Transitivity Concord in Chechen. Long-Distance Passive without passivization

Philip Shushurin
Institute of Linguistics RAS

Abstract: The current paper gives an account of the so-called Transitivity Concord, as found in Chechen. In the construction in question, a subordinate structure is found where the matrix clause contains a transitive verb which has a requirement to embed a strictly transitive structure. In Chechen, such position is found with two transitive matrix verbs — begin and finish. The constraint not to embed intransitive structure is analyzed as a requirement for the embedded structure to contain an Absolutive DP, which is demonstrably a syntactic argument of the matrix rather than of the embedded verb. The studied phenomenon is then compared to the Long-Distance Passive, and several key similarities between the two constructions are highlighted.

Keywords: syntax, Ergativity, subordinate clauses, Nakh-Dagestanian languages

For citation: Shushurin Ph. Transitivity Concord in Chechen. Long-Distance Passive without passivization. Typology of Morphosyntactic Parameters. 2023. Vol. 6, iss. 2. Pp. 136–160. (In Rus.) doi:10.37632/PI.2023.72.40.006