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Article published In:
Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages
Vol. 37:1 (2022) ► pp.114–159

The syntax of directional Serial Verb Constructions in French-based creoles

| Université Paris 8 , France | SFL, CNRS , France | GRGC, France
| Université Paris 8 , France | GRGC, France

This article bears on directional Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs) in French-based creoles. Starting with a working definition of our topic of study, we present a detailed description of the data in Martinican Creole (MQ) – whose grammar is similar in the relevant respects to that of Haitian (HC). Four different structural patterns are distinguished. Our results bring partial support to Aboh’s (2015) assumption that the emergence of Haitian SVCs might have resulted from congruence between Gbe SVCs (analysed as ‘causative-like’) and French Clause Union. We argue that this idea finds further confirmation in cross-creole comparison, but only concerns one type of (directional) SVC.

Keywords: serial verb constructions, French-Based Creoles, Martinican, Haitian, Mauritian
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Serial verb constructions and French-based creoles
  • 2. Déchaine’s (1993) theory of bivalent predicates
  • 3.Directional multiverbal constructions in MQ
    • 3.1Two types of SVCs in MQ
      • 3.1.1A Déchaine-inspired analysis
      • 3.1.2A clause union analysis?
    • 3.2Directional multiverbal constructions in MQ
      • 3.2.1Directional left-adjoined bivalent predicates
      • 3.2.2Directional V-V compounds
      • 3.2.3Directional right-adjoined bivalent predicates
      • 3.2.4Causative structures with directional V2s
    • 3.3Partial recap
  • 4.Teachings from cross-creole comparison
    • 4.1The nature of ‘substrate’ languages in French-based-creole formation
    • 4.2Serial verb constructions in Mauritian
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations used (or borrowed) in the glosses
  • References
Published online: 23 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.00088.her
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