MOSETEN AND CHIMANE ARGUMENT CODING: A LAYERED SYSTEM

This paper discusses the argument-coding system of Mosetenan, a small language family spoken in the Bolivian Amazon. While there is no case marking on nouns, all coding of arguments is found in the cross-reference ending of verbs. Intransitive verbs are marked for the gender of their subjects, except for the first-person plural inclusive, which has a marker, -ja', that does not indicate the gender of the subject. Transitive cross-referencing is more complicated. It is a layered system that combines the grammatical relation of the participant (S, A, or O) with the person (1, 2, 3) and number (singular and plural). Again, the forms of first-person plural inclusive subjects are unique. The second most important forms are third-person objects, which appear before any of the speech-act participants (SAP). I analyze the Mosetenan system, discussing how language contact can shape the general outline of an argument-coding system by the introduction of a new category such as an inclusive/exclusive distinction in the first-person plural.