Properties of the Arabic language
5.4 Testing Levin’s Alternations for Arabic
5.4.2 Preposition alternations
5.4.2.1 Locative preposition drop alternation (120) a. Martha climbed up the mountain.
b. Martha climbed the mountain. (Levin,1993, 43–44) (121) qafaza ‘jump’ verbs (some): tasallaqa ‘climb’, jaaba ‘wander’, jaala
‘stroll’, t
˙aafa‘stroll’, Pijtaaba ‘travel’, laffa ‘stroll’
(122) a. jaala l-mugaamir-u fiy s
˙-s
˙ah
˙raaP-i.
wanderedDEF-adventurer-NOMin desert-GEN
‘The adventurer wandered in the desert.’
b. jaala l-mugaamir-u s
˙-s
˙ah
˙raaP-a.
wanderedDEF-adventurer-NOMdesert-ACC
‘The adventurer wandered the desert.’
(123) haraba ‘escape’ verbs (some): was
˙ala ‘arrive’, jaaPa ‘come’, daxala
‘enter’, s
˙acida ‘ascend’, walaja ‘enter’
* haraba ‘escape’, *caada ‘return’, * d
¯ahaba ‘go’
(124) a. daxala d
˙-d
˙uyuuf-u Pilaa d-daar-i
enteredDEF-guests-NOMin DEF-house-GEN
‘The guests entered in the house.’
a. daxala d
˙-d
˙uyuuf-u d-daar-a.
entered DEF-guests-NOM DEF-house-ACC
‘The guests entered the house.’
(125) a. d
¯ahaba l-muˇsajjicuun-a Pilaa l-malcab-i.
went DEF-fans-NOM to DEF-stage-GEN
‘The fans went to the stage.’
b. * d
¯ahaba l-muˇsajjicuun-a l-malcab-a.
went DEF-fans-NOM DEF-stage-ACC
‘The fans went to the stage.’
(126) * tadahoraja ‘roll’ verbs: indafaca ‘move’, inzalaqa‘glide’, tadah
˙oraja
‘roll’, . . .
(127) a. tadah
˙raja-t l-kurat-u Pilaa l-marmaa.
rolled-F DEF-ball-NOMinto DEF-goal
‘The ball rolled into the goal.’
b. * tadah
˙raja-ti l-kurat-u l-marmaa.
rolled DEF-ball-NOM DEF-goal
* ‘The ball rolled the goal.’
Comment:
In Arabic, the locative preposition alternation is found with certain classes of intransitive verbs involving the motion of an animate or inanimate object in cases where the direction is realized as a prepositional complement headed by a path or goal preposition. The direction preposition can be dropped to render a direct object assigned to role direction. This alternation does not require an overt morphological marking on the verb.
5.4.2.2 bi/maca ‘with’ preposition drop alternation (128) a. Jill met with Sarah.
b. Jill met Sarah. (Levin, 1993, 44)
(129) Verbs of Social Interaction:
a. raasala ‘correspond’ verbs: caarad
˙a ‘differ’, ˇsaawara ‘consult’, ˙gaazala
‘flirt’, h ‘ban-ter’, daarasa ‘discuss’, daawala‘negociate’, faatah
˙a‘discuss’, faawad
˙a ‘ne-gociate’, kaataba ‘write’, maazah
˙a ‘banter’, qaayad
˙a ‘negociate’, raasala
‘correpond’, saawama ‘negociate’, waafaqa ‘agree’, xaat
˙aba ‘talk’, xaalafa
‘disagree’, . . . b. h
˙aaraba ‘battle’ verbs: ˇsaajara ‘wrangle’, s
˙aaraca ‘wrestle’, faaraqa ‘dif-fer’, qaatala ‘battle’, xaas
˙ama ‘conflict’, xaalafa ‘differ’, naazac ‘quarrel’,
caaraka ‘tussle’, ˇsaahana ‘conflict’, baaraa ‘compete’, jaadala ‘dispute’,
baaraza ‘duel’, naafasa ‘compete’, naajaza ‘duel’, saabaqa ‘compete’, saajala
‘dispute’, . . .
c. laaqaa ‘meet’ verbs: s
˙aadafa ‘meet’, s
˙aadaqa ‘befriend’, daacaba ‘banter’, jaalasa ‘associate’, laacaba ‘play’, laaqa ‘meet’, qaabala ‘meet’, . . .
(130) a. faawad
˙a l-falasot
˙Piniy-uuna l-PisraaPiliy-Pina.
negocatiatedDEF-palestinian-NOM-PL DEF-Israeli-ACC
‘The Palestinians negociated with the Isrealis.’
b. ta-faawad
˙a l-falast
˙Piniy-uuna maca l-PisraaPiliy-Pina.
INTR-negocatiated DEF-palestinian-NOM-PL with DEF-Israeli-GEN
‘The Palestinians negociated with the Isrealis.’
(131) b. h
˙aaraba l-jayoˇs-u l-caduw-a.
battled DEF-army-u DEF-enemy-ACC
‘The army battled the enemy.’
a. ta-h
˙aaraba l-jayoˇs-u maca l-caduw-i.
INTR-battled DEF-army-u with DEF-enemy-GEN
‘The army battled with the enemy.’
(132) a. laaqa-t salmaa s
˙adiiqat-a-haa.
met Salma friend-ACC-her
‘Salma met her friend.’
b. ta-laaqa-t salmaa maca s
˙adiiqat-i-haa.
INTR-met Salma with friend-GEN-her
‘Salma met with her friend.’
Comment:
This alternation is mostly found with verbs of social interaction. It involves two coequal thematic roles actor1 and actor2 which participate in same manner in the event described by the verb. The two roles are assigned to the subject and the direct object in the a-variant and to the subject and the object of a prepositional phrase headed by with in the b-variant. Therefore, it differs from the corresponding alternation in English in that the transitive variant is the base form and the intransitive is the derived form. Accordingly, Arabic marks verbs in the b-variant with the intransitive marker ta-.
(133) Root: [h
˙][r][b] =⇒h
˙aaraba ‘battle’ =⇒ta-h
˙aaraba ‘INTR-battle’
5.4.2.3 Dative alternation (134) a. Bill sold a car to Tom.
b. Bill sold Tom a car. (Levin,1993, 45–47)
(135) Verb of possession transfer:
a. Pact
˙aa ‘give’ verbs: Pact
˙aa‘lend’, Pacaara ‘lend’,Phdaa ‘present’, baaca
‘sell’, karaa ‘lease’, mallaka ‘make own’, manah
˙a ‘spend’, naawala ‘hand’, rahana ‘pawn’, sallafa ‘lend’, sallamaa ‘hadn’, wahaba ‘gift’, . . .
b. Pawrat
¯a ‘bequeath’ verbs (some): Paqt
˙aca‘allocate’,Pawrat
¯a‘bequeath’, qat˙aca ‘allocate’, warrat
¯a‘bequeath’, . . . c. * jalaba ‘bring’ verbs: Pah
˙d
d. Parsala ‘send’ verbs (some): Parsala‘send’, bacat
¯a‘post’
(136) a. Pacta-t salmaa kitaab-an li-s
˙adiiq-i-haa.
gave-F Salma book-ACC-IND to-friend-GEN-her.
‘Salma gave a book to her friend.’
b. Pacta-t salmaa s
˙adiiqa-a-haa kitaab-an gave-F Salma friend-ACC-her book-ACC-IND.
‘Salma gave her friend a book.’
(137) a. Pawrat
¯a l-jadd-u l-manzil-a
bequeathedDEF-grandfather-NOM DEF-house-ACC
li-afiid-i-hi.
to-grandchild-GEN-his
‘The grandfather bequeathed the house to his grandchild.’
b. Pawrat
¯a l-jadd-u afiid-a-hu
bequeathedDEF-grandfather-NOMgrandchild-ACC-his l-manzil-a.
DEF-house-ACC
‘The grandfather bequeathed his grandchild the house.’
(138) a. jalaba caliy-un kutub-an li-s
˙adPiq-i-hi.
brought Ali-NOM books-ACC-IND to-friend-GEN-his
‘Ali brought books to his friend.’
b. * jalaba caliy-un s
˙adPiq-a-hu kutub-an.
brought Ali-NOMfriend-ACC-his books-ACC-IND
‘Ali brought his friend books.’
(139) a. Pa-bcat
¯u la-ka salaam-ii.
I-send to-you greeting-my
‘I send you my greeting.’
a. Pa-bcat
¯u-ka salaam-ii.
I-send-you greeting-my
‘I send you my greeting’
(140) * Verbs of transfer of message:
a. ˇsarah
˙a ‘explain’ verbs: Pad
¯˙hara ‘show’, Paftaa ‘dictate’, Palqaa ‘recite’, Pamlaa ‘dictate’,Pawd
˙ah
˙a‘explain’, callala ‘prove’, ˇsarah
˙a ‘explain’, h
˙akaa
‘narrate’, barrara‘explain’, bayyana ‘show’, fas
˙s
˙ala‘explain’, fassara ‘inter-pret’, jallaa ‘explain’, qas
˙s
˙a ‘narrate’, qaala ‘tell/say’, qaraPa‘read’, rawaa
‘narrate’, sarada ‘narrate’, talaa ‘read’, wad
˙d
b. *Pictarafa‘confess’verbs: Paqarra‘acknowledge’,Paqrara‘acknowledge’, baah˙a ‘reveal’, baaPa‘reveal’, Pictarafa ‘confess’, sallama ‘acknowledge’
(141) a. ˇsarah
˙a l-mucallim-u l-muˇskilat-a explainedDEF-teacher-NOM DEF-problem-ACC
li-l-mudiir-i.
to-DEF-director-GEN
‘The teacher explained the problem to the director.’
b. * ˇsarah
˙a l-mucallim-u l-mudiir-a l-muˇskilat-a.
explained DEF-teacher-NOM DEF-director-ACC DEF-problem-ACC
‘The teacher explained the director the problem.’
(142) Non alternating double object verbs:
a. * sammaa ‘name’ verbs: Pasmaa‘call’, kannaa ‘rename’, laqqaba ‘dub’, nacata ‘term’, naadaa ‘call’, sammaa ‘name’
b. * cayyana ‘appoint’ verbs: Paclana ‘declare’, cayyana ‘appoint’, ˇsa ˙g ˙gala
‘appoint’, baayaca ‘elect’,Pintaxaba ‘elect’,Pixtaara ‘select’, raˇsˇsah
˙a‘select’, raqqaa ‘upgrade’, tawwaja‘crown’, wad
¯˙d
¯˙afa ‘appoint’
(143) a. * cayyana l-mudiir-u caliy-an li-l-musaacid-i.
appointed DEF-director-NOMAli-ACC to-DEF-assistant-GEN
* ‘The director appointed Ali to the assistant.’
b. cayyana l-mudiir-u caliy-an musaacid-an.
appointed DEF-director-NOM Ali-ACC DEF-assistant-ACC
‘The director appointed Ali as assistant.’
Comment:
The dative alternation in Arabic occurs mainly in classes of transfer of possession and is not a major characteristic of verbs with two objects. Thus, verbs of the classescayyana‘appoint’ andsammaa‘name’ and similar classes do not participate in the dative alternation, although they takes two objects (143). The alternation is also attested with a few verbs of sending (the class Parsala ‘send’).
The a-variant of the alternation has an object assigned the theme role and a prepositional phrase headed by li ‘to’ whose object is assigned the recipient role.
In the b-variant, the verb takes two objects, both with an accusative case marking, where the first object is assigned the recipient role and the second the theme role.
The meaning related to the alternation was extensively debated in the literature.
Two major views dominate the discussion about the dative alternation. The first view assigns a single meaning to both variants of the alternation. This meaning corresponds to causing a possession transfer. The second view assigns two different meanings to the variants: a caused possession transfer meaning in the a-variant and a caused motion meaning in the b-variant. Rappaport (2008) argue that according to the class they belong to, verbs may have one meaning in both alternations variants or two different meanings. Thus, whereas verbs of change of possession like give and sell, have a caused possession meaning in both alternation variants, verbs of sending and throwing like send, throwhave the
meaning of a caused motion in the a-variant (V NP NP PP) and the meaning of a caused possession in the b-variant (V NP NP NP).
It is noteworthy that the free word order in Arabic is significantly restricted in the case of the dative alternation. The first object is always interpreted as recipient and the second object as the theme.
The dative alternation in Arabic does not require morphological marking.
5.4.2.4 Benefactive alternation (144) a. Martha carved a toy for the baby.
b. Martha carved the baby a toy. (Levin,1993, 48–49)
(145) a. * xaat
˙a ‘tailor’ verbs: cajana ‘back’, ˇsakkala ‘form’, ˙gazala ‘spin’, h˙aaka ‘spin’, h
˙abaka ‘knit’, t
˙abaxa‘cook’, t
˙ahaa ‘cook’, t
˙awwara‘develop’, barmaja ‘program’, jamaca‘form’, nah
˙ata ‘carve’, naqaˇsa ‘carve’, nasaja
‘spin’, sabaka ‘form’, xaat
˙a‘tailor’, xabaza ‘bake’, xarat
˙a ‘lathe’
b. * xalaqa‘create’verbs: Pabdaca‘invent’,Paqaama‘construct’,Passasa
‘found’, PnˇsaPa ‘build’, Pntaja ‘product’, ˇsaada ‘build’, ˇsayyada ‘build’, h˙afara ‘dig’, s
˙ammama ‘construct’, s
˙anaca ‘fabricate’, s
˙awwara ‘fashion’, badaPa ‘invent’, banaa ‘construct’, fat
˙ara ‘create’, fabraka ‘fabricate’, Pibtadaca‘invent’, Pibtakara‘invent’, Pibtana‘build’,Pixtaraca ‘invent’, jabala ‘create’, kawwana ‘form’, nad
¯˙ama ‘organize’, xalaqa ‘create’, . . . c. gannaa ‘sing’ class (one verb): Panˇsada ‘chant’
(146) a. nah
˙ata-t l-Pumm-u faras-an li-Pibn-i-haa.
carved DEF-mother-NOM horse-ACC-IND for-son-GEN-her
‘The mother carverd a horse for her son.’
b. * nah
˙ata-t l-Pumm-u Pibn-a-haa faras-an.
carved DEF-mother-NOM son-ACC-her horse-ACC-IND
‘The mother carverd her son a horse.’
(147) a. s
˙ammama l-muhandis-u manzil-an built DEF-architect-NOM house-ACC-IND
li-l-caaPilat-i.
for-DEF-family-GEN
‘The architect built a house for the family.’
b. * s
˙ammama l-muhandis-u l-caaPilat-a built DEF-architect-NOM DEF-family-ACC
manozil-an.
house-ACC-IND
‘The architect build the family a house.’
(148) a. Panoˇsada t
˙-t
˙ifl-u Pu ˙goniyyat-an sang DEF-child-NOM song-ACC-IND
li-jaddi-hi.
for-grandfather-GEN-his
‘The child sang a song for his grandfather.’
b. Panˇsada t
˙-t
˙ifl-u jadd-a-hu
sang DEF-child-NOMgrandfather-ACC-his Pu ˙goniyyat-an.
song-ACC-IND
‘The child sang his grandfather a song.’
(149) * saraqa ‘steal’ verbs Pas
˙aaba ‘win’, Paxada ‘take’, ˙gas
˙aba ‘extort’,
˙ganima ‘capture’, s
˙aadara ‘confiscate’, bazza ‘thieve’, harraba ‘smuggle’, Pi ˙gtas
˙aba‘extort’,Pi ˙gtanama ‘capture’, Pintazaca ‘snatch’, Pistacaada ‘sal-vage’, Pistalaba‘steal’,Pistaraqqa ‘steal’, Pistarjaca ‘repossess’, naˇsala ‘pick-pocket’, nataˇsa‘snatch’, qars
˙ana ‘pirate’, . . . b. * Piˇstaraa ‘buy’ verbs: Pah
˙raza‘get’, Pas
˙aaba ‘obtain’, Padraka ‘obtain’, Palfaa ‘find’, Paxad
˙awwaˇsa ‘collect’, daana ‘borrow’, Piˇstara ‘buy’, Pi ˙gtanama
‘earn’, Pibtaaca ‘buy’, Piftakka ‘earn’, Pijtanaa ‘collect’, Piktaraa ‘lease’, Piktasaba‘gain’,Pintaqaa‘select’,Pintazaca‘exact’,Piqtat
˙afa‘pluck’,Piqtanaa
‘purchase’,Piqtarad
˙a‘borrow’,PistaPjara‘rent’,Pistacaada‘regain’,Pistacaara
‘borrow’, Pistat
¯aaba‘gain’,Pistadaana ‘borrow’,Pistalafa ‘borrow’, Pistalama
‘get’,Pistaradda‘retrieve’,Pistarfada‘earn’,Pistarjaca‘retrieve’,Pixtaara ‘se-lect’, jabaa‘collect’, jamaca‘collect’, jammaca‘collect’, janaa‘collect’, kasaba
‘earn’, laaqa ‘find’, lamma ‘collect’, naala ‘obtain’, qat
˙afa ‘pluck’, qabad
˙a
‘get’, qabila‘accept’, raakama‘collect’, rabih
˙a‘gain’, rakama‘collect’, sah
˙aba
‘retrieve’, taPat
¯t
¯ala ‘earn’, tadayyana ‘borrow’, takassaba ‘gain’, talaqqaa
‘get’, taqabbala ‘accept’, tasallafa ‘borrow’, tasallama ‘obtain’, taxat
˙t
˙afa
‘steal’, taxayyara ‘select’, warit
¯a ‘inherit’
(150) a. yasriqu l-lis
˙s
˙-u l-maal-a li-h
˙isaab-i steals DEF-thief-NOM DEF-money-ACC for-account-GEN
l-maafyaa.
DEF-Mafia
‘The thief steals the money for the Mafia.’
b. * yasriqu l-lis
˙s
˙-u l-maafyaa l-maal-a.
steals DEF-thief DEF-Mafia DEF-money-ACC
‘The thief steals the money for the Mafia.’
(151) a. Piˇstaraa kariim-un saacat-an li-s
˙adiiqat-i-hi.
bought Karim-NOMwatch-ACC-IND for-girlfriend-GEN-his
‘Karim bought a watch for his girlfriend.’
b. * Piˇstaraa kariim-un s
˙adiiqat-a-hu saacat-an.
bought Karim-NOM girlfriend-ACC-his watch-ACC-IND
‘Karim bought a watch for his girlfriend.’
Comment:
The benefactive alternation shows the same properties as the dative alternation.
The difference lies in the fact that the prepositional version of thedative alternation takes only the preposition li ‘to’, whereas the benefactive alternationalso allow for other benefactive prepositions or compound-prepositions like min-Pajl‘for’.
The few verbs found with this alternation are mainly verbs of performance. A deeper investigation may reveal more instances of the benefactive alternation.