abstract

The category ‘goal orientation’ tells the listener to interpret the event from the point of view of the goal. The goal could be either an argument, such as object, indirect object, or a directional locative complement. In some languages, the marker of goal orientation is used when the clause does not overtly code a specific goal. The Chapter defines the category ‘goal orientation’ and describes some motivations for the emergence of the goal orientation as an overtly coded function. Two motivations are considered: the initial state representing the point of view of the subject and the initial state that does not code any point of view. To demonstrate this cause-effect relationship in the emergence of functions, the Chapter first demonstrates that the function ‘goal orientation’ is encoded in the grammatical system of some languages. The Chapter also explains why the function goal orientation emerged in some languages but no others.