Construcciones seriales simétricas y asimétricas en toba del este de Formosa (Argentina)

Abstract

This paper analyzes, from a functional-typological perspective, the serial verb constructions in Toba of eastern Formosa (Argentina). We compare two types of these constructions which are called “asymmetrical” and “symmetrical” by Aikhenvald (2006). The first is characterized by the occurrence of the verb ta “to go” ―without bound person morphology― plus a finite verb which functions as the core of the complex predicate. In addition, three subtypes of asymmetrical constructions are established according to their occurrence with transitive and intransitive verbs. Symmetrical constructions are characterized by the expression of both finite verbs in series. The analysis of these constructions is focused on the morphosyntactic patterns that distinguish them from close types of constructions like paratactic completive clauses. This research is based on a corpus composed of five hours of oral narrative texts and fifty elicited clauses collected by fieldwork carried out in Toba communities from eastern Formosa (Argentina).