Converbs and Their Desubordination in Ōgami Ryukyuan

Abstract

This article describes the converb system of the endangered Ōgami Ryukyuan language. The Ōgami converbs form a well-defined class, but they are problematic for the traditional definition of “converb” based on the notions of finiteness and subordination, and they thus require to revise that definition.  The existence of several processes of desubordination, whereby a clause headed by a dependent verb form functions as an independent clause, is also described. Focus is put on the use of the narrative converb as an independent past tense form, which has been claimed to be a typologically rare phenomenon. The hypothesis that such a process arises in order to remedy the paucity of tense forms in a language does not hold in the case of Ōgami, where the explanation must be sought in discourse pattern.  The development of independent past forms out of sequential/narrative dependent forms is found to be not so rare cross-linguistically, and it thus constitutes a cross-linguistically valid evolutionary path.