Urdu/Hindi Complex Predicates of Motion and the Manner/Result Complementarity
Authors
Annette Hautli-Janisz
University of Konstanz
Abstract
This paper surveys complex predicates of motion in Urdu/Hindi (Hook 1974, Hautli-Janisz 2013), a spatial resultative construction that denotes manner of motion along a path. In particular, I show that the combinatorial possibilities between main verb and light verb are driven by the principles of manner/result complementarity set forth by Levin and Rappaport Hovav (2008, 2013). In order to identify these meaning components in Urdu/Hindi verbs, I propose a set of truth-conditional and syntactic tests that identify manner versus result components in the class of Urdu/Hindi motion verbs. Moreover, I provide an analytical framework that shows how the dichotomy drives the patterns found in this type of complex predicate.
