2.3.3 The Squliq Atayal case-marking system
2.3.3.4 sa/squ’ as locative markers
Sa and squ’ are commonly known to encode a location or the object of a semantically transitive verb. Examples are given below:
(2.31) sa/squ’ used to introduce a location NP a. (Sinica Archive: 12-024-f)
aw baq, cyux h<m>ow squ’ zik ka right can PROG.REM <AV>shout LOC bottom LIG
bsyal lmga’.
tree.name FP:QUOT:FP
‘(He) was shouting at the bottom of the Bsyal tree.’
b. (Sinica Archive: 13-003-b) (repeated from (2.9b))
m-usa’… ’sa-n=naha’ matas squ’ m-nkungm.
AV-go go-LV=3PL.GEN tattoo.AV LOC STATNMZ:AV-dim
‘They went to tattoo in a dark place.’
c. (Sinica Archive: 05-016-b (repeated from (2.9c))
hng’-un=naha’ squ’ a qsya’ qu’ abaw miquy
dip.in.water-PV=3PL.GEN LOC FIL water NOM leaf reed qasa’ ga’.
that FP
‘They dipped that reed into water.’
In (2.31), there are two ways in which sa or squ’ is used. First, sa NP or squ’ NP in (2.31a) and (2.31b) is used to encoded a spatial relation in which an event occurs. In (2.31a), the NP sa zik ka bsyal ‘at the bottom of the Bsyal tree’ is where the shouting takes place. Likewise, in (2.31b), the location encoded by the NP squ’ m-nkungm ‘in a dark place’ is where the tattooing activity takes place. Second, the use of sa or squ’
NP encoding a location concept appears not only in an AV clause (e.g., (2.31a)) but also in a UV clause (e.g., (2.31b) and (2.31d)). The locative expression specified by a sa or squ’ NP may be inferred from the semantics of a verb. For example, the concept
‘water’ is inferable from the verb hng’-un ‘dip in water’ in Atayal. As a result, the omission of the NP squ’ qsya’ is acceptable.
Actually, all sa or squ’ -marked NPs in (2.31) are omittable, because they are an adjunct in their respective sentences. The sa or squ’ NP in (2.31) is there merely to provide background information for the event. I will henceforth term sa or squ’ Loc1 or LocAdj., in which the subscript Adj. stands for Adjunct.
The squ’ (or sa) NP also appears in an existential construction, in which the verbal predicate is the variant voice form of kaki’ ‘exist’, including maki’ ‘exist’, ki’an ‘be somewhere’, and s-kaki’ ‘be somewhere for some reason’ etc. Due to its
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semantics, kaki’ ‘exist’, along with its variant voice forms, is a very straightforward expression for the concept of existence in Squliq Atayal. It is used to express a spatial relation between entities in an event. For example, in the sentence There are frogs on a rock, the spatial relation is frogs being on a rock. More precisely, it is a locative role like a rock anchoring the existence of a theme role like frogs. In this sense, both the theme and the location role (e.g., a rock) are obligatory to the kaki’ domain in the language, regardless of whether the predicate is the AV form (i.e., maki’), or the LV form (ki’-an), or the CV form (s-kaki’). Consider the use of maki’ in (2.32):
(2.32) sa/squ’ NP is an argument subcategorized for by the existence predicate maki’:
(Sinica Archive: 01-011-d)
payat yubing maki’ squ’ turu’ na’ mit qani’ lga’, four bag exist.AV LOC back GEN ass this FP:TOP
ay, maki’ cikay s<n>ru’=nya’ l’ ay.
EXCL exist.AV a.bit <PST.OBJNMZ>support=3SG.GEN FP:FP
‘That is, there were four packs on the ass’s back; the ass had some strength to carry (rice).’
(2.32) illustrates a maki’ construction [(qu’) Theme maki’ squ’ (or sa) Location], which is interpreted as ‘Some object (or theme) exists in some location’. The construction is usually used for introducing a theme entity into discourse, and can also be [maki’ squ’ (or sa) Location qu’ Theme]. In (2.32), two thematic roles can be distinguished: one is theme and the other, location. The theme NP usually assumes the role of topic in subsequent discourse, while the location NP is used to anchor the existence of the theme or to specify where the theme is affected (e.g., gleng ‘front’ in (2.14)). In this example, the location phrase is introduced by squ’ (or sa); for this reason, squ’ (or sa) is seen as a locative case marker, but not an adjunct-like marker as in (2.32). I will henceforth use Loc2 to the locative case marker required by a
predicate, as in (2.32).
The notion of location is inherent to the kaki’ construction and its other voice variants, but it is the ki’-an construction that is used to highlight the concept of location, instead of other voice forms (e.g., s-kaki’), as illustrated in (2.33):
(2.33)
a. (gaga’ na’ Atayal: 365-368)
cyux ungat gako uzi’ la’. kwara’ tanux
ASP NEG school also FP all front.yard lga’, cyux ki’-an k’man kwara’ la’.
FP:TOP ASP exist-LV grass all FP
‘The campus is not there anymore. The whole front yard is covered with weed. (Lit., In the entire front yard, grass exists there).’
b. (Sinica Archive: 10-017-a & 10-017-b)
s-kaki’=myan tuqiy a torak ga’, mangay. a
CV-exist=1PE.GEN road FIL road TOP observe.AV FIL
so-n qasa’ ga’, s<m>bu’ s<m>bu’ qa qsya’.
say.thus-PV that TOP <AV>deluge <AV>deluge this water
‘We had no choice but to stay on the road to watch everything because the flooding was everywhere.’
In (2.33a), it can be seen that the location NP kwara’ tanux is the focus of the –an clause. On the other hand, in (2.33b), in the event encoded by s-kaki’’ clause, the focus shifts to the cause specified in a succeeding clause a so-n qasa’ ga’, s<m>bu’
s<m>bu’ qa qsya’.
Furthermore, the -an form in the expression of location can be applied to the –an form of any other verb, in contrast to the -un or the s- form of a verb which is used to highlight an affected entity in an event. Since the -an form of a verb specifies a specific location where an entity exists or an event occurs, and not to the patient
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relation that obtains between the predicate and an affected nominal, it is thus no wonder that the event expressed by the -an form of a verb is less transitive.
sa/squ’ can be also used to introduce a location NP, an argument nominal obligatory to a motion verb. Consider (2.34):
(2.34) sa/squ’ is used to introduce a location NP required by a motion verb (Sinica Archive: 01-030-b)
m-karaw squ’ hongu’ lmga’, l-lung-un mit squ’
AV-climb LOC bridge FP:QUOT:TOP RED-think-PV ass LOC
zyaw ka kin-hera’ h<n>utaw=nya’ squ’ gong thing LIG last-yesterday <PST.OBJNMZ>fall=3SG.GEN LOC stream qasa’ lmga’.
that FP:QUOT:FP
‘While climbing onto the bridge, the ass thought of it falling into the water the previous day.’
It can be seen from (2.34) that hongu’ is introduced by squ’ and refers to a location for the activity of climbing; since the location element is obligatory to the verb m-karaw
‘climb (AV)’, and, in some sense, can be interpreted as the object of the verb, it is regarded as a ‘core’ argument, instead of a peripheral argument of the verb. In other words, the marker squ’ is also subsumed under Loc2.
Note that since the identification of the object-like location is determined by the nature of the semantics of the verb involved (i.e., the class of motion verbs), verbs like tehuk ‘arrive’, musa’ ‘go’, hminas ‘pass through’ etc. also takes an object-like locative NP marked by Loc2. Consider (2.35):
(2.35) Sa introducing a location NP required by the semantics of a (motion) verb (Sinica Archive: 01-020-c)
tehuk sa blihun ka a syobay, bin bir-an arrive LOC door LIG FIL store BIN buy-LOCNMZ
nqu’ so-n maha’ a cimu’ qani’ mga’.
GEN say.thus-PV QUOT FIL salt this QUOT:FP
‘(They) arrived at the door of the salt store, i.e., the so-called place where people (bought) salt.’
Additionally, such a spatial relation may also be extended to a temporal domain due to their conceptual similarity, as illustrated in (2.36):
(2.36) (Sinica Archive: 11-001-b)
a wayal squ’… aring sa kawas wayal ka mpuw
FIL go.away LOC begin LOC year go.away LIG ten byacing tehuk squ’ mqeru’ byacing qani’ ga’.
moon arrive LOC nine moon this FP
‘In the past… It started from last October and went on until this September.’
In (2.36), aring ‘begin’ is used to encode a required temporal source kawas wayal ka mpuw byacing ‘last October’ and tehuk ‘arrive’, a required temporal goal mqeru’
byacing qani’ ‘this September. The temporal NPs are respectively introduced by sa and squ’.
Lastly, sa and squ’ are also commonly known to encode the object of a semantically transitive verb.
(2.37) sa/squ’ used to introduce an object NP of a verb, i.e., one that is required by the semantics of verbs
a. (Sinica Archive: 01-007-c)
a p<in>lawa’ qu’ laha’ “wah iy m-panga’ squ’
FIL <PST.PV>call NOM 3PL.NOM ASP FIL AV-carry.on.back LOC
bwax qani’ ga’.”
husked.rice this FP
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‘(The rice-dealer) shouted, “Carry these packs of rice!”’
b. (Sinica Archive: 09-001-a & 09-001-b)
a (b)nkis=ta’ raral qasa’, te raral qasa’
FIL old.man=1PI.GEN in.the.past that LOC in.the.past that ga’, m-usa’ rgyax ga’, ini’ sabu’ bwax rwa’.
TOP AV-go mountain TOP NEG pack husked.rice FP
si’ ga’, si’ sa papak lma’ ta’.
just TOP put LOC ear FP:QUOT EP
‘In the past, when the elders went to the mountain, they didn’t pack husked rice. (They) just put (a grain of husked rice) into their ears.’
In (2.37a), bwax is the direct object of m-panga’ ‘carry on back (AV)’; in (2.37b), papak ‘ear’ is the indirect object of the double-object verb si’ ‘put’. Both of the two NPs are subcategorized for by their respective verbs. The markers used to introduce them, i.e., squ’ and sa, are locative case markers.
However, how is a link between a subcategorized argument and a locative case marker established? Such an argument can be construed as a static entity, as if it were fixed to some location, so that it can be controlled, or an actor can exert his force on it.
That is, due to its inert, stative nature, the argument nominal subcategorized by the semantics of a verb belongs to the domain of location, instead of the domain of agency, in which its referent is non-inert, dynamic. This explains why the nominal in question is introduced by a locative marker, but not the agentive-like case marker, na’/ni’/nqu’. Such a static-dynamic contrast also appears in Dowty’s (1991) theory in distinguishing two cluster-concepts called PROTO-AGENT and PROTO-PATIENT, each characterized by a set of verbal entailments.7 As indicated in Dowty
7 Dowty’s (1991) theory of proto-roles is a novel attack on a traditional analysis for coping with the problem of Argument Selection in terms of discrete thematic roles (Agent, Patient, Source, etc.), namely, by means of using these roles to determine which are associated with which grammatical roles (Subject and Object). Instead, Dowty proposes that properties of event participant roles are entailed from the semantics of the predicate and these verbal properties are complementarily assigned to either of two proto-roles or both. In addition to the movement-stationary contrast, others including that of
(1991:571-75), ‘stationary’ is one of Proto-Patient’s entailments and is relative to the property of movement given to Proto-Agent.
Table 2.6 summarizes the preceding discussion on sa/squ’:
Table 2.6: Four types of function and use of the case markers sa/squ’ in Squliq Atayal
Verb types Type of
sa/squ’ NP
Type of sa/squ’
(1) Most verbs (except for existential verbs and some motion verbs like usa’ ‘go’and wah
‘come’)
Locative NP Loc1
(2) Existential verbs (i.e., maki’) Locative NP Loc2 (3) motion verbs
(e.g., kahul ‘come from’, hinas ‘pass through’, usa’ ‘go’, wah ‘come’, etc.)
Locative NP Loc2
(4) Semantically-transitive verbs (e.g., qaniq ‘eat’, panga’ ‘carry on back’, si’ ‘put’)
Object NP Loc2
To sum up, in this section, a remodeled the case marking system in Squliq Atayal is provided, in which case markers are classified based on three hierarchically-structured parameters.