Existential clause
Encyclopedia
Existential clauses are clauses that indicate only an existence. In English, they are formed with the dummy subject construction (also known as expletive
) with "there", e.g. "There are boys in the yard". Many languages do not require a dummy subject, e.g. Finnish
, where the sentence Pihalla on poikia is literally "On the yard is boys". Some languages have a different verb for this purpose, e.g. Swedish
finnas, as in, Det finns pojkar på gården, which is literally "It is found boys on the yard" (or, more accurately, "It exists boys on the yard"). On the other hand, some languages do not require a copula
at all, and sentences analogous to "In the yard boys" are used.
Possession or being under influence of something may also be indicated by existential clauses, e.g. Irish "Tá ocras orm " "There is hunger on me", or Hungarian Van egy halam "I have a fish" (literally "Is a fish-my"), or (also Hungarian) Anna szép "Anna is beautiful" (literally "Anna beautiful").
According to linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, the Hebrew existential construction employed to mark possession was reinterpreted in "Israeli" (his term for "Modern Hebrew") to fit in with the "habere" (to have) construction, requiring the direct object, which is predominant in Yiddish and other European languages such as English (in "I have this book", "this book" is the direct object of "have"). Consider the following Israeli sentence:
Zuckermann argues that Israeli is a "habere language" (cf. Latin habere "to have", taking the direct object), in stark contrast to Hebrew. As demonstrated by the accusative marker et, the noun phrase ha-séfer ha-zè is the direct object in this sentence.
Yiddish has two options to indicate possession. The most common form is ikh hob, literally "I have", which requires a direct object (accusative). However, there is also a form which is more similar to old Hebrew: bay mir iz do, literally "By me is there", followed by the subject (nominative). According to Zuckermann, the latter form, available in the feature pool together with the erstwhile non-habere Hebrew structure yésh l-i + Subject (there is for me, followed by the nominative), did not prevail because ikh hob is more productive in Yiddish and other European habere languages that contributed to the emergence of "Israeli".
A similar process occurred in Maltese
: "in the possessive construction, subject properties have been transferred diachronically from the possessed noun phrase to the possessor, while the possessor has all the subject properties except the form of the verb agreement that it triggers."
Syntactic expletive
Syntactic expletives are words that perform a syntactic role but contribute nothing to meaning. Expletive subjects are part of the grammar of many non-pro-drop languages such as English, whose clauses normally require overt provision of subject even when the subject can be pragmatically inferred...
) with "there", e.g. "There are boys in the yard". Many languages do not require a dummy subject, e.g. Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, where the sentence Pihalla on poikia is literally "On the yard is boys". Some languages have a different verb for this purpose, e.g. Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
finnas, as in, Det finns pojkar på gården, which is literally "It is found boys on the yard" (or, more accurately, "It exists boys on the yard"). On the other hand, some languages do not require a copula
Copula
In linguistics, a copula is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate . The word copula derives from the Latin noun for a link or tie that connects two different things.A copula is often a verb or a verb-like word, though this is not universally the case...
at all, and sentences analogous to "In the yard boys" are used.
Possession or being under influence of something may also be indicated by existential clauses, e.g. Irish "Tá ocras orm " "There is hunger on me", or Hungarian Van egy halam "I have a fish" (literally "Is a fish-my"), or (also Hungarian) Anna szép "Anna is beautiful" (literally "Anna beautiful").
Existential clauses indicating possession
Some languages use existential clauses to indicate possession. Consider the following Hebrew sentence:- yésh l-i ha-séfer ha-zè
- (EXISTENTIAL.COPULA) (DATIVE-1st.person.singular) (DEFINITE-book) (DEFINITE-masculine.singular.PROXIMAL.DEMONSTRATIVE)
- There is for me the book the this
- "I have this book"
According to linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, the Hebrew existential construction employed to mark possession was reinterpreted in "Israeli" (his term for "Modern Hebrew") to fit in with the "habere" (to have) construction, requiring the direct object, which is predominant in Yiddish and other European languages such as English (in "I have this book", "this book" is the direct object of "have"). Consider the following Israeli sentence:
- yésh l-i et ha-séfer ha-zè
- (EXISTENTIAL.COPULA) (DATIVE-1st.person.singular) (ACCUSATIVE.MARKER) (DEFINITE-book) (DEFINITE-masculine.singular.PROXIMAL.DEMONSTRATIVE)
- There is for me ACCUSATIVE the book the this
- "I have this book"
Zuckermann argues that Israeli is a "habere language" (cf. Latin habere "to have", taking the direct object), in stark contrast to Hebrew. As demonstrated by the accusative marker et, the noun phrase ha-séfer ha-zè is the direct object in this sentence.
Yiddish has two options to indicate possession. The most common form is ikh hob, literally "I have", which requires a direct object (accusative). However, there is also a form which is more similar to old Hebrew: bay mir iz do, literally "By me is there", followed by the subject (nominative). According to Zuckermann, the latter form, available in the feature pool together with the erstwhile non-habere Hebrew structure yésh l-i + Subject (there is for me, followed by the nominative), did not prevail because ikh hob is more productive in Yiddish and other European habere languages that contributed to the emergence of "Israeli".
A similar process occurred in Maltese
Maltese language
Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English,while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic...
: "in the possessive construction, subject properties have been transferred diachronically from the possessed noun phrase to the possessor, while the possessor has all the subject properties except the form of the verb agreement that it triggers."