Book contents
- Voice and Argument Structure in Basque
- Cambridge Studies in Linguistics
- Voice and Argument Structure in Basque
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 Preliminaries
- 2 Unaccusatives and Unergatives in Comparison
- 3 Adding Datives
- 4 Psych Predicates and Argument Structure Alternations
- 5 The Causative/Inchoative Alternation
- 6 Basque Impersonals
- 7 Morphological Causatives
- 8 Theoretical Approaches to Voice and Argument Structure Alternations in Basque
- References
- Index
1 - Preliminaries
The Basics of Basque
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 2026
Book contents
- Voice and Argument Structure in Basque
- Cambridge Studies in Linguistics
- Voice and Argument Structure in Basque
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 Preliminaries
- 2 Unaccusatives and Unergatives in Comparison
- 3 Adding Datives
- 4 Psych Predicates and Argument Structure Alternations
- 5 The Causative/Inchoative Alternation
- 6 Basque Impersonals
- 7 Morphological Causatives
- 8 Theoretical Approaches to Voice and Argument Structure Alternations in Basque
- References
- Index
Summary
In this chapter, we will introduce some of the basic grammatical properties that will be relevant to our discussion throughout the book. Specifically, we will explore Basque ergativity in both its case and agreement marking (Section 1.1). We will also analyze auxiliary alternation across intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive forms (Sections 1.3 and 1.5). Additionally, we will discuss the various types of datives found in Basque, alongside their particular combinations with other arguments (Section 1.6). Further, allocutives will be revisited (Section 1.8). Lastly, we will briefly introduce two dialectal phenomena that deviate from the more general patterns presented throughout the chapter (Section 1.9).
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- Voice and Argument Structure in Basque , pp. 1 - 17Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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