Relative order of dative arguments in ditransitive constructions in Russian: Corpus and experimental studies

Lyubov Chubarova1, Maxim Bazhukov2, Natalia Slioussar3, Svetlana Toldova4
1,2,3,4HSE University / 3Saint Petersburg State University

Abstract: The paper examines the relative order of dative objects in relation to their argumenthood following [Boneh, Nash 2017]. They claim that locative (argumental) objects are introduced in the syntactic structure lower than direct objects, while benefactive (non-argumental) ones — higher, therefore the base orders are V-DO-IO and V-IO-DO respectively. Controlling for other parameters (object animacy, length, givenness) we conducted a corpus study and three experiments: a forced-choice, acceptability judgement and self-paced reading studies. The order predicted by [Boneh, Nash 2017] and the reverse order did not differ in acceptability ratings and corpus statistics, however the former was chosen more often and read insignificantly faster.

Keywords: ditransitive constructions, order of objects, argumenthood, animacy, length, givenness, corpus, experiment, SynTagRus

For citation: Chubarova L., Bazhukov M., Slioussar N., Toldova S. Relative order of dative arguments in ditransitive constructions in Russian: Corpus and experimental studies. Typology of Morphosyntactic Parameters. 2022. Vol. 5, iss. 2. Pp. 101–123. (In Rus.)