Two possible universals: The Major Biactant Construction; the twofold notion of subject

Abstract

AbstractAre grammatical relations universals or only convenient comparative notions? In this article, it is claimed that, behind current grammatical notions, there might exist universal finer-grained relationships. Two likely universal invariants are presented as hypotheses: (i) The Major Biactant Construction, defined as the construction expressing prototypical action in any language, is also universally used as a model pattern for the expression of other kinds of events. (ii) The traditional notion of subject (in accusative languages) is a conflation of two different functions, predication subject and reference subject, which are separated both in ergative languages and in affective/experiential constructions. These hypotheses have to be systematically tested by extensive investigation. After verification, being located at the core of the syntax of any language, they will entail consequences of the utmost importance for typology.