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Yuki
Glottocode: yuki1243
Genalogical classification: Yuki-Wappo
Original alignment pattern: Nominative
Source construction: Transitive constructions follow a nominative-accusative pattern: A and S are marked by the same set of pronouns, as in (1) and (2).
Developmental mechanism: Transitive constructions with non-overt third person A are reanalyzed as intransitive constructions, and the original P pronoun is consequently reanalyzed as an S pronoun. The process may have been influenced by contact with the neighboring Pomoan languages.
Resulting construction: Intransitive constructions with P-like marking of S, as in (3).
Type of change: Reinterpretation of argument structure
Alignment in the resulting construction: Ergative-Absolutive
Global alignment pattern following the change: Split intransitivity
Constraints on the distribution of the resulting alignment: Split in the marking of S participants, some pattern like P, as in (3), some like A of transitive verbs, as in (1) and (2).
Grammatical domains: Case marking
Symmetry: Symmetric
Type of data: Internal reconstruction
References: Mithun 2008:298-309
Examples
(1) Yuki (Yuki-Wappo; Mithun 2008:302)
| h˛an | ʔa˛p | n˛awh-ek |
| house | 1SG.AGT | see-DECL |
‘I see the house.’
(2) Yuki (Yuki-Wappo; Mithun 2008:301)
| ʔa˛p | ṭ:tam-a˛p | noʔoh-ek |
| 1SG.AGT | mountain-LOC | live-DECL |
‘I’m living on the mountain’
(3) Yuki (Yuki-Wappo; Mithun 2008:301)
| ʔi: | poʔ-ok |
| 1SG.PAT | burn-DECL |
‘I got burned’