Bà tɔ̀nū Dative Constructions: A Problem for the Case Theory

Abstract

Bàtɔ̀nū, a Gur (Voltaic) language, exhibits
SOV word order in its basic clause structure. It is a
functional noun class language. The language has
ditransitive verbs and dative constructions are
permissible in its syntax. However, unlike English
where ‘Dative Shift’, as in ‘John gave Mary the book’
(i.e. double-object construction), is derivable from
prepositional dative construction - ‘John gave the book
to Mary’; Bàtɔ̀nū has no dative prepositions and dative
shift is not allowed in its syntax. The problem of
abstract Case-marking in double object constructions is
cross-linguistic. Despite various attempts by linguists to
solve the problem in the past, there remain gaps as well
as unresolved issues. The problem appears more
pronounced in Bàtɔ̀nū Dative Constructions. The dative
NP’s in the language lack overt Case assigners and
therefore fail to receive abstract Case. As a further
consequence, all such constructions in the language, on
the face of it, violate the Case Filter and, by implication,
the Theta Criterion. In an attempt to solve the problem
within the framework of Principles and Parameters
(P&P) theory, this paper proposes a unified approach
that merges Larson’s (1988) notions of V1-Reanalysis
and Complex Predicate Raising with Baker’s (1985,
1988) notions of Abstract Noun Incorporation (ANI)
and Government Transparency Corollary (GTC). In
this approach, ditransitive verbs are shown to reanalyze
with their direct-object NP’s to form complex
predicates. Such complex predicates inherit the Caseassigning
properties of their main verbs (via GTC) and
thereby govern and assign the required structural
accusative Case to the hitherto ungoverned and
Caseless dative NP’s. This proposal appears to
completely obviate the problem of adjacency between
the main verbs and their dative NP’s in Bàtɔ̀nū Dative
Constructions.