Angelika Muth Ghent University

Subjecthood in Armenian

Angelika Muth

Ghent University

What characterizes a subject in Armenian?

Coding properties?

caseword orderagreement

Behavioural properties?

Semantic propertiess?

Pragmatic properties?

What characterizes a subject in Armenian?

Coding properties?

caseword orderagreement

Behavioural properties?

Semantic propertiess?

Pragmatic properties?

What characterizes a subject in Armenian?

Coding properties?

case

word orderagreement

Behavioural properties?

Semantic propertiess?

Pragmatic properties?

What characterizes a subject in Armenian?

Coding properties?

caseword order

agreement

Behavioural properties?

Semantic propertiess?

Pragmatic properties?

What characterizes a subject in Armenian?

Coding properties?

caseword orderagreement

Behavioural properties?

Semantic propertiess?

Pragmatic properties?

What characterizes a subject in Armenian?

Coding properties?

caseword orderagreement

Behavioural properties?

Semantic propertiess?

Pragmatic properties?

A few facts on Armenian

Indo-European languageAttested since early 5th c. ADWritten in an own alphabet

Western Eastern

Old – Classical Armenian(from early 5th c.)

Middle Cilician –(12th - 18th c.)

Modern Standard Western Armenian Standard Eastern Armenian(from 18th c.) (from 18th c.)

Diaspora Republic of Armenia

A few facts on ArmenianIndo-European language

Attested since early 5th c. ADWritten in an own alphabet

Western Eastern

Old – Classical Armenian(from early 5th c.)

Middle Cilician –(12th - 18th c.)

Modern Standard Western Armenian Standard Eastern Armenian(from 18th c.) (from 18th c.)

Diaspora Republic of Armenia

A few facts on ArmenianIndo-European languageAttested since early 5th c. AD

Written in an own alphabet

Western Eastern

Old – Classical Armenian(from early 5th c.)

Middle Cilician –(12th - 18th c.)

Modern Standard Western Armenian Standard Eastern Armenian(from 18th c.) (from 18th c.)

Diaspora Republic of Armenia

A few facts on ArmenianIndo-European languageAttested since early 5th c. ADWritten in an own alphabet

Western Eastern

Old – Classical Armenian(from early 5th c.)

Middle Cilician –(12th - 18th c.)

Modern Standard Western Armenian Standard Eastern Armenian(from 18th c.) (from 18th c.)

Diaspora Republic of Armenia

A few facts on ArmenianIndo-European languageAttested since early 5th c. ADWritten in an own alphabet

Western Eastern

Old – Classical Armenian(from early 5th c.)

Middle Cilician –(12th - 18th c.)

Modern Standard Western Armenian Standard Eastern Armenian(from 18th c.) (from 18th c.)

Diaspora Republic of Armenia

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructionsword order (!)pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructionsword order (!)pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructionsword order (!)pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructionsword order (!)pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructions

word order (!)pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructionsword order (!)

pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructionsword order (!)pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Classical Armenian as a corpus language

Tradition starts with the NT translation (5th c. AD)

Translated from a Greek (Syriac) original

Significant influence on all later written Armenian

Challenge: Influence of the Greek language, especially in

syntactic constructionsword order (!)pragmatics

The ”best” examples are therefore those deviating from theGreek original

Subjecthood in Armenian – Traditional view

What characterizes a subject according to the reference grammars?(Jensen 1959, Meillet 1913, Schmitt 1981)

Coding principles:

Nominative (ayr ’man’, ayr-k\ ’men’)

But pro-drop of the verbal subject (sire ’(s)he/it loves’)Personal pronouns only in emphatic/contrastive use (Latin,Greek)

Agreement in finite verbs (active / passive voice)

No specific position (SVO, SOV, VSO, OVS)

Subjecthood in Armenian – Traditional view

What characterizes a subject according to the reference grammars?(Jensen 1959, Meillet 1913, Schmitt 1981)

Coding principles:

Nominative (ayr ’man’, ayr-k\ ’men’)

But pro-drop of the verbal subject (sire ’(s)he/it loves’)Personal pronouns only in emphatic/contrastive use (Latin,Greek)

Agreement in finite verbs (active / passive voice)

No specific position (SVO, SOV, VSO, OVS)

Subjecthood in Armenian – Traditional view

What characterizes a subject according to the reference grammars?(Jensen 1959, Meillet 1913, Schmitt 1981)

Coding principles:

Nominative (ayr ’man’, ayr-k\ ’men’)

But pro-drop of the verbal subject (sire ’(s)he/it loves’)Personal pronouns only in emphatic/contrastive use (Latin,Greek)

Agreement in finite verbs (active / passive voice)

No specific position (SVO, SOV, VSO, OVS)

Subjecthood in Armenian – Traditional view

What characterizes a subject according to the reference grammars?(Jensen 1959, Meillet 1913, Schmitt 1981)

Coding principles:

Nominative (ayr ’man’, ayr-k\ ’men’)

But pro-drop of the verbal subject (sire ’(s)he/it loves’)Personal pronouns only in emphatic/contrastive use (Latin,Greek)

Agreement in finite verbs (active / passive voice)

No specific position (SVO, SOV, VSO, OVS)

Subjecthood in Armenian – Traditional view

What characterizes a subject according to the reference grammars?(Jensen 1959, Meillet 1913, Schmitt 1981)

Coding principles:

Nominative (ayr ’man’, ayr-k\ ’men’)

But pro-drop of the verbal subject (sire ’(s)he/it loves’)Personal pronouns only in emphatic/contrastive use (Latin,Greek)

Agreement in finite verbs (active / passive voice)

No specific position (SVO, SOV, VSO, OVS)

Subjecthood in Armenian – Traditional view

What characterizes a subject according to the reference grammars?(Jensen 1959, Meillet 1913, Schmitt 1981)

Coding principles:

Nominative (ayr ’man’, ayr-k\ ’men’)

But pro-drop of the verbal subject (sire ’(s)he/it loves’)Personal pronouns only in emphatic/contrastive use (Latin,Greek)

Agreement in finite verbs (active / passive voice)

No specific position (SVO, SOV, VSO, OVS)

The subject – object interface

Nouns 1st/2nd pronouns

singular plural singular plural

subject ayr ayr-k\ es dow me-k\ dow-k\object (new) ayr ayr-s – – – –object (given) z-ayr z-ayr-s z-is z-k\ez z-mez z-jez

Singular:

No markedness opposition subject : object(except 1st/2nd pronouns, cf. English, Scandinavian, French)

DOM: Differential object marker z- codes given objects

Plural:

Note that nom.pl -k\ is not a marker of subjecthood!

The subject – object interface

Nouns 1st/2nd pronouns

singular plural singular plural

subject ayr ayr-k\ es dow me-k\ dow-k\object (new) ayr ayr-s – – – –object (given) z-ayr z-ayr-s z-is z-k\ez z-mez z-jez

Singular:

No markedness opposition subject : object(except 1st/2nd pronouns, cf. English, Scandinavian, French)

DOM: Differential object marker z- codes given objects

Plural:

Note that nom.pl -k\ is not a marker of subjecthood!

The subject – object interface

Nouns 1st/2nd pronouns

singular plural singular plural

subject ayr ayr-k\ es dow me-k\ dow-k\object (new) ayr ayr-s – – – –object (given) z-ayr z-ayr-s z-is z-k\ez z-mez z-jez

Singular:

No markedness opposition subject : object(except 1st/2nd pronouns, cf. English, Scandinavian, French)

DOM: Differential object marker z- codes given objects

Plural:

Note that nom.pl -k\ is not a marker of subjecthood!

The subject – object interface

Nouns 1st/2nd pronouns

singular plural singular plural

subject ayr ayr-k\ es dow me-k\ dow-k\object (new) ayr ayr-s – – – –object (given) z-ayr z-ayr-s z-is z-k\ez z-mez z-jez

Singular:

No markedness opposition subject : object(except 1st/2nd pronouns, cf. English, Scandinavian, French)

DOM: Differential object marker z- codes given objects

Plural:

Note that nom.pl -k\ is not a marker of subjecthood!

Agreement

Finite verb : Agreement (diathesis)

(1) esI.nom

a lac\ec\-ic\ask-1.sg.a

z-hayrz-father

ewand

aylother

mxit\aric\helper

ta-c\egive-3.sg.a

jezyou.pl.dat

’I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper’(Jh 14.16)

Agreement

Finite verb : Agreement (diathesis)

(2) esI.nom

a lac\ec\-ic\ask-1.sg.a

z-hayrz-father

ewand

aylother

mxit\aric\helper

ta-c\egive-3.sg.a

jezyou.pl.dat

’I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper’(Jh 14.16)

Agreement

Participle: no agreement

(3) a. ar-ealtake-ptc

manowkchild

miindef

kac\oyc\put.3.sg.aor.a

ıin

memiddle

noc\atheir

b. lab-ontake-ptc.a.sg.nom

paidionchild.acc

estesenput.3.sg.aor.a

autohim

enin

mesoimiddle

autontheir

‘He took a child and put him in the midst of them’ (Mk 9.36)

Agreement

Participle: no agreement

(4) a. ar-ealtake-ptc

manowkchild

miindef

kac\oyc\put.3.sg.aor.a

ıin

memiddle

noc\atheir

b. lab-ontake-ptc.a.sg.nom

paidionchild.acc

estesenput.3.sg.aor.a

autohim

enin

mesoimiddle

autontheir

‘He took a child and put him in the midst of them’ (Mk 9.36)

Position

Pro-Sub and animate object:

(5) a. Darjealagain

arak\eac\sent.a

arto

nosathem

aylother

carayservant

b. palinagain

apesteilensent

prosto

autousthem

allonother

doulonservant.sg.acc

c. Darjealagain

nahe

miindef

owrisother

carayservant

ow larkec\sent

‘Again he sent to them another servant [and they struck himon the head . . . ]’ (Mk 12.4)

Position

Pro-Sub and animate object:

(6) a. Darjealagain

arak\eac\sent.a

arto

nosathem

aylother

carayservant

b. palinagain

apesteilensent

prosto

autousthem

allonother

doulonservant.sg.acc

c. Darjealagain

nahe

miindef

owrisother

carayservant

ow larkec\sent

‘Again he sent to them another servant [and they struck himon the head . . . ]’ (Mk 12.4)

So, how is subjecthood coded in Armenian?

By case?No markedness opposition in singular (except pronouns)

By agreement?No diathesis in infinite verbs (participles)

By sentence position?Free word order (following Greek)

So, what about more iconically marked objects?

So, how is subjecthood coded in Armenian?

By case?No markedness opposition in singular (except pronouns)

By agreement?No diathesis in infinite verbs (participles)

By sentence position?Free word order (following Greek)

So, what about more iconically marked objects?

So, how is subjecthood coded in Armenian?

By case?No markedness opposition in singular (except pronouns)

By agreement?No diathesis in infinite verbs (participles)

By sentence position?Free word order (following Greek)

So, what about more iconically marked objects?

So, how is subjecthood coded in Armenian?

By case?No markedness opposition in singular (except pronouns)

By agreement?No diathesis in infinite verbs (participles)

By sentence position?Free word order (following Greek)

So, what about more iconically marked objects?

So, how is subjecthood coded in Armenian?

By case?No markedness opposition in singular (except pronouns)

By agreement?No diathesis in infinite verbs (participles)

By sentence position?Free word order (following Greek)

So, what about more iconically marked objects?

Absolute genitive constructions

(7) a. oc\not

z-gir-nz-scripture-def

z-aynobj-that

ic\eis.cj

@nt\erc\ealread.ptc

jeryou.gen

b. oudenot

tenthe

graph-enscripture-sg.acc

tautenthis

anegnoteread.2.pl.pf.act

c. Dowk\you

c\-ek\not-be.2pl

kardac\elread.ptc.pf

Grk\-iScripture-dat

aynthat

’Have you not read this Scripture?’ (Mk 12.10)

Oblique subjects in genitiveWith participle (no diathesis!):

(8) a. gtealfind.ptc

Yisows-iJesus-gen

esdonkey

miindef

nstawsat

ı verayon

norait

b. heuronfind.ptc

debut

hothe

IesousJesus.nom

onariondonkey

ekathisensat

ep’on

autohim

c. YisowsJesus

miindef

esdonkey

gtnelovfind.ptc

nstec\sat

nrait

vrayon

‘And Jesus found a donkey and sat on it’ (Jh 12.14)

Oblique subjects in genitive

With participle (no diathesis):

(9) a. ewand

arn-oy-nfirst-gen-def

arealtake.ptc

kinwoman

merawdied

anordisonless

b. hodef

protosfirst.nom

labontake.ptc

gunaikawoman.acc

apethanendied

ateknossonless

c. arajin-@first-def

kinwoman

arawtook

ewand

anzarangsonless

merawdied

’The first took a wife, and died sonless.’ (Lk 20.29)

Oblique Subjects in Dative

(10) partnecessity

eis

nmahim

ert\algo.inf

y-Erowsakemin-Jerusalem

’[Jesus explains that] he must go to Jerusalem.’ (Mt 16.21)

Oblique subjects in dative

(11) a. c\-ernot-was

hnarmeans

anc\anelpass.inf

owmek\anyone.dat

b. menot

iskhueincan.inf

tinaanyone.acc

pareltheinpass.inf

c. c\-ernot-was

hnarmeans

anc\anelpass.inf

owmek\anyone.dat

’Noone could [pass by that way]’ (Mt 8.28)

Classical (11a) and Modern Armenian (11c): Dative subject

Greek original (11b): acc cum inf

Pro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

(12) a. agarakfield

gnec\iI bought

ewand

harktax

eis

[sub] elanelgo.inf

tesanelsee.inf

z-naz-it

b. agronfield

egorasaI bought

kaiand

ekhoI have

anagkenneed

ekselthongoing

ideinsee

autonit

c. agarakfield

gnec\iI bought

ewand

petk\need

eis

[sub], orwho

gnamI go

tesnemI see

’I have bought a field, and I have need to go and see it.’(Lk 14.18)

Pro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

(13) a. owraxglad

linelbe.inf

ewand

xndalcelebrate

partduty

eis

[pro] [. . . ][. . . ]

b. euphranthenaibe glad.inf

debut

kaiand

kharenairejoice.inf

edeiis necessary

’We have to be glad and to celebrate [. . . ]’ (Lk 15.32)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjects

Dative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjects

Pro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verb

personal pronoun (unmarked)

Summary and Interpretation

”Canonical” coding of subjects is not sufficient

At least three types of non-canonical subjects in ClasssicalArmenian:

Genitive subjectsDative subjectsPro-drop subjects in coordinated clauses

Modern Armenian:

finite verbpersonal pronoun (unmarked)

Hans Jensen.Altarmenische Grammatik.Winter, Heidelberg, 1959.

Antoine Meillet.Altarmenisches Elementarbuch.Winter, Heidelberg, 1913.

Rudiger Schmitt.Grammatik des Klassisch-Armenischen mit sprachvergleichendenErlauterungen.Institut fr Sprachwissenschaft der Universitat Innsbruck,Innsbruck, 1981.