Resultatives
December is traditionally a month for looking back. I have been looking back quite far for an abstract on causative motion for a conference in Paris next year. During my PhD, I collected data on both non-causative motion (Robin ran out of the house) and causative motion (Alice threw the book out the window), but I never did anything with the causative data. If the abstract is accepted, maybe I can finally do something with it.
Coding things up for the abstract lead me to go even further back. Among the causative motion sentences selected from my parallel corpus, I included a resultative:
"A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red." (from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)
To paint something red is a resultative construction :). Resultatives were the topic of my MA thesis completed now seven years ago, and they have always kept a special place in my heart. They are one of three types of secondary predication:
Manner predication: Sue walked slowly
Depictive: Lisa ate her vegetables raw
Resultative: Melissa cut the grass short
Secondary predicates 'attach' to a normal predicative constituent that encodes an event, here walk, eat, and cut, and expres a state or a property regarding that event, here slow, raw, and short. They are well-known in construction grammar and generative linguistics, but in typology, major cross-linguistic work has only been done on manner predication by Flora Loeb-Diehl in her dissertation "The typology of manner expressions" from 2005.
Given that I'm not doing anything with secondary predication for the foreseeable future, I thought a little typology of the 'to paint red' resultative from Alice in translation in a few Indo-European languages would be a nice Christmas read for (perhaps one of) you.
The strategies used to translate the English construction 'to paint red' vary along several different axes. To start with the closest relatives of English, these are the Dutch, German, and Swedish translations (apologies for poor gloss alignment):
Dutch
Er stond een grote rozenboom bij de
ER stand.PST.SG INDF.ART big rose.tree by DEF.ART
ingang van de tuin; de rozen die
entrance of DEF.ART garden DEF.ART rose.PL DEM
eraan groeiden waren wit maar er waren drie
on.it grow.PST.PL COP.PST.PL white but ER COP.PST.PL three
tuinlieden druk aan de gang om ze rood te schilderen.
gardener.PL busy on DEF.ART way to 3PL red TE paint.INF
German
Ein hoher Rosenstock stand nah
INDEF.ART.M.NOM high.M.SG.NOM rose.tree.M.SG stand.3SG.PST close
dem Eingang zum Garten:
DEF.ART.M.DAT entrance.M.DAT to.DEF.ART.M.DAT garden.M.DAT
die Rosen die daran wuchsen waren weiß aber
DEF.ART.PL.NOM roses.F.NOM.PL that on.it grow.3PL.PST is.3PL.PST white but
drei Gärtner waren dabei sie geschäftig rot an-zu-streichen.
three gardener.M.NOM.PL is.3PL.PST in.the.process 3PL.ACC busily red on-to-paint.INF
Swedish
Vid ingång-en stod ett stort rosenträd. Ros-orna
by entrance-SG.DEF.UT stand.PST INDF.ART.NT large rose.tree.SG rose-PL.DEF.UT
som växte på det var vit-a men
which.REL.PRON grow.PST on 3SG.N be.PST.COP white-DEF but
tre trädgårdsmästare var sysselsatt-a med att måla dem röd-a
three gardener.PL be.PST.COP occupy-ADV with to paint.INF 3PL.OBJ red-DEF
Dutch, German, and Swedish all make use of an adjective as a secondary predicate, similar to the English original. This can be an invariable form, as in Dutch, or the adjective can agree with the noun for 'roses' in terms of definiteness, person, gender, case, etc., as in Swedish. This 'bare' adjective strategy is quite big in Europe: in my MA thesis, I note that this is possible in Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, and Spanish too. It is indeed used in the Greek translation:
Greek
Mia megal-i triantafylli-a fytron-e
INDF.ART.F.NOM.SG large-F.NOM.SG rose.tree-F.NOM.SG grow-PST.IPFV.3SG
kont-a s-tin eisod-o toy perivoli-oy.
near-ADV in-DEF.ART.F.ACC.SG entrance-F.ACC.SG DEF.ART.M.GEN.SG garden.M-GEN.SG
Ta triantafyll-a tis itan aspr-a
DEF.ART.N.NOM.PL roses-N.NOM.PL POSS.F.3SG be.PST.3PL white-N.NOM.PL
alla ypirch-an kont-a tis treis kipoyr-oi poy me
but exist.PST.IPFV-3PL near-ADV 3SG.F.OBJ three.M.NOM gardener-M.NOM.PL who with
poly-aschol-o yf-os ta e-vaf-an kokkin-a.
very-busy-N.ACC.SG look-N.ACC.SG 3PL.OBJ PST-paint-PST.IPFV.3PL red-N.ACC.PL
And also in Irish:
Irish
Bhí crann mór róis ina sheasamh gar do gheata
is.PST tree great rose.GEN in.3SG.M.POSS standing near to gate
an ghairdín: is geal a bhí na rósanna
DEF.ART garden.GEN COP white REL.PART is.PST DEF.ART.PL rose.PL
ag fás air ach bhí triúr gairneoirí ina
at grow.INF on.3SG.M/N but is.PST three gardner.GEN.PL in.3SG.M/N.POSS
thimpeall agus iad go gnóthach á bpéinteáil dearg.
surrounding and 3PL.OBJ ADJ.PART busy 3PL.POSS paint.INF red
But not in Italian:
Italian
Presso l’-entrata del giardino
near DEF.ART.F.SG-entrance.F.SG of.DEF.ART.M.SG garden.M.SG
c’-er-a un grande rosaio: vi cresce-v-ano
there-be.IPFV-3SG one.M big.SG rose.tree.M.SG there grow-IPFV.PST-3PL
rose bianche ma c’-er-ano tre giardinieri tutti indaffarati
rose.F.PL white.F.PL but there-be.IPFV-3PL three gardener.M.PL all busy.M.PL
a diping-er-le di rosso.
to paint-INF-ACC.F.3PL of red
Italian uses a combination of a preposition and an adjective meaning 'red'. This strategy is in fact used by all other Romance translations, even though the 'bare' adjective strategy is supposedly possible as well:
French
Un grand rosier se trouv-ai-t près de
ART.INDF.M big.M rose.tree.M REFL.3SG found-IPFV-3SG near to
l'entrée du jardin: ses rose-s
ART.DEF.F-entrance of.ART.DEF.M garden.M 3PL.F.POSS rose.F-PL
ét-ai-ent blanche-s mais trois jardinier-s s-'affair-ai-ent
be-IPFV-3PL white.F-PL but three gardener-PL REFL.3PL-be.busy-IPFV-3PL
à les peindre en rouge.
to 3PL.OBJ paint.INF in red
Portuguese
Perto d-a entrada d-o jardim estava
near of-DEF.ART.F.SG entrance.F of-DEF.ART.M.SG garden.M be.IND.IPFV.3SG
uma grande roseira com rosa-s branca-s, mas havia três
INDF.ART.F.SG large rosebush.F with rose.F-PL white.F-PL but there.be.IND.IPFV.3SG three
jardineiro-s muito atarefado-s a pintar-em-na-s de vermelho.
gardener.M-PL very burden.PTCP.M-PL to paint.INF-PERS.3PL-OBJ.3F-PL of red.M
Romanian
Un arbust stufos de trandafir-i se înălț-a
INDF.M.SG shrub.M.NOM.SG bushy of rose-M.ACC.PL REFL.3SG go.up-IPFV.3SG
aproape de intrar-ea în grădină; trandafir-i-i înflori-seră
near of entry-F.ACC.SG.DEF in garden.F.ACC.SG rose-M.NOM.PL-DEF bloom-PPRF.3PL
alb-i dar trei grădinar-i dădeau zor pe lângă arbust
white-PL but three gardener-M.NOM.PL give.IPFV.3PL haste on next.to shrub.M.NOM.SG
și vops-eau florile în roșu.
and dye-IPFV.3PL flower.F.ACC.PL.DEF in red
Perhaps the Romance translations can be related to the Latin translation, which uses the ablative case marker. Latin also uses a nominal construction, pigmento rubro 'red paint', rather than just the adjective. Many more languages do this, especially those with case-marked adjectives.
Latin
Prope adit-um hort-i arbor
close.to.ADV entrance-M.ACC.SG garden-M.GEN.SG tree.F.NOM.SG
ros-arum magn-a sit-a est
rose-F.GEN.PL large-F.NOM.SG lie-PASS.PFV.F.NOM.SG be.PRS.3SG
in ea ros-ae alb-ae er-ant
in 3SG.F.ABL rose-F.NOM.PL white-F.NOM.PL be-IPFV.3PL
sed tr-es hort-i cultor-es
but three-M.NOM.PL garden-M.GEN.SG grower-M.NOM.PL
eas pigment-o rubr-o strenu-e ping-ebant
3PL.F.ACC paint-N.ABL.SG red-N.ABL.SG active-ADV paint-IPFV.3PL
Other languages that use the adposition strategy common in the Romance languages are Breton:
Breton
E-tal toull al liorzh e oa ur
in-front hole.M.SG DEF.ART garden.M.SG PART be.PST.AUX INDF.ART
bod-roz: gwenn e oa ar roz anezh-añ
bush.M.SG-rose.F.PL white.ADJ PART be.PST.AUX DEF.ART rose.F.PL of-3SG.M.OBJ
met tri liorzhour a oa a-zevri ouzh o livañ e ruz.
but three gardener.M.SG PART be.PST.AUX really.ADV to PROG paint.INF in red.ADJ
Albanian uses the instrumental preposition me (and again a nominal, 'red colour', rather than simply the adjective 'red'):
Albanian
Pranë hyrjes së kopshtit kishte një
near entrance.F.DEF.DAT.SG of garden.M.DEF.DAT.SG have.IMPRF.3SG INDF.ART
shkurre të madhe trëndafilash.
bush.F.INDF.ACC.SG INDF.F.ACC.SG big.F.INDF.ACC.SG rose.M.INDF.DAT.PL
Aty lulëzonin lule të bardha që
there bloom.IMPRF.3PL flower.F.INDF.NOM.PL INDF.F.NOM.PL white.F.INDF.NOM.PL that
tre kopshtarë lodheshin gjithë ditën duke
three gardener.M.INDF.NOM.PL get.tired.PASS.IMPRF.3PL all day.F.DEF.ACC.SG by
i lyer me ngjyrë të kuqe.
3PL.F.AB.SBJ paint.GER.PRS with colour.F.INDF.ACC.SG INDF.F.ACC.SG red.F.INDF.ACC.SG
Hindi does the same with the instrumental se (and yet again a nominal, 'red paint'):
Hindi
baġīce ke praveśdvar ke nazdīk hī gulāb ka ek
garden.M.OBL GEN.OBL entrance.M GEN.OBL nearby.ADV EMPH rose.M GEN.M DEF.ART
baṛa peṛ thā. is-me safed gulāb lage
big.ADJ.M tree.M be.PST.M.SG 3SG.PROX.OBL-in white.ADJ rose.M attach.PFV.PTCP.M.PL
the, par tīn mālī in-kī pankhuṛiyoṃ
be.AUX.PST.M.PL but three gardener.M.PL 3SG.PROX.OBL-GEN.F petal.F.PL.OBL
ko lāl rang se rangane meṃ vyast the.
DAT red.ADJ paint.M with paint.OBL.INF in busy.ADV be.PST.M.PL
Persian uses the dative postposition be in combination with a nominal:
Persian
yek deraḵt-e gol-e sorḵ-e bozorg dar qesmat-e vorud-i bāġ
a tree-of.EZ rose-of.EZ red-of.EZ large in part-of.EZ entrance-INDF garden
vojud dāšt: gol-hā-ye ān sepid-rang bud
existence have.AUX.PST.3SG rose-PL-of.EZ that white-colour be.COP.PST.3SG
amā se bāġ-bān-e sar-garm-e rang=kardan-e
but three garden-keeper-of.EZ head-warm-of.EZ colour=make.AUX.INF-of.EZ
gol-hā be rang-e qermez budand.
rose-PL to colour-of.EZ red be.PST.3PL
Polish likewise uses the dative na, in combination with an adverbial suffix:
Polish
U wejści-a do ogrod-u sta-ło spor-e
at entrance-N.GEN.SG to garden-M.GEN.SG stay.IPFV-PST.3SG.N fair.sized-N.NOM.SG
drzew-k-o różan-e; kwit-ły na nim
tree-DIM-N.NOM.SG rose(ADJ)-N.NOM.SG flower.IPFV-PST.3PL.NM in 3SG.LOC.N
biał-e róż-e ale trzech ogrodnik-ów pracowici-e
white-NM.NOM.PL rose-NM.NOM.PL but three.M.GEN.PL gardener-M.GEN.PL diligent-ADV
przemalowywa-ło je na czerwon-o.
repaint.IPFV-PST.3SG.N 3PL.ACC.NM to red-ADV
Russian uses the preposition v 'in' and a nominal, 'red colour':
Russian
U vhod-a v sad ros bol’š-oj
near entrance-SG.M.GEN in garden.SG.M.ACC grow.PST.3SG.M.IPFV big-SG.M.NOM
rozov-yj kust - roz-y na nem by-l-i
rose-SG.M.NOM bush.SG.M.NOM rose-PL.NOM on 3SG.M.OBJ be-PST.IPFV-PL
bel-ye no vozle stoja-l-i tri sadovnik-a i
white-Pl.NOM but near stand-PST.IPFV-PL three gardener-PL.NOM and
userdno kras-i-l-i ih v al-yj cvet.
busily paint-IPFV-PST-PL 3PL.OBJ in red-SG.M.ACC colour.SG.M.ACC
The remaining languages also use spatial markers to encode that the roses are painted red, but these markers are case markers rather than free-standing adpositions. This true for Latvian (Latvian also uses a nominal):
Latvian
pie ieej-as dārz-ā aug-a liels
near entrance-SG.F.GEN garden-SG.M.LOC grow-PST.IND.SG large.SG.M.NOM
balt-u rož-u koks bet trīs dārznieki
white-PL.F.GEN rose-PL.F.GEN tree.SG.M.NOM but three.NOM gardener.PL.M.NOM
pašreiz steidzīgi ņēmā-s pār-krāsot ziedus sarkan-ā
presently hastily undertake-PST.IND.SG again-paint.INF blossom.PL.F.ACC red-SG.F.LOC
krās-ā.
colour-SG.F.LOC
Assamese uses the locative case marker -ɔt (and yet again a nominal):
Assamese
pʰʊl-ɔrɛ ʊposɪ tʰɔka ɛ-jʊpa bɔr daŋɔr bɔga gʊlap-ɔr gɔs-ɛ
flower-MEANS over.flow-CVP stay NUM-CLF very big white rose-GEN tree-NOM
prɔtʰɔmɔtɛ ɛlɪs-ɔr drɪʃtɪ akɔrxɔn korɪ-lɛ. kɪntʊ taɪr
at.first alice-GEN attention attract do-3.PST.PFV but 3.SG.F.GEN
asorjy-ɔr xima na-tʰak-ɪl jetɪya taɪ dekʰɪ-lɛ jɛ hat-ɔt
wonder-GEN limit NEG-stay-PST when 3.SG.NOM see-3.PST.PFV that hand-LOC
rɔŋ-ɔr tɛma arʊ bʊrʊʃ lo-ɪ tɪnɪ-ta malɪ-ɛ bɔr
colour-GEN container and brush take-CVP three-CLF gardener-NOM great
byɔstɔ bʰabɛ bɔga gʊlap-bʊr-ɔt rɔŋa rɔŋ xan-i pʰʊrɪ-sɛ
busy way white rose-CLF-LOC red colour paint-CVP roam.around-3.PST.PROG
Nepali similarly uses the locative case marker in combination with a nominal:
Nepali
bagaica bhitra pas-ne bittikai us-le euta thulo gulāph-ko rukh dekh-i
garden inside enter-IPFV.PTCP soon 3SG-ERG one big rose-GEN tree see-PST.3SG.F
jas-mā gulāph-ka seta phul phul-eka thi-e tehã tin-jana
that-LOC rose-GEN.PL while flower bloom-PFV.PTCP.PL be.AUX-PST.3PL.F there three-CLF
mali ubhiy-eka thi-e tiniharu-le hāt-ma burus liyera euta
gardener stand.up-PFV.PTCP.PL be.AUX-PST.3PL 3PL-ERG hand-LOC brush hold-CVB one
euta phul-lāi gulāphi rang-mā rangau-dai thi-e
one flower-DAT red colour-LOC colour-PROG be.AUX-PST.3PL
Armenian uses the instrumental case marker -ov and a nominal:
Armenian
Partez-i mutk’-i mot ach-el er mi mets
garden-GEN enterance-DAT near grow-PRF.PTCP be.AUX.3SG.PST one.INDF large
spitak vard-eni. Surjy kangn-ats yerek’ partizpan
white rose-tree.NOM.INDF round stand-RES.PTCP three gardener.NOM.INDF
shtap-shtap karmir guyn-ov nerk-um ein vard-er-y.
hurriedly-hurriedly red colour-INS paint-PRS.PTCP be.AUX.3PL.PST rose-PL-ACC.DEF
The remaining two languages are different: Lithuanian and Serbo-Croatian both use and adverbial marker, and no nominal, to encode the secondary predicate 'red':
Lithuanian
Prie įėjim-o į sod-ą aug-o didel-is rož-ių
near entrance-SG.M.GEN into garden-SG.M.ACC grow-3.PST large-SG.M.NOM rose-PL.F.GEN
krūm-as. Rož-ės žydė-jo balt-ai bet prie jų
bush-SG.M.NOM rose-PL.F.NOM bloom-3SG.PL.PST white-ADV but near 3PL.GEN
stovė-jo trys sodinink-ai ir paskubomis daž-ė žied-us
stay-3.PST three.NOM gardener-PL.NOM and hastily.ADV paint-3.PST blossom-PL.M.ACC
raudon-ai.
red-ADV
Serbo-Croatian
Kraj ulaz-a u vrt ras-l-o
next.to entrance-M.GEN.SG in garden.M.ACC.SG grow.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-N.SG
je velik-o ruž-in-o drv-o. Ruž-ic-e
be.PRS.3SG big-N.NOM.SG rose-ADJ-N.NOM.SG tree-N.NOM.SG rose-DIM-F.NOM.PL
koj-e su na njemu cva-l-e
REL-F.NOM.PL be.PRS.3PL on 3SG.N.LOC bloom.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-F.PL
bi-l-e su bijel-e ali su oko
be-PST.ACT.PTCP-F.PL be.PRS.3PL white-F.NOM.PL but be.PRS.3PL around
njih radi-l-a tr-i vrtlar-a i
3PL.GEN work.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-N.PL three-M.NOM.PL gardener-M.GEN.SG and
žuri-l-a se da ih što prije
hurry.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-N.PL REFL.ACC to 3PL.ACC as soon.ADV
o-boj-e crven-o.
PRFX-paint.IPFV-PRS.3PL red-AD
So, basically we have four classes of translations of 'to paint red':
'bare' adjective: Dutch, English, German, Swedish, Greek, Irish
adposition plus adjective: French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Breton, Albanian, Hindi, Persian,
Polish, Russian
case marker plus adjective: Latin, Latvian, Assamese, Nepali, Armenian
adverbial marker: Lithuanian, Serbo-Croatian
There are of course alternative ways of categorising the data. An alternative would be to code for the case relation that is employed, which would give us another typology:
no case relation: Dutch, English, German, Swedish, Greek (well, Greek is accusative
technically), Irish, Lithuanian, Serbo-Croatian
locative: Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Breton, Russian, Latvian,
Assamese, Nepali
ablative: Latin
instrumental: Albanian, Armenian, Hindi
dative: Polish, Persian
We can also look at the use of a nominal 'red colour' rather than a bare adjective/adverb 'red/red-ly', and find the following split:
'paint red': Dutch, English, German, Swedish, Greek, Irish, Lithuanian, Polish,
Serbo-Croatian
'paint in red colour': Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Breton, Russian, Latvian,
Assamese, Nepali, Latin, Albanian, Armenian, Hindi, Persian
The use of a nominal seems clearly related to the use of case marking, so if a language has case marking, it is more likely to use a clause 'paint in a red colour' rather than 'paint it red'. There are probably all kinds of interesting underlying case assignment issues involved.
This is just one sentence in one book, so me including it in my causative motion dataset was really just butterfly collecting. But sometimes it is nice to collect butterflies and these are particularly cool ones :). Merry Christmas - if you have read this far down you especially deserve it!
EDIT: Natalia on Twitter drew my attention to the 2015 dissertation on resultatives in the European languages by Benita Riaubienė, so cool! Riaubienė (2015) discusses resultative strategies in 31 European languages, focusing on telicity, causation, and verb semantics to explain the use of different strategies in different constructions and languages. I am so happy I wrote this post now, otherwise it might have been far longer before I found out about this thesis :).
Coding things up for the abstract lead me to go even further back. Among the causative motion sentences selected from my parallel corpus, I included a resultative:
"A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red." (from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)
To paint something red is a resultative construction :). Resultatives were the topic of my MA thesis completed now seven years ago, and they have always kept a special place in my heart. They are one of three types of secondary predication:
Manner predication: Sue walked slowly
Depictive: Lisa ate her vegetables raw
Resultative: Melissa cut the grass short
Secondary predicates 'attach' to a normal predicative constituent that encodes an event, here walk, eat, and cut, and expres a state or a property regarding that event, here slow, raw, and short. They are well-known in construction grammar and generative linguistics, but in typology, major cross-linguistic work has only been done on manner predication by Flora Loeb-Diehl in her dissertation "The typology of manner expressions" from 2005.
Given that I'm not doing anything with secondary predication for the foreseeable future, I thought a little typology of the 'to paint red' resultative from Alice in translation in a few Indo-European languages would be a nice Christmas read for (perhaps one of) you.
The strategies used to translate the English construction 'to paint red' vary along several different axes. To start with the closest relatives of English, these are the Dutch, German, and Swedish translations (apologies for poor gloss alignment):
Dutch
Er stond een grote rozenboom bij de
ER stand.PST.SG INDF.ART big rose.tree by DEF.ART
ingang van de tuin; de rozen die
entrance of DEF.ART garden DEF.ART rose.PL DEM
eraan groeiden waren wit maar er waren drie
on.it grow.PST.PL COP.PST.PL white but ER COP.PST.PL three
tuinlieden druk aan de gang om ze rood te schilderen.
gardener.PL busy on DEF.ART way to 3PL red TE paint.INF
German
Ein hoher Rosenstock stand nah
INDEF.ART.M.NOM high.M.SG.NOM rose.tree.M.SG stand.3SG.PST close
dem Eingang zum Garten:
DEF.ART.M.DAT entrance.M.DAT to.DEF.ART.M.DAT garden.M.DAT
die Rosen die daran wuchsen waren weiß aber
DEF.ART.PL.NOM roses.F.NOM.PL that on.it grow.3PL.PST is.3PL.PST white but
drei Gärtner waren dabei sie geschäftig rot an-zu-streichen.
three gardener.M.NOM.PL is.3PL.PST in.the.process 3PL.ACC busily red on-to-paint.INF
Swedish
Vid ingång-en stod ett stort rosenträd. Ros-orna
by entrance-SG.DEF.UT stand.PST INDF.ART.NT large rose.tree.SG rose-PL.DEF.UT
som växte på det var vit-a men
which.REL.PRON grow.PST on 3SG.N be.PST.COP white-DEF but
tre trädgårdsmästare var sysselsatt-a med att måla dem röd-a
three gardener.PL be.PST.COP occupy-ADV with to paint.INF 3PL.OBJ red-DEF
Dutch, German, and Swedish all make use of an adjective as a secondary predicate, similar to the English original. This can be an invariable form, as in Dutch, or the adjective can agree with the noun for 'roses' in terms of definiteness, person, gender, case, etc., as in Swedish. This 'bare' adjective strategy is quite big in Europe: in my MA thesis, I note that this is possible in Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, and Spanish too. It is indeed used in the Greek translation:
Greek
Mia megal-i triantafylli-a fytron-e
INDF.ART.F.NOM.SG large-F.NOM.SG rose.tree-F.NOM.SG grow-PST.IPFV.3SG
kont-a s-tin eisod-o toy perivoli-oy.
near-ADV in-DEF.ART.F.ACC.SG entrance-F.ACC.SG DEF.ART.M.GEN.SG garden.M-GEN.SG
Ta triantafyll-a tis itan aspr-a
DEF.ART.N.NOM.PL roses-N.NOM.PL POSS.F.3SG be.PST.3PL white-N.NOM.PL
alla ypirch-an kont-a tis treis kipoyr-oi poy me
but exist.PST.IPFV-3PL near-ADV 3SG.F.OBJ three.M.NOM gardener-M.NOM.PL who with
poly-aschol-o yf-os ta e-vaf-an kokkin-a.
very-busy-N.ACC.SG look-N.ACC.SG 3PL.OBJ PST-paint-PST.IPFV.3PL red-N.ACC.PL
And also in Irish:
Irish
Bhí crann mór róis ina sheasamh gar do gheata
is.PST tree great rose.GEN in.3SG.M.POSS standing near to gate
an ghairdín: is geal a bhí na rósanna
DEF.ART garden.GEN COP white REL.PART is.PST DEF.ART.PL rose.PL
ag fás air ach bhí triúr gairneoirí ina
at grow.INF on.3SG.M/N but is.PST three gardner.GEN.PL in.3SG.M/N.POSS
thimpeall agus iad go gnóthach á bpéinteáil dearg.
surrounding and 3PL.OBJ ADJ.PART busy 3PL.POSS paint.INF red
But not in Italian:
Italian
Presso l’-entrata del giardino
near DEF.ART.F.SG-entrance.F.SG of.DEF.ART.M.SG garden.M.SG
c’-er-a un grande rosaio: vi cresce-v-ano
there-be.IPFV-3SG one.M big.SG rose.tree.M.SG there grow-IPFV.PST-3PL
rose bianche ma c’-er-ano tre giardinieri tutti indaffarati
rose.F.PL white.F.PL but there-be.IPFV-3PL three gardener.M.PL all busy.M.PL
a diping-er-le di rosso.
to paint-INF-ACC.F.3PL of red
Italian uses a combination of a preposition and an adjective meaning 'red'. This strategy is in fact used by all other Romance translations, even though the 'bare' adjective strategy is supposedly possible as well:
French
Un grand rosier se trouv-ai-t près de
ART.INDF.M big.M rose.tree.M REFL.3SG found-IPFV-3SG near to
l'entrée du jardin: ses rose-s
ART.DEF.F-entrance of.ART.DEF.M garden.M 3PL.F.POSS rose.F-PL
ét-ai-ent blanche-s mais trois jardinier-s s-'affair-ai-ent
be-IPFV-3PL white.F-PL but three gardener-PL REFL.3PL-be.busy-IPFV-3PL
à les peindre en rouge.
to 3PL.OBJ paint.INF in red
Portuguese
Perto d-a entrada d-o jardim estava
near of-DEF.ART.F.SG entrance.F of-DEF.ART.M.SG garden.M be.IND.IPFV.3SG
uma grande roseira com rosa-s branca-s, mas havia três
INDF.ART.F.SG large rosebush.F with rose.F-PL white.F-PL but there.be.IND.IPFV.3SG three
jardineiro-s muito atarefado-s a pintar-em-na-s de vermelho.
gardener.M-PL very burden.PTCP.M-PL to paint.INF-PERS.3PL-OBJ.3F-PL of red.M
Romanian
Un arbust stufos de trandafir-i se înălț-a
INDF.M.SG shrub.M.NOM.SG bushy of rose-M.ACC.PL REFL.3SG go.up-IPFV.3SG
aproape de intrar-ea în grădină; trandafir-i-i înflori-seră
near of entry-F.ACC.SG.DEF in garden.F.ACC.SG rose-M.NOM.PL-DEF bloom-PPRF.3PL
alb-i dar trei grădinar-i dădeau zor pe lângă arbust
white-PL but three gardener-M.NOM.PL give.IPFV.3PL haste on next.to shrub.M.NOM.SG
și vops-eau florile în roșu.
and dye-IPFV.3PL flower.F.ACC.PL.DEF in red
Perhaps the Romance translations can be related to the Latin translation, which uses the ablative case marker. Latin also uses a nominal construction, pigmento rubro 'red paint', rather than just the adjective. Many more languages do this, especially those with case-marked adjectives.
Latin
Prope adit-um hort-i arbor
close.to.ADV entrance-M.ACC.SG garden-M.GEN.SG tree.F.NOM.SG
ros-arum magn-a sit-a est
rose-F.GEN.PL large-F.NOM.SG lie-PASS.PFV.F.NOM.SG be.PRS.3SG
in ea ros-ae alb-ae er-ant
in 3SG.F.ABL rose-F.NOM.PL white-F.NOM.PL be-IPFV.3PL
sed tr-es hort-i cultor-es
but three-M.NOM.PL garden-M.GEN.SG grower-M.NOM.PL
eas pigment-o rubr-o strenu-e ping-ebant
3PL.F.ACC paint-N.ABL.SG red-N.ABL.SG active-ADV paint-IPFV.3PL
Other languages that use the adposition strategy common in the Romance languages are Breton:
Breton
E-tal toull al liorzh e oa ur
in-front hole.M.SG DEF.ART garden.M.SG PART be.PST.AUX INDF.ART
bod-roz: gwenn e oa ar roz anezh-añ
bush.M.SG-rose.F.PL white.ADJ PART be.PST.AUX DEF.ART rose.F.PL of-3SG.M.OBJ
met tri liorzhour a oa a-zevri ouzh o livañ e ruz.
but three gardener.M.SG PART be.PST.AUX really.ADV to PROG paint.INF in red.ADJ
Albanian uses the instrumental preposition me (and again a nominal, 'red colour', rather than simply the adjective 'red'):
Albanian
Pranë hyrjes së kopshtit kishte një
near entrance.F.DEF.DAT.SG of garden.M.DEF.DAT.SG have.IMPRF.3SG INDF.ART
shkurre të madhe trëndafilash.
bush.F.INDF.ACC.SG INDF.F.ACC.SG big.F.INDF.ACC.SG rose.M.INDF.DAT.PL
Aty lulëzonin lule të bardha që
there bloom.IMPRF.3PL flower.F.INDF.NOM.PL INDF.F.NOM.PL white.F.INDF.NOM.PL that
tre kopshtarë lodheshin gjithë ditën duke
three gardener.M.INDF.NOM.PL get.tired.PASS.IMPRF.3PL all day.F.DEF.ACC.SG by
i lyer me ngjyrë të kuqe.
3PL.F.AB.SBJ paint.GER.PRS with colour.F.INDF.ACC.SG INDF.F.ACC.SG red.F.INDF.ACC.SG
Hindi does the same with the instrumental se (and yet again a nominal, 'red paint'):
Hindi
baġīce ke praveśdvar ke nazdīk hī gulāb ka ek
garden.M.OBL GEN.OBL entrance.M GEN.OBL nearby.ADV EMPH rose.M GEN.M DEF.ART
baṛa peṛ thā. is-me safed gulāb lage
big.ADJ.M tree.M be.PST.M.SG 3SG.PROX.OBL-in white.ADJ rose.M attach.PFV.PTCP.M.PL
the, par tīn mālī in-kī pankhuṛiyoṃ
be.AUX.PST.M.PL but three gardener.M.PL 3SG.PROX.OBL-GEN.F petal.F.PL.OBL
ko lāl rang se rangane meṃ vyast the.
DAT red.ADJ paint.M with paint.OBL.INF in busy.ADV be.PST.M.PL
Persian uses the dative postposition be in combination with a nominal:
Persian
yek deraḵt-e gol-e sorḵ-e bozorg dar qesmat-e vorud-i bāġ
a tree-of.EZ rose-of.EZ red-of.EZ large in part-of.EZ entrance-INDF garden
vojud dāšt: gol-hā-ye ān sepid-rang bud
existence have.AUX.PST.3SG rose-PL-of.EZ that white-colour be.COP.PST.3SG
amā se bāġ-bān-e sar-garm-e rang=kardan-e
but three garden-keeper-of.EZ head-warm-of.EZ colour=make.AUX.INF-of.EZ
gol-hā be rang-e qermez budand.
rose-PL to colour-of.EZ red be.PST.3PL
Polish likewise uses the dative na, in combination with an adverbial suffix:
Polish
U wejści-a do ogrod-u sta-ło spor-e
at entrance-N.GEN.SG to garden-M.GEN.SG stay.IPFV-PST.3SG.N fair.sized-N.NOM.SG
drzew-k-o różan-e; kwit-ły na nim
tree-DIM-N.NOM.SG rose(ADJ)-N.NOM.SG flower.IPFV-PST.3PL.NM in 3SG.LOC.N
biał-e róż-e ale trzech ogrodnik-ów pracowici-e
white-NM.NOM.PL rose-NM.NOM.PL but three.M.GEN.PL gardener-M.GEN.PL diligent-ADV
przemalowywa-ło je na czerwon-o.
repaint.IPFV-PST.3SG.N 3PL.ACC.NM to red-ADV
Russian uses the preposition v 'in' and a nominal, 'red colour':
Russian
U vhod-a v sad ros bol’š-oj
near entrance-SG.M.GEN in garden.SG.M.ACC grow.PST.3SG.M.IPFV big-SG.M.NOM
rozov-yj kust - roz-y na nem by-l-i
rose-SG.M.NOM bush.SG.M.NOM rose-PL.NOM on 3SG.M.OBJ be-PST.IPFV-PL
bel-ye no vozle stoja-l-i tri sadovnik-a i
white-Pl.NOM but near stand-PST.IPFV-PL three gardener-PL.NOM and
userdno kras-i-l-i ih v al-yj cvet.
busily paint-IPFV-PST-PL 3PL.OBJ in red-SG.M.ACC colour.SG.M.ACC
The remaining languages also use spatial markers to encode that the roses are painted red, but these markers are case markers rather than free-standing adpositions. This true for Latvian (Latvian also uses a nominal):
Latvian
pie ieej-as dārz-ā aug-a liels
near entrance-SG.F.GEN garden-SG.M.LOC grow-PST.IND.SG large.SG.M.NOM
balt-u rož-u koks bet trīs dārznieki
white-PL.F.GEN rose-PL.F.GEN tree.SG.M.NOM but three.NOM gardener.PL.M.NOM
pašreiz steidzīgi ņēmā-s pār-krāsot ziedus sarkan-ā
presently hastily undertake-PST.IND.SG again-paint.INF blossom.PL.F.ACC red-SG.F.LOC
krās-ā.
colour-SG.F.LOC
Assamese uses the locative case marker -ɔt (and yet again a nominal):
Assamese
pʰʊl-ɔrɛ ʊposɪ tʰɔka ɛ-jʊpa bɔr daŋɔr bɔga gʊlap-ɔr gɔs-ɛ
flower-MEANS over.flow-CVP stay NUM-CLF very big white rose-GEN tree-NOM
prɔtʰɔmɔtɛ ɛlɪs-ɔr drɪʃtɪ akɔrxɔn korɪ-lɛ. kɪntʊ taɪr
at.first alice-GEN attention attract do-3.PST.PFV but 3.SG.F.GEN
asorjy-ɔr xima na-tʰak-ɪl jetɪya taɪ dekʰɪ-lɛ jɛ hat-ɔt
wonder-GEN limit NEG-stay-PST when 3.SG.NOM see-3.PST.PFV that hand-LOC
rɔŋ-ɔr tɛma arʊ bʊrʊʃ lo-ɪ tɪnɪ-ta malɪ-ɛ bɔr
colour-GEN container and brush take-CVP three-CLF gardener-NOM great
byɔstɔ bʰabɛ bɔga gʊlap-bʊr-ɔt rɔŋa rɔŋ xan-i pʰʊrɪ-sɛ
busy way white rose-CLF-LOC red colour paint-CVP roam.around-3.PST.PROG
Nepali similarly uses the locative case marker in combination with a nominal:
Nepali
bagaica bhitra pas-ne bittikai us-le euta thulo gulāph-ko rukh dekh-i
garden inside enter-IPFV.PTCP soon 3SG-ERG one big rose-GEN tree see-PST.3SG.F
jas-mā gulāph-ka seta phul phul-eka thi-e tehã tin-jana
that-LOC rose-GEN.PL while flower bloom-PFV.PTCP.PL be.AUX-PST.3PL.F there three-CLF
mali ubhiy-eka thi-e tiniharu-le hāt-ma burus liyera euta
gardener stand.up-PFV.PTCP.PL be.AUX-PST.3PL 3PL-ERG hand-LOC brush hold-CVB one
euta phul-lāi gulāphi rang-mā rangau-dai thi-e
one flower-DAT red colour-LOC colour-PROG be.AUX-PST.3PL
Armenian uses the instrumental case marker -ov and a nominal:
Armenian
Partez-i mutk’-i mot ach-el er mi mets
garden-GEN enterance-DAT near grow-PRF.PTCP be.AUX.3SG.PST one.INDF large
spitak vard-eni. Surjy kangn-ats yerek’ partizpan
white rose-tree.NOM.INDF round stand-RES.PTCP three gardener.NOM.INDF
shtap-shtap karmir guyn-ov nerk-um ein vard-er-y.
hurriedly-hurriedly red colour-INS paint-PRS.PTCP be.AUX.3PL.PST rose-PL-ACC.DEF
The remaining two languages are different: Lithuanian and Serbo-Croatian both use and adverbial marker, and no nominal, to encode the secondary predicate 'red':
Lithuanian
Prie įėjim-o į sod-ą aug-o didel-is rož-ių
near entrance-SG.M.GEN into garden-SG.M.ACC grow-3.PST large-SG.M.NOM rose-PL.F.GEN
krūm-as. Rož-ės žydė-jo balt-ai bet prie jų
bush-SG.M.NOM rose-PL.F.NOM bloom-3SG.PL.PST white-ADV but near 3PL.GEN
stovė-jo trys sodinink-ai ir paskubomis daž-ė žied-us
stay-3.PST three.NOM gardener-PL.NOM and hastily.ADV paint-3.PST blossom-PL.M.ACC
raudon-ai.
red-ADV
Serbo-Croatian
Kraj ulaz-a u vrt ras-l-o
next.to entrance-M.GEN.SG in garden.M.ACC.SG grow.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-N.SG
je velik-o ruž-in-o drv-o. Ruž-ic-e
be.PRS.3SG big-N.NOM.SG rose-ADJ-N.NOM.SG tree-N.NOM.SG rose-DIM-F.NOM.PL
koj-e su na njemu cva-l-e
REL-F.NOM.PL be.PRS.3PL on 3SG.N.LOC bloom.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-F.PL
bi-l-e su bijel-e ali su oko
be-PST.ACT.PTCP-F.PL be.PRS.3PL white-F.NOM.PL but be.PRS.3PL around
njih radi-l-a tr-i vrtlar-a i
3PL.GEN work.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-N.PL three-M.NOM.PL gardener-M.GEN.SG and
žuri-l-a se da ih što prije
hurry.IPFV-PST.ACT.PTCP-N.PL REFL.ACC to 3PL.ACC as soon.ADV
o-boj-e crven-o.
PRFX-paint.IPFV-PRS.3PL red-AD
So, basically we have four classes of translations of 'to paint red':
'bare' adjective: Dutch, English, German, Swedish, Greek, Irish
adposition plus adjective: French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Breton, Albanian, Hindi, Persian,
Polish, Russian
case marker plus adjective: Latin, Latvian, Assamese, Nepali, Armenian
adverbial marker: Lithuanian, Serbo-Croatian
There are of course alternative ways of categorising the data. An alternative would be to code for the case relation that is employed, which would give us another typology:
no case relation: Dutch, English, German, Swedish, Greek (well, Greek is accusative
technically), Irish, Lithuanian, Serbo-Croatian
locative: Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Breton, Russian, Latvian,
Assamese, Nepali
ablative: Latin
instrumental: Albanian, Armenian, Hindi
dative: Polish, Persian
We can also look at the use of a nominal 'red colour' rather than a bare adjective/adverb 'red/red-ly', and find the following split:
'paint red': Dutch, English, German, Swedish, Greek, Irish, Lithuanian, Polish,
Serbo-Croatian
'paint in red colour': Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Breton, Russian, Latvian,
Assamese, Nepali, Latin, Albanian, Armenian, Hindi, Persian
The use of a nominal seems clearly related to the use of case marking, so if a language has case marking, it is more likely to use a clause 'paint in a red colour' rather than 'paint it red'. There are probably all kinds of interesting underlying case assignment issues involved.
This is just one sentence in one book, so me including it in my causative motion dataset was really just butterfly collecting. But sometimes it is nice to collect butterflies and these are particularly cool ones :). Merry Christmas - if you have read this far down you especially deserve it!
EDIT: Natalia on Twitter drew my attention to the 2015 dissertation on resultatives in the European languages by Benita Riaubienė, so cool! Riaubienė (2015) discusses resultative strategies in 31 European languages, focusing on telicity, causation, and verb semantics to explain the use of different strategies in different constructions and languages. I am so happy I wrote this post now, otherwise it might have been far longer before I found out about this thesis :).
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