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Volition

Introduction

Volition is a distinct concept which is criterially implicated in causative situations, such as 'agency'. Volition is the intentional or unintentional nature of an action. All languages encode volition, but there are many different ways in which this is done.

When using verbs of volition in English, like want or prefer, these verbs are not expressly marked. Other languages handle this with affixes, while others have complex structural consequences of volitional or non-volitional encoding.

Morphology

Affixation

Prefixes: Sesotho uses a prefix, /ho/ which creates a change in argument structure in volitional verbs (see discussion of structural changes below).

Infixes: In Dulong/Rawang, volition is exemplified in the use of the valency-reducing reflexive/middle marker /-shi/ to transform transitive verbs into intransitive ones, with purpose (volition) expressly indicated in the semantic content of the morpheme. Plan to include figure from pg. 149 and discuss.

Suffixes: Tibetan has two main verb classes: volitional, and valency. There are four types of volitional verbs in Tibetan, two volitional and two non-volitional. These are expressly marked with suffixes. /yin/ is a morpheme which indicates the egophoric volitional auxilary. /byung/ is a morpheme which indicates the egophoric non-volitional auxilary.

Structural Consequences

Changes to argument structure: In Sesotho, control verbs select noun phrases, subjective clauses, and infinitives. Plan to include tree showing how and why this matters.