Development of verb-verb complexes in Indo-Aryan

Abstract

One feature of modern Indo-Aryan [IA] languages – and South Asian languages more generally – is the employment of verb-verb compounds, which involve collocations of two verbs, where one (the “light” or “vector” verb) acts as a grammaticalised version of its full verb counterpart. Thus, the verb GO in many IA languages can appear as a light verb in verb-verb [VV] compounds, contributing various more functional semantic components including completion. In this chapter, I discuss the historical development and properties of VV compounds in IA, with reference to VVs in Dravidian. This includes examination of the precursors of modern Indo-Aryan verb-verb collocations, especially early examples in Sri Lankan Pali and early Sinhala.

Benjamin Slade

Associate Professor of Linguistics

My research interests include formal semantics and syntax, historical linguistics, South Asian and Caribbean languages, and the use of computational concepts in formal linguistics.