Symmetrical Objects in Misantla Totonac

Type Journal Article - International Journal of American Linguistics
Title Symmetrical Objects in Misantla Totonac
Author(s)
Volume 74
Issue 2
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2008
Page numbers 227-255
URL http://sureste.ciesas.edu.mx/AAA/MacKay_symmetrical objects in Misantla totonac.pdf
Abstract
In this paper, we present evidence that Misantla Totonac, a Totonac-Tepehua language spoken in the vicinity of Misantla, Veracruz, in Mexico, is a symmetrical object language in the sense of Bresnan and Moshi (1990). Specifically, we demonstrate that in Misantla Totonac both of the objects of a ditransitive verb exhibit the behavior of the single object of a transitive verb. Our argument is based on the phenomenon of double object marking in which each of the objects of a ditransitive verb controls object agreement. We also consider the processes of reflexivization and reciprocalization and demonstrate that one object of a ditransitive verb can be reflexivized or reciprocalized while the other controls object agreement. It is the ability of the two objects to exhibit these object properties simultaneously that establishes Misantla Totonac as a symmetrical object language.

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