The rise and fall of serial verbs

Abstract

We have identified three scenarios for the emergence of serial verb constructions: clause fusion scenario, whereby serial verbs emerge out of sequences of clauses; the verbal modification scenario, and the concurrent grammaticalization scenario. The development of serial verbs may correlate with the expansion of analytic structures and the loss of inflectional morphology. Serial verbs in some language families are of fair antiquity. In many instances their emergence can be accounted for by language contact. Serial verbs in Creole languages often reflect the substratum influence of the languages which contributed to their formation. In the course of language history, serial verbs can lose their status as such. Minor components in asymmetrical serial verb constructions become grammatical markers—auxiliaries, or bound morphemes. Symmetrical serial verbs become lexicalized units no longer separable. Serial verbs tend to be acquired by children at an early age.