Classification of Telugu action verbs based on argument structure
In the presentation that Viswanath made on October 9th that I missed, Viswanath may
have explained fundamentals about the structure and function of verbs ....I am yet to
catch up with him on his presentation.
Today, Viswanath and I tried classifying some of the Telugu verbs based on their
argument structure. We are sharing the results with you in the lists / tables below. The
example sentences are not very creative. We will change them later.
We would like inputs from Hindi native speakers (Jigar and Richa, please come up with
some verbs in Hindi) for facilitating discussion in Prof. Subbarao’s talk on coming
Friday (22-10-10) afternoon 2-4 PM in HCU. One of us should take detailed notes of
this talk, or tape it.
Dr. Suvarna and Richa have circulated a paper on Neural correlates of verb argument
structure processing in one of the meetings we had earlier. It would be nice if we could
read that paper and think of identifying stimuli from Telugu / Hindi / Dakkhini and
English languages using both syntactic and visual valency information we have provided.
We will of course consider other variables such as, concreteness / imageability/ ON /
CD... etc.
Telugu Action Verbs
I. One argument verbs (intransitive)
nawwu ’laugh/smile’
baabu[AGENT] nawwutunnaaDu ‘the boy is laughing’
eeDcu ’cry’
baabu[AGENT] eeDustunnaaDu ‘the boy is crying’
?maaTlaaDu ’speak’
waallu[AGENT] maaTlaaDutunnaru ‘They are talking’
paDukonu ’sleep’
baabu[AGENT] paDukunnaaDu ‘the boy is sleeping’
paaku ’crawl’
baabu[AGENT] paakutunnaaDu ‘the boy is crawling’
arucu ’shout’
baabu[AGENT] arustunnaDu ‘the boy is shouting’
?paaDu ‘sing’
aame paaDutondi ‘she is singing’
naDucu ‘walk’
aayana naDustunnaaru ‘He is walking’
parigettu ‘run’
pillalu parigeDutunnaaru ‘the children are running’
paDu ‘fall’
baabu[AGENT] kimda paDipoyaaDu ‘the boy fell down’
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Verbs
In/Tr/Di
No. of
syllables
No. of
VV
arguments
nawwu
eeDcu
maaTlaaDu
paDukonu
paaDu
Paaku
arucu
parigettu
naducu
paDu
In
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
2
2
3
4
2
2
3
4
3
2
1
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Type
Neighbors
VV= Visual Valency
In= Intransitive (One argument verbs)
Tr=Transitive (Two argument verbs)
Di= Ditransitive (Three argument verbs)
Type= Whether achievement, accomplishment, action, state, etc. to be done
Neighbors=orthographic associates (For instance, for peTTU ‘put’ replacement of first
syllable results in the neighbors beTTu, ceTTu, koTTu; replacement of second syllable
results in peccu, pennu, pelli etc.) To be done
II Two argument verbs
cuuDu ’see’
baabu[AGENT] paksini[THEME] cuustunnaaDu `the boy is looking’
tinu ‘eat’
baabu[AGENT] annam[THEME/GOAL] tinTunnaaDu ‘the boy is eating’
taagu ‘drink’
baabu[AGENT] paalu[THEME/GOAL] taagutunnaaDu ‘the boy is drinking’
utuku ‘wash’
panimanisi[AGENT] baTTalu[GOAL] utukutomdi ‘the maid is washing clothes’
terucu ‘open’
baabu[AGENT] talupu[GOAL] tericaaDu ‘the boy is opening the door’
muuyu ‘close’
baabu[AGENT] talupu[GOAL] muusaaDu ‘the boy is closing the door’
?ekku ‘climb’
waaDu[AGENT] ceTTu[GOAL] ekkutunnaaDu ‘He is climbing the tree’
duvvu ‘comb’
baabu[AGENT] tala[GOAL] duvvukonnaaDu ‘the boy is combing himself’
goku ‘scratch’
aame[AGENT] wiipu[GOAL/THEME] gookutoondi ‘she is scratching the back’
kuTTu ‘stich’
atanu[AGENT] baTTalu[GOAL] kuDtaaDu ‘he stiches clothes’
Verbs
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
cuuDu
tinu
taagu
utuku
terucu
mooyu
ekku
duwwu
gooku
kuTTu
In/Tr/Di No. of
syllables
Tr
2
Do
2
Do
2
Do
3
Do
3
Do
2
Do
2
Do
2
Do
2
Do
2
No. of
VV
arguments
2
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Type
Neighbors
III Three argument verbs
ammu ’sell’
aame[AGENT] ataniki[BENEF] pustakam[GOAL] ammindi ‘she gave him a book’
konu ’buy’
aame[AGENT] shaapulo[SOURCE] pustakam[GOAL] konnadi ‘she bought the book from a shop’
cuupincu ’show’
?aame[AGENT] baabuki[BENIF] candamaama[GOAL] cuupiccindi ‘she showed the moon to the
baby’
iwwu ’give’
raamuDu[AGENT] siitaku[BENIF] pustakam[GOAL] iccaaDu ‘Ram gave the book to Sita’
tisukonu ’take’
nenu[AGENT] bag lonumci[SOURCE] Dabbulu[GOAL] tiisukonnanu ‘I took the money from the
bag’
peTTU ’put’
raamuDu[AGENT] pustakaanni[GOAL] Tablemiida[SOURCE] peTTaDu ‘Ram put the book on
the table’
Verbs
1
2
3
4
5
6
ammu
konu
cuupincu
iwwu
tiisukonu
peTTu
In/Tr/Di No. of
syllables
Di
2
Do
2
Do
3
Do
2
Do
4
Do
2
No. of
VV
arguments
3
Do
Do
Do
Do
Do
Type
Neighbors