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Article published In:
Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area
Vol. 45:2 (2022) ► pp.300–311

Accusative alignment in the Old Tibetan switch reference system

| Trinity College Dublin

The use of ནས་ -nas to mark cross-clausal co-reference in Version I of the Old Tibetan Rāmāyaṇa reveals accusative alignment in Tibetan syntax, which in turn vindicates the notion of ‘subject’ applied to Tibetan.

Keywords: accusative, co-reference, switch reference, Old Tibetan, Tibetan
Article outline
  • 1.Tibetan ergativity
  • 2.The co- and switch reference system
  • 3. ནས་ -nas for co-reference
    • 3.1Co-reference of an agent and sole argument
    • 3.2Co-reference of a sole argument and an agent
  • 4. པ་དང་ -pa-daṅ to mark switch reference
    • 4.1Switch reference from an agent to a sole argument
    • 4.2Switch reference from a sole argument to an agent
    • 4.3Switch reference from an agent to another agent
    • 4.4Switch reference from a sole argument to another sole argument
  • 5.Conclusion: The cross clausal indexing of subjecthood
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 November 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ltba.22007.hil
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