Yeh, Li-Chen: The Mismatch between Morphological Symmetricality and Syntactic Ergativity in Pazeh
This paper discusses the interaction and the mismatch between a syntactically ergative system and morphologically symmetrical markings in Kulon-Pazeh (Austronesian language, ISO: UUN, Taiwan, henceforth Pazeh), specifically referring to the effect of voice morphology on the surface realisation of arguments. Based on the evidence from Pazeh, I argue that there is no one-to-one correspondence of symmetricality or correlation between syntax and morphology. At the morphology level, Pazeh demonstrates symmetricality for the markings on the verbs in actor voice, undergoer voice and instrumental voice, but at the syntactic level, the surface realisation of arguments shows that the system is, in fact, ergative, deeply asymmetrical. This study shows that the operation of Pazeh voice system contains a mismatch between two different, but co-present parallel structures which can be best illustrated using Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) framework. The finding contributes to the theoretical discussions on voice alternations and the alignment system of Austronesian languages of Taiwan.
December 22, 2022 |
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