New Insights Into Lakota Syntax: The Encoding of Arguments and the Number of Verbal Affixes

ABSTRACT This paper examines the morphosyntax of transitive constructions in Lakota, with particular emphasis being placed on the encoding of arguments. The analysis of argument marking through verbal affixes in Lakota transitive constructions raises two main questions: the existence or non‐existence of the zero marker for the third person singular and the maximum number of bound argument markers that a verb can take. This issue presents a considerable challenge since, due to the lack of evidence for early stages of development in this language, it is very hard to know if third person was ever realized through an overt bound argument marker or if certain constructions involving three cross‐referencing elements were formerly accepted, which, by extension, would allow us to develop general theories about how and why language changes have occurred. Despite this limitation concerning the lack of historical evidence, I will attempt to shed some light on these issues by providing fairly conclusive evidence that can help us to ascertain whether the third person is actually marked covertly or whether it is simply not marked at all by examining the behavior of person markers in control constructions, as well as discovering exactly how many bound argument markers a Lakota verb is able to take simultaneously.