Analyzing the Syntax and Semantics of the Meiteilon and Nyishi Reciprocal

The author presents an analysis of verbal reciprocals and claims that the syntax and semantics in both Meiteilon and Nyishi show uniformity. Adopting the voice head analysis following Kratzer (The Event Argument and the Semantics of the Verb, Manuscript, 2002), Bruening (Verbal Reciprocals and the Interpretation of Reciprocals, University of Delaware, 2004), and Hernández (Studia Linguistica, 1–41, 2021), the author demonstrates that the reciprocal suffixes occupy the voice head position. It is argued that the voice head is further decomposable, showing a combination of a quantitative and an R head. In symmetric reciprocals, these heads function as unaccusatives. The comitative head must bear an uninterpretable +/− group feature, which requires checking during derivation. The R head absorbs an argument and allows set-Merge of a one-place predicate. At the semantic level, reciprocity comprises three functions: reflexivization, irreflexivization, and n* pluralization, depending on the verb. The author shows various positions of verbal reciprocal suffixes and their interactions with the outer aspect (Travis, Inner Aspect the Articulation of VP, Department of Linguistics, McGill University, 2006). It is argued that with respect to the verbal roots in both languages, the reciprocal heads set-Merge first, followed by the comitative heads set-Merging with the structure. The causative head set-Merges as a higher applicative head (above RECP) in both languages.