Dative subject in Canela

Abstract

A set of predicates (nominal and verbal) can occur in constructions that express mental or physical states in Canela. In these constructions, with one or two arguments, the experiencer is overtly marked by the dative postposition mã: (i) [Experiencer_Dative Predicate]; (ii) [Experiencer_Dative Stimulus Predicate]. In this paper, I present the different predicates that can occur in constructions (i) and (ii): nouns and monovalent, bivalent, and trivalent verbs. I also identify the pattern found in these constructions and evaluate the grammatical condition of the dative phrase. The syntactic tests applied to the constructions include reflexivization, control and deletion in coordinate and subordinate clauses, and switch-reference. The properties of behavior and control displayed by the dative postpositional phrase show that constructions (i) and (ii) share many of the syntactic characteristics of verbal sentences. Considering that the properties of behavior and control are the requirements for the category of subject, it can be concluded that in these constructions, the dative postpositional phrase is the subject, not an oblique. Such evidence is sufficient to argue in favor of the grammatical category of subject as a morphologically heterogeneous category in Canela, but at the same time is unified by its syntactic behaviors.

Keywords
Grammatical relations; Subject; Non-prototypical argument