Georgian verbal morphosyntax: analyzing the idiosyncrasy of the so-called deponent verbs in georgian

Abstract

Deponent verbs, usually classified in Georgian as Class 2 verbs, consisting of accusative and passive verbs (HARRIS, 1981), raise morphological and syntactical questions that interact not only with their apparent idiosyncratic relation between a passive morphology and active semantics, but also regarding the Georgian verbal system as a whole. Thus, with regard to their morphology, we intend to question and investigate the status of the pre-radical vowel -i- as a passive morpheme in deponent verbs, present in the formation of the prefixal passive verbs of Class 2, mentioned above. We assume that the pre-radical vowel -i- in these deponent verbs is not behaving the same way as in other verbs of passive morphology. Another aspect that we will investigate and is related to the previous one is the alternation between the pre-radical vowels -i- and -e-, responsible for marking an argumental change on the verb. What caught our interest is the fact that its occurrence is not uniform among the deponent verbs themselves and also among the other passive verbs of the same Class. Finally, with regard to their syntax, we will analyze the argumental changes triggered by these deponent verbs, such as object demotion in some of them, and the increase in the number of arguments by the deponent verbs that, according to TUITE (2002), allow the -i- and -e- alternation. As theoretical support for this analysis, we use the theoretical assumptions of four authors: AMIRIDZE (2006), HARRIS (1981), HEWITT (1995) e TUITE (2002, 2007). Thus, with this research, we hope to answer these questions by formulating hypotheses to provide a better understanding of the morphosyntactic relations within the Georgian verbal system.(AU)