Reanalyzing Fataluku’s Postpositions as Serial Verbs

Abstract

This paper presents a new analysis of a class of words previously analyzed as postpositions in the Papuan language Fataluku. Closer examination reveals that these words exhibit verbal characteristics, such as taking verbal morphology and occupying the same grammatical slots as action verbs. Additionally, a number of words may express either events or sematically-related positional relationships, following established pathways of semantic bleaching. I argue that many verbs have acquired adposition-like meanings through their use in serial verb constructions, a common areal feature, and that their synchronic behavior is more consistent with a verbal analysis than an adpositional one.