Converb as a clause-linking device in Hindi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30842/30346800.2025.1.2.1Keywords:
сonverb, clause linkage, coordination, subordination, discourse, HindiAbstract
The article analyzes the converb form in Hindi as a clause-linking device. On the one hand, Hindi retains the old Indo-European finite clause-linking system, and on the other, it makes extensive use of converbs, a feature typical of the languages of (South) Asia. This makes it interesting to study the function of the converb in comparison with other clause-linking devices. Converbs in South Asian languages, including Hindi, have been the subject of extensive research for decades, yielding many insights into their functions. However, as these insights have emerged from different research paradigms and methodologies, the present paper seeks to test major claims, summarize them and propose a consistent functional-discourse analysis. The study is based on data from web corpora supplemented by elicitation. The converbal construction is compared with other strategies of clause linkage such as participial clauses, infinitival clauses headed by postpositions, coordination and subordination of finite clauses. They are studied with respect to (i) aspect / taxis and actionality of the verb, (ii) subject expression, (iii) discourse functions. I show that the converbal construction accomodates verbs of different actionality types and its syntactic and semantic connection to the matrix clause does not have to be explicitly specified, as distinct from non-finite strategies. The use of the converb emphasizes the natural relevance that holds between the situations in question, while finite coordination and subordination tend to be used when situations are conceived of as more independent. I also demonstrate that specific grammatical features of the converb, such as context-dependent grammatical semantics, same-subject reference and non-compositional negation, can be accounted for by its discourse function.
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