languages tend to vary in how they morpho-syntactically mark non-Agent semantic
languages tend to vary in how they morpho-syntactically mark non-Agent semantic roles—in particular, Themes and Experiencers. For this question, let’s focus on just Experiencer arguments.
Look for examples that show how Experiencer arguments are morpho-syntactically encoded. (Hint: think about which type of verbs have Experiencer arguments). Describe what specific morphological (case marking? Agreement on verbs?) and/or syntactic (position in the sentence) features these non-Agent arguments display, and compare them with an example of a “canonical” two-argument sentence—with a transitive verb that has an Agent argument and a Patient/Theme argument. Are any of the morphological features on Experiencer arguments different? Are any of the syntactic features on Experiencer arguments different?
General guidelines:
Write brief, but full, descriptions. That is, I would like you to not simply “respond” to each of my questions above, and be done with it. Rather, connect, and organize, your findings into a coherent, readable explanation of these features in your research language—imagine a short science piece that can be read by another linguist.
You will want to:
Start your description with an opening statement about what your research language does, or does not mark, in relation to these features.
Even if the morpho-syntax your language does NOT mark a certain feature: you need to show good examples that conclusively demonstrate that this feature is NOT marked, AND state exactly why these examples demonstrate that the feature is not marked.
If the morpho-syntax of your language DOES mark a certain feature: present the system (i.e. the set of all values under that category)—if the system is not too large, list all the values. If it is large (say, a language has multiple dozens of noun classifiers, present a number of representative examples. Either way, as you present the system, show good examples, and discuss any key features.
Finally, don’t forget to provide an in-line citation for each example cited from your sources, to show which page it is from.