A minimalist approach to the emergence of ergativity in Austronesian languages

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes a novel reconstruction of Proto-Austronesian as a language with accusative alignment, in contrast to previous analyses, which have reconstructed PAn with some type of ergative system. The methodology employed in this paper also departs from previous work in basing the proposal on syntactic change rather than on phonological or morphological comparison. In the account of argument licensing in the Minimalist Program, nominative subjects are licensed by a higher functional head T than accusative objects, which value their case with the light verb v. This produces accusative alignment, with the corollary that ergative systems arise only when the unmarked licensing relations are disrupted. Specifically, I propose that this disruption involves the loss of transitive v’s ability to value accusative case on the object and the concomitant ability of this v to provide inherent licensing for the subject, thereby allowing T to exceptionally value nominative case on the object. The current paper argues that the ergative types of alignment observed in modern Formosan and Philippine languages are the result of consecutive innovations in high-order subgroups of the Austronesian family, being triggered first in irrealis clauses in a daughter of PAn, which I term “Proto-Ergative Austronesian”.