User:Waahlis/Sandbox/Ris

Morphosyntactic alignment and the core cases

A table of the Ris control and volition distinction in the core arguments, illustrating the two-way distinction in the subject of intransitive clauses.

Ris possess an originally active-stative alignment, which means that the two arguments of transitive verbs, the subject and object, are marked with the agentive case and patientive case respectively. The agent of an intransitive verb, however, can be marked with either. The agentive and patientive cases denote a different degree of control and volition with the arguments. Depending on the intransitive verb, different cases would be used.

It later developed the so-called fluid-S subtype, which infers that any intransitive verb can use both the patientive and agentive cases, wich each grant a different degree of control of the verb.

Patientive case

The patientive, or undergoing case, (pat) is the case used to indicate both the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb, in addition to being used for the citation form of nouns.

The patientive is used on low control agents, and experiencers of actions - neither of which have much influence on the verb. Colloquially, the patientive can be used on agents of transitive verbs to indicate a degree of innocence, lack of control of the event.

Ānkouro.
/ˈaːŋkʊrɔ/
ānkour-o
to trip.ACT.IND.PRFV-PAT.1.SG
I fell.

Sausani hentai inistin.
/ˈsawsanɪ ˈçɛntaj ˈɪnɪstɪn/
sausa-ni in-ist-in
pig.III-PAT.DC okay.ADJ.PAT to exist-ACT.IND.IPFV-3.PAT.DC
Okay squirrel soups exist.

Tagērras kērax.
/ˈtageːrras ˈkeːraks/
tagēr-r-as kērax-∅
to hit-ACT.IMP.PRFV-2.SG.AGT bird.I-PAT.SG
Hit the bird.

Anēr, ouinēstra teskho...
/ˈaːŋkʊrɔ/
anēr-∅ ouinēstra-∅ teskh-o
mother.I-VOC.SG window.II-PAT.SG to smash.ACT.IND.PRFV-PAT.1.SG
Mother, I happened to smash the window...

Agentive case

The agentative (agt) case is used to mark the subject, or agent, of transitive verbs. The agentive marks high control, volitional agents of verbs.

Mau katēro kterma.
/maw kaˈteːrɔ ˈktɛrma/
mau katēr-∅-o kterma-∅
1.AGT.SG to write-ACT.IND.PRFV-IN.PAT.1.SG letter.III-PAT.SG
I am writing a letter.

He tethoūris.
/ˈhɛ tɛˈtʰʊːrɪ/
he te~thoūr-is
2.AGT.SG ACT.IND.ITR~to run-1.AGT.SG
He is running around.

Ānkouros...!
/ˈaːŋkʊros/
ānkour-∅-os
to trip.ACT.IND.PRFV-AGT.1.SG
I purposely trip...!

Unaccusatives and unergatives

An illustration of the Ris alignment of verbal arguments, as a function of control, unergatives and unaccusatives.

Not all intransitive verbs are marked as described above. This only applies to Ris unaccusative verbs. The Ris unergative verbs instead inverse the marking, using the agentive as a default, low-control marking, and the patientive for high-control subjects.

An unaccusative verb is a verb that has an experiencer as its subject, that is; the syntactic subject is not a semantic agent. When the subject is marked with the agentive, the agency, control and volition is increased, and it in effect becomes unergative. It gives a sense of intent, and trying.

Ekrasi mākhina.
/ˈɛkrasːi maːˈkʰɪna/
ekras-i mākhina-∅
to crash.ACT.IND.PRFV-PAT.3.SG
The car crashed.

Anēr psānisti.
/ˈaneːr psaːˈnɪstɪ/
anēr-∅ psān-ist-ɪ
mother.I-PAT.SG to cry.ACT.IND-IMPV-PAT.3.SG
Mother cries.

Ngaos.
/ŋgaˈos/
nga-os
to sleep.ACT.IND.PRFV-AGT.1.SG
I am trying to sleep.

Unergatives are intransitive verbs and have a semantic agent as their subject. When the subject is marked with the agentive case, the verb almost unaccusative, lowering the volition, control and agency with the syntactic subject. Thus, an unergative in the agentive conveys a feeling of involuntary actions, or trying.

Antiou rhaistos...
/ˈantjʊ r̥ʰaˈɔs/
anti-ou rha-ist-os
night.IV-LOC.DC to talk.ACT-IND.IMPV-INV.AGT.1.SG
I sleep-talk in the night.

Ti rhās?
/tɪ ˈr̥ʰaːs/
ti rha-as
what.PAT.SG to talk.ACT.IND.PRFV-INV.AGT.1.SG
What are you trying to say?

Kinizas, kinizas!
/kɪnɪˈd͡zas kɪnɪˈd͡zas/
kiniz-as
to drive.ACT.IND.PRFV-INV.AGT.1.SG
You're driving, you're driving! (How is it possible?)