As Abesabesi does not have a case marking system for core arguments, subject
and object marking is based on word order. The preverbal argument position
is reserved for the subject, while the postverbal position is reserved for
one or two objects. In clauses with an intransitive verb, the subject is the
only argument and can have an agent-like (Example 8.1 a)
or a patient-like (Example 8.1 b) role.
In clauses with transitive verbs, the subject is the more agent-like
argument, while the object is the more patient-like argument.
Verbs for bodily states and feelings are a special case. Such verbs are
called "active body state verbs" ABSV
henceforth. From their syntactic structure, these body states or feelings
are active instances that superimpose the feeling onto a patient. A noun for
the body state or feeling (or in some cases a non-human pronoun) occupies
the subject position of an ABSV and the
experiencer occupies the object position.
In clauses with ditransitive verbs, the position immediately after the verb
is reserved for the indirect object and the second postverbal position is
reserved for the direct object. Abesabesi is thus a primary object language
in the sense of Dryer (1986), in that the indirect object of a ditransitive
verb holds the same position as a direct object of a transitive clause.
Therefore, instead of distinguishing direct and indirect objects, the terms
"primary" and "secondary" objects will be used.
Any object directly following the verb will be called "primary
object" (PO) and objects in the second postverbal position will be
called "secondary object" (SO). Example 8.4
shows two utterances with ditransitive verbs. In Example 8.4 a, for instance, the recipient ès
'
1
PL.OBJ
' immediately follows the verb and is thus called the primary
object. The theme
ɛmũ
'money'
holds the second postverbal position and is
thus the secondary object.
Other optional arguments are added through participant-adding auxiliaries.
These auxiliaries take primary objects and mark a particular thematic role.
Their position can be pre- (Example 8.5 a) or postverbal
(Example 8.5 b).
| 8.5 | a |
What has been called the dative object is in fact also the primary object of
the auxiliary
ʃa
. However, dative objects differ from other auxiliary verb
constructions on two points. Firstly, it is obligatory in clauses with the
transitive verb
gbà
'put'
, which are equivalent to clauses with the ditransitive verb
ki
'give'
.
And secondly, its pronominalized form has formed an incomplete paradigm set
through contraction (see Section 6.2.6).
Subjects and objects are also distinguished in pronouns. There are two
different paradigms for subject and object pronouns (see Section 6.2.1 and 6.2.2). Object pronouns
do not distinguish primary from secondary objects. If the primary and
secondary object are both pronominalized, they are distinguished through
word order with the secondary object following the primary object.