R2 and R4 relational prefixes in genitive and attributive constructions in Tupi Guarani languages

Abstract

The study examines the morphosyntactic properties of the so-called relational prefixes (R), in Tupi Guarani languages. According to the Tupinist literature, the  R  morphology  encodes  the  following  argumental  properties:  (i)  the internal argument overtly realized within the genitive configuration (R1); (ii) the null internal argument, with anaphoric (disjoint) reference (R2); (iii) the null argument coreferential with the clausal subject (R3); (iv) the null internal argument  with  generic/  arbitrary  interpretation  and  [+human]  feature  (R4). In our analysis, it is proposed that the R morpheme in (i)-(iv) encodes the [+definite] feature, which is associated with a formal feature [person]. It is also argued that in the presence of a [+generic] antecedent, the distribution of R2 and R4 is determined by the feature [+/-animate].