The Syntax of Argument Structure in Pashto

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to describe the predicate argument structure in Pashto (an East-Iranian language) from morpho-syntactic perspective and compare it with English. The data was collected from the standard (i.e., Yousafzai) dialect of the Pakistani variety of Pashto and was analysed using the morpho-syntactic processes such as conflation, incorporation, arguments’ hierarchy and argument structure alternation. The study shows that in Pashto there are quite few words which are derived by incorporation. Majority of words are derived from adjective root by conflation. Similarly, majority of the verbs are also derived through conflation; its argument structure alternates quite freely. Moreover, alternations such as causativization of unergative, ergative, middle and transitive verbs are very commonly found in Pashto. In case of resultatives, Pashto does not allow incorporation of N in resulative constructions unlike English where it is very common. Relating the findings of the study with English Language Teaching (ELT), the study compares the argument structure of Pashto with English. This comparative analysis shows that the argument structure types depicted by Pashto such as unaccusative, unergative, and adjective passives are quite different from that of English. A generalization drawn from the data is that with few exceptions all the argument structure differences can be traced back to the fact that PP conflation is allowed in English while in Pashto it is not. On the other hand, the free alternation between causative and inchohative/transitive-intransitive; and transitive-ditransitive can also be traced back to the fact that such alternations are common in Pashto because adjective conflates into V quite freely while in English it does not. Thus the Pashto alternates of English resulatives depict a very different type of argument structure. Contrary to what is true about English, Pashto allows small pro as a subject while English does not. English has subject control PRO which is not allowed in Pashto. The non-availability of PRO can be directly related to the non-existence of infinitive verb in Pashto. The existence of zero argument predicates in English was traced back to the fact that through incorporation of internal argument to empty V position the zero argument verbs were derived in English. However, in case of Pashto, the internal argument of the verb does not get incorporated. So the basic structure of the predicates in both of the languages is the same. The differences in the derived form are due to the fact that one language (English) allows incorporation of the internal argument while the other (Pashto) does not. Similarly, Pashto allows conflations into overt v while English derives most of causative alternates by zero derivation. So, consequently, the argument structure differences found in both languages were traced back to the availability of option for PP to conflate into V.