Transitivity and ergativity in Formosan and Philippine languages (China)

This study deals with transitivity and actancy structure in Formosan and Philippine languages. Based on textual analyses of two Formosan languages (Kavalan and Atayal) and two Philippine languages (Central Cagayan Agta and Dibabawon Manobo), I conclude that only one, rather than both, of the dyadic clause patterns constitutes the transitive construction in each language. Specifically, dyadic -an clauses are transitive constructions in Kavalan. Dyadic -un clauses, dyadic - an clauses, and dyadic s- clauses are transitive constructions in Atayal. Dyadic -an clauses, dyadic - an clauses, dyadic i- clauses, and dyadic i- -an clauses are transitive constructions in Central Cagayan Agta. Dyadic -on clauses, dyadic - an clauses, and dyadic i- clauses are transitive constructions in Dibabawon Manobo. As for the other dyadic clause pattern (i.e., dyadic -um-/(-)m- clauses in Kavalan; dyadic (-)m- clauses in Atayal; dyadic -um-/ma-/mag-/maN - clauses in Central Cagayan Agta; and dyadic -um-/-og-, or maN- clauses in Dibabawon Manobo), these are treated as extended intransitive or pseudo-transitive clauses, a type of intransitive clauses.; Based on the observations that (i) the S of an intransitive clause and the O of a transitive clause have the same morphological marking, whereas (ii) the A of a transitive clause has a distinct morphological marking in each of the languages, I conclude that each language has an ergative case-marking system. Moreover, neither Atayal nor Dibabawon Manobo has a (productive) verbal agreement system, based on the case-marking system alone, I conclude that both languages also exhibit a pure ergative actancy structure. As for Kavalan and Central Cagayan Agta, verbs in these two languages can carry an optional genitive clitic pronoun or pronominal-related form that agrees with the A of a transitive clause in person and number, but not with the S of an intransitive verb nor with the O of a transitive verb. This suggests that both Kavalan and Central Cagayan Agta have an ergative agreement system. Because Kavalan and Central Cagayan Agta exhibit ergativity in both their nominal case-marking system as well as in their verbal agreement system, I conclude that both Kavalan and Central Cagayan Agta have a pure ergative actancy structure.