Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar

Classical Tibetans has been reported to be an aspectually split ergative language (Regamey, 1954; Dixon, 1979). although this is true only of some texts. DeLancey (1984) shows that case marking in modern Lhasa Tibetan has an active-stative pattern. The data given in Saxena (1988) suggest that there...

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Main Author: Saxena, Anju
Other Authors: University of Oregon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179191
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1791912024-07-24T05:05:52Z Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar Saxena, Anju University of Oregon Arts and Humanities Classical Tibetans has been reported to be an aspectually split ergative language (Regamey, 1954; Dixon, 1979). although this is true only of some texts. DeLancey (1984) shows that case marking in modern Lhasa Tibetan has an active-stative pattern. The data given in Saxena (1988) suggest that there is a shift, in at least one modern dialect of modern Lhasa Tibetan, away from the active-stative pattern, and that the original ergative marker seems to function now as some sort of topic/emphasis marker2. In view of these various case marking patterns found in Tibetan, it will be interesting to see the case marking system in a text which is not so modern. The aim of this paper is to examine the 'ergative'3 pattern in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam Char 'the biography of Milarepa', an early vernacular Tibetan text. It will be shown that the Tibetan of the Mi=la=ras=pa has an active-stative case marking pattern. One of the limitations of working with a text is the nonavailability of all types of constructions that one would like in order to verify the claims; thus the suggestions made here should be taken as tentative. Published version 2024-07-24T05:05:52Z 2024-07-24T05:05:52Z 1989 Journal Article Saxena, A. (1989). Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 12(2), 35-39. https://dx.doi.org/10.32655/LTBA.12.2.05 0731-3500 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179191 10.32655/LTBA.12.2.05 2 12 35 39 en Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area © 1989 The Editor(s). All rights reserved. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Arts and Humanities
spellingShingle Arts and Humanities
Saxena, Anju
Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar
description Classical Tibetans has been reported to be an aspectually split ergative language (Regamey, 1954; Dixon, 1979). although this is true only of some texts. DeLancey (1984) shows that case marking in modern Lhasa Tibetan has an active-stative pattern. The data given in Saxena (1988) suggest that there is a shift, in at least one modern dialect of modern Lhasa Tibetan, away from the active-stative pattern, and that the original ergative marker seems to function now as some sort of topic/emphasis marker2. In view of these various case marking patterns found in Tibetan, it will be interesting to see the case marking system in a text which is not so modern. The aim of this paper is to examine the 'ergative'3 pattern in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam Char 'the biography of Milarepa', an early vernacular Tibetan text. It will be shown that the Tibetan of the Mi=la=ras=pa has an active-stative case marking pattern. One of the limitations of working with a text is the nonavailability of all types of constructions that one would like in order to verify the claims; thus the suggestions made here should be taken as tentative.
author2 University of Oregon
author_facet University of Oregon
Saxena, Anju
format Article
author Saxena, Anju
author_sort Saxena, Anju
title Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar
title_short Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar
title_full Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar
title_fullStr Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar
title_full_unstemmed Ergative in Mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar
title_sort ergative in mi=la=ras=pa'i rnam thar
publishDate 2024
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179191
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