Indefinite direction and associated motion prefixes in the Brag-bar dialect of Situ Rgyalrong

Abstract

Rgyalrong languages possess a set of directional prefixes and a set of associated motion prefixes, which can normally be distinguished from each other. The directional and associated motion prefixes occur in different slots in the verbal template and have different functions. The directional prefixes, related to spatial orientations, serve as the path satellite of a motion event, whereas the associated motion prefixes relate a motion co-event to a non-motion verb. In addition, they both have non-spatial functions. While the directional prefixes are known as the main sources of the TAME markers in all Rgyalrong languages, the associated motion prefixes are reported to have non-spatial functions only in some varieties. The Brag-bar dialect of Situ Rgyalrong is attested with an unusual homophony between the indefinite directional prefix and the translocative (associated motion) prefix. Moreover, the translocative prefix in Brag-bar interacts with inferential past and obtains a non-spatial reading of perfect-cum-continuative, which is not yet reported in Rgyalrongic studies. Based on the description of the indefinite directional and translocative prefixes in Bragbar, the present study attempts to clarify the different functions assumed by the two prefixes and to propose both semantic and morphological criteria to distinguish between them.