Grammatical relations : the evidence against their necessity and universality

194 Pages·1991·1.297 MB·English

by  D N Shankara Bhat

Editorial Statement
Theoretical Linguistics
Chief Editor
Professor John Hawkins, University of Southern California
Consultant Editors
Professor Joseph Aoun, University of Southern California
Professor Bernard Comrie, University of Southern California
Dr Teun Hoekstra, University of Leiden
Dr Richard Hudson, University of College London
Professor James Hurford, University of Edinburgh
Professor Douglas Pulleybank, University of Ottowa
This series does not specialize in any one area of language study, nor does it limit itself to
any one theoretical approach. Synchronic and diachronic descriptive studies, either
syntactic, semantic, phonological or morphological, are welcomed, as are more
theoretical ‘model-building’ studies, and studies in sociolinguistics or psycholinguistics.
The criterion for a work’s acceptance is the quality of its contribution to the relevant
field. All texts published advance our understanding of the nature of language in areas of
substantial interest to major sectors of the linguistic research community. Traditional
scholarly standards, such as clarity of presentation, factual and logical soundness of
argumentation and a thorough and reasoned orientation to other relevant work, are also
required.
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF WORD ORDER PATTERNS IN OLD ENGLISH
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THE SEMANTICS OF THE MODAL AUXILIARIES
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ANAPHORA AND SEMANTIC INTERPRETATION
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WORD MEANING AND BELIEF
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HIERARCHIES, TARGETS AND CONTROLLERS: AGREEMENT PATTERNS IN
SLAVIC
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BASQUE PHONOLOGY
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BASIC WORD ORDER: FUNCTIONAL PRINCIPLES
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ANAPHORIC RELATIONS IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH
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THE ENGLISH IMPERATIVE
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STYLISTICS AND PSYCHOLOGY: INVESTIGATIONS OF FOREGROUNDING
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ALLOMORPHY IN INFLEXION
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THE SYNTAX OF COORDINATION
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WELSH SYNTAX: A GOVERNMENT-BINDING APPROACH
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EXISTENTIAL SENTENCES: THEIR STRUCTURE AND MEANING
Michael Lumsden
WORD ORDER RULES
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CONTEXT AND PRESUPPOSITION
Rob A.van der Sandt

THE PHONOLOGY-MORPHOLOGY INTERFACE
Jolanta Szpyra
ACCESSING NOUN-PHRASE ANTECEDENTS
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OLD HITTITE SENTENCE STRUCTURE
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Grammatical Relations
Grammatical relations and the closely related notion of transitivity are central to almost
all models of linguistic theory. If languages are discovered in which neither of these play
such a role it will be necessary to reconsider some of the most basic assumptions of these
theories. This book examines in detail the grammars of two different Indian languages,
Kannada and Manipuri, and shows that grammatical relations are neither necessary nor
universal.
Languages such as English seem to require grammatical relations like subject and
object. Professor Bhat argues that this is due to the fact that the representations of
semantic and pragmatic relations in these languages are not distinct. In Kannada they are
distinct, and for this reason Kannada does not need grammatical relations when its clause
structure is described. Having disposed of the claim that grammatical relations are
necessary, Professor Bhat then turns to their universality. It has been argued that even
though such relations are not needed in all languages, the basis of these relations—
transitivity—can be used in all languages to describe clause structures. Professor Bhat
argues that in the case of Manipuri, it is not transitivity but volitionality that plays a
central role in the structuring of clauses. In consequence, transitivity cannot adequately
describe the language, and grammatical relations cannot even be postulated as abstract
entities.
The importance of grammatical relations in linguistic theory makes this provocative
hypothesis of interest to all linguistic theorists. Many theorists will find their approach
addressed, as Professor Bhat has examined grammatical relations from the point of view
of several linguistic theories. In addition, logicians and philosophers will find fascinating
a re-interpretation of the concept of ‘subject’, and scholars working on Indian languages
will find invaluable the new examinations of the two languages which form the core of
this study.
D.N.S.Bhat is a Professor and UGC Research Scientist at the Central Institute of Indian
Languages, Mysore, India. His publications include Sound Change, Pronominalization,
Referents of Noun Phrases, Identification, and An Introduction to Linguistics.
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Grammatical Relations
The evidence against their necessity and
universality
D.N.S.Bhat

London and New York
First published 1991
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1991 D.N.S.Bhat
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Bhat, D.N.S. (Darbhe Narayana Shankara)
Grammatical relations: the evidence against their

necessity and universality.—(Theoretical linguistics).
1. Languages. Grammar
I. Title II. Series
415
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Shankara Bhat, D.N.
Grammatical relations: the evidence against their necessity and
universality/D.N.S.Bhat.
p. cm.—(Theoretical linguistics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Grammar, Comparative and general. 2. South Asia—Languages—
Gram mar. I. Title. II. Series: Theoretical linguistics
P151.S47 1991
415–dc20 90–24329
ISBN 0-203-41365-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-72189-6 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-06323-X (Print Edition)
Contents
Preface x
List of abbreviations xi
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Contemporary position 1
1.2 Two questions 2
1.3 The need for grammatical relations 2
1.4 The primacy of transitivity 3
1.5 Two appendices 4
Part I
Evidence against the necessity of grammatical relations
2 The need for grammatical relations 8
2.1 Differentiating between semantic and pragmatic relations 8
2.2 Establishment of grammatical relations 14
2.3 Excluding pragmatic factors 17
3 Semantics and pragmatics in Kannada 28
3.1 Preliminaries 28
3.2 Representation of semantic relations 28
3.3 Representation of pragmatic relations 47
3.4 Semantically constrained processes 59
3.5 Pragmatically constrained processes 78
3.6 Conclusion 88
Part II

Evidence against the universality of grammatical relations
4 Universality of grammatical relations 92
4.1 Preliminaries 92
4.2 The notion of transitivity 93
4.3 Kinds of intransitive and transitive bases 97
4.4 The notion of verb phrase and of external argument 102
5 Transitivity and volitionality in Manipuri 107
5.1 Preliminaries 107
5.2 The use of case suffixes 108
5.3 Changing the relative order of arguments 121
5.4 Conflicts between transitivity and volitionality 124
5.5 Evidence against an obligatory external argument 134
6 Theoretical implications 144
Appendix 1 Dative noun phrases as underlying subjects in Kannada 149
Appendix 2 Grammatical relations in Malayalam 159
References 170
Index 174