The -rehe Oblique P construction in Paraguayan Guarani: A case of non-canonical transitivity
Abstract
This paper argues that the Rehe-marked Oblique P construction licensed by a group of bivalent verbs in Paraguayan Guarani constitutes a case of non-canonical transitivity. We characterize this grammatical relation from two interrelated perspectives: the verb classes that license it and its morphosyntactic properties in comparison with Direct Ps and adjuncts. With respect to verb classes, Rehe-marked Ps are selected by verbs belonging to classes that have been identified cross-linguistically as departures from canonical transitivity (Tsunoda 1985; Malchukov 2005). Following Malchukov (2005), these verbs can be located along three hierarchies: those exhibiting reduced patient properties, those exhibiting reduced agentive properties, and those involving a loss of distinctness between A and P. From a morphosyntactic perspective, our analysis—based on the notion of argument selectors (Bickel 2013; Witzlack-Makarevich 2019)—shows that Oblique Ps do not uniformly pattern either like or unlike Direct Ps. While some properties show variation, others display consistent patterning. The mixed behavior exhibited by individual verbs can be explained if these verbs are understood as belonging to classes located closer to the canonically transitive end of the scale. Our findings align with research on oblique Ps in other languages, which shows that non-canonical transitivity deviates from canonical transitivity in a gradual rather than categorical manner (Guerrero 2022; Guerrero et al. 2023; Zariquiey 2017).