| Popis: |
Inversion constructions appear to invert canonical case and agreement patterns in Georgian. However, as long recognized in traditional accounts, the morphological properties of inversion constructions can be assimilated to the default patterns of the language if inversion is treated as a case of ‘thematic demotion’ in which a logical subject is realized as an indirect object. The analysis presented in this paper suggests how a general correspondence-based model of argument structure can capture and extend this traditional insight in a way that clarifies the organization of the Georgian conjugational system. In addition, this type of analysis sheds light on the theoretical status of the dependents that participate in inversion in Georgian. Whereas the ‘logical subjects’ that undergo demotion can be defined in thematic terms, the surface indirect objects that they are realized as constitute a distinctive type of dependent, one which is not reducible to thematically restricted objects |
