Lvs Cross-Linguistically: Universality Vs Parameterization

Abstract

South Asian languages abound in complex verb formations such as Complex Predicate (CP hereafter) construction. CPs consist of two or more grammatical elements which finally function as a single verbal predicate (Butt & Ramchand 2001). A CP is a multi-word phenomenon functioning as a single verb with its own acquired argument composition. One of the constituents in a CP construction is the Light Verb (LV hereafter), which plays a crucial role in the valence value or argument composition, transitivity and also case.  LVs exhibit commonalities as well as differences depending on which the languages vary from one another or parameterize.

LVs exhibit certain commonalities as well as differences across languages depending on which the languages vary from one another or parameterize. The present paper adumbrates on how languages parameterize with respect to syntax and semantics of LVs and to what extent LVs contribute to the syntax and semantics of CPs.  For the analysis, the study examines data mainly from Telugu and Kannada, Dravidian Languages spoken in Southern India, and in order to provide supporting evidence for the observations, the relevant data from Tamil, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Urdu and Persian (Indo Iranian) is also taken for the analysis on LVs.