Article published in:
Benefactives and Malefactives: Typological perspectives and case studiesEdited by Fernando Zúñiga and Seppo Kittilä
[Typological Studies in Language 92] 2010
► pp. 71–96
Cross-linguistic categorization of benefactives by event structure
A preliminary framework for benefactive typology
Tomoko Yamashita Smith | Osaka University
The first of its kind, this study classifies the semantics of benefactive constructions from over sixty languages according to event structure types, identifying two basic types. The “agentive benefactive” construction, always includes an agent and expresses that the agent intentionally carries out the act for the sake of the affectee. The “event benefactive” construction, on the other hand, expresses that the affecting event may or may not have an agent, and includes windfall situations. The subtypes of the agentive benefactive are: “unrestricted agentive benefactive” (agent can be anybody), “non-self-benefactive” (agent is not an affectee), “selfbenefactive” (agent and affectee are identical), and “shared-benefit construction” (which expresses that ‘X does something for the benefit of X himself and Y’).
Published online: 14 April 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.92.03smi
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.92.03smi