Irina Burukina (NYTK)

Patterns of deverbal nominalization: A view from Mayan

Abstract

The talk provides an overview of deverbal nominalization patterns in Mayan languages of Guatemala, focusing in particular on Kaqchikel (ergative; VOS). Where in English and other well-studied languages of Europe the same morpheme is often used to create all deverbal nouns, Kaqchikel clearly disambiguates between the three cases: result, simple event and complex event nominals. After demonstrating that all three classes of items are mixed categories formed in syntax, I outline their derivation step-by-step, adapting Moulton’s (2014) analysis for nominalization in English in terms of existential closure. I then focus on the relation between nominalization and predication. First, I demonstrate how deverbal nPs are used as predicates in the periphrastic perfect construction. Second, I argue that predication plays a crucial role in formation of event nominals, as the verbal part is predicated of the possessor in a higher nominal projection.