Associated motion is a category first described in various languages of
Australia (see Koch 1984, Wilkins 1991) and more recently applied to the
Tacanan languages of South America (see Guillaume 2008, Guillaume to
appear).
This category refers to grammatical markers that attach to verbs and
“specify that the event denoted by the verb stem is associated with a motion
event” as Wilkins (1991: 207) puts it. In some languages, the associated
motion system can include up to 14 distinct affixes, distinguished by three
main parameters: 1) the deixis (whether the motion is towards the speaker,
away from the speaker or unspecified) 2) the syntactic role of the entity
undergoing the motion (S/A vs. O) 3) the time of the motion relative to
the action expressed by the verb stem (prior, concurrent, subsequent).
Rgyalrong and Kiranti languages have independently grammaticalized
associated motion morphemes from motion verbs such as “come” and “go”.
While the systems found in Rgyalrong and Kiranti are much less elaborate
than those attested in Arandic, they nevertheless present several unusual
typological phenomena.
This presentation is divided into three section.
First, we describe the associated motion system of Japhug Rgyalrong
and Khaling. The two systems are radically different. While Khaling has
suffixes, Japhug Rgyalrong has associated motion prefixes, a typological
oddity for a verb final language (see Jacques to appear). While in Japhug
associated motion prefixes have lost all verbal properties, in Khaling both
the verb stem and the associated motion affix receive person and tense
agreement.
Second, we propose a series of scenarios to account for the grammaticalization
of associated motion affixes in Rgyalrong and Kiranti.
Third, we refine the existing typologies of associated motion system
by comparing the Rgyalrong and Kiranti systems with data from Arandic,
Tacanan and Algonquian languages.