Alternation in three-place predicates and its relation to Aktionsart in Persian

In Role and Reference Grammar (RRG), based on stativity, telicity, and punctuality, verbs are classified into six classes named state, activity, achievement, accomplishment, semelfactive, and active-accomplishment. The predicates in these classes can take one, two, or three argument(s) according to the number of participants involved in an event as well as the argument structure of the verb. Three-place predicates need three distinct arguments and they exhibit some abstract or concrete transition or movement in their conceptual structure. The argument in three-place predicates, undergoing alternation, can appear in more than one syntactic format; that is to say, in unmarked structures, direct object is ‘râ’-marked and the indirect object is accompanied by a preposition. This is while in marked or alternate form, the preposition is deleted and the non-macrorole argument receives the role of direct object. In Persian, like many other languages, the frequency of three-place predicates, in comparison with one and two-place predicates, is low, but knowing their behavior is significant for better applying them in related contexts. Employing framework of RRG, this paper, aims to investigate alternation in three-place predicates of Aktionsart in Persian. The data are collected from various web sites, newspapers, books, and also daily conversations. Data analysis shows that state verbs do not undergo alternation; This is mainly because common characteristics of state verbs are their non-action nature and being low transitive or intransitive. Most verbs in this class need one or two argument(s) and low number of three-place predicates in this class, shows no alternation due to stativity and low transitivity. Motion active-accomplishment verbs, however, are more prone to alternation; concrete transition from an actor to a recipient is common among these verbs. Some three-place predicates in achievement class, have alternation; while alternation in accomplishment class, leads mostly to ungrammatical structure. Generally speaking, alternation in three-place predicates is the result of marked selection of the recipient, and is mostly observed in motion active-accomplishment verbs; the reason is non-stativity and high transitivity of this subclass in comparison to other verb classes.