Affecting valence in Khumi

This paper treats the repertoire of valence-affecting constructions found in Khumi (Tibeto-Burman, Bangladesh). In addition to a productive middle, marked by a-, and a semiproductive causative prefix, p-, Khumi has productive suffixal benefactive/malefactive and causative/applicative constructions. The first of the suffixal constructions is organized around a benefactive core but shows signs of generalization to participants with other semantic roles. The causative/applicative construction Khumi exhibits is distinct from other types of causative/applicative isomorphism that have been described, as it apparently lacks any of the more widely attested distributional motivations for its different senses.

Published online: 13 December 2013
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.104.07pet