Verb + verb compound and serial verb construction in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and English

Abstract

This paper investigates whether V+V combinations in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and English could be classified as either serial verb constructions (SVCs) or V+V compounds. Through applying the cross-linguistic criteria of SVC, which have been established in the relevant literature, it seems that V+V combinations in JA and what have been considered as V+V compounds in English satisfy all the criteria of SVC. The analysis shows that the criteria found in the literature to identify compounds and SVCs show a great deal of overlap, especially with regard to the fact that both types of construction are inseparable. We argue that the criteria discussed in this paper and in much of the literature to identify SVCs are necessary, but insufficient, conditions for SVC-hood. Alternatively, we propose that as far as JA and English are concerned, SVC and V+V compounds may exist on a continuum.