Towards a typology of possessors and experiencers in Neo-Aramaic: non-canonical subjects as relics of a former dative case

Abstract

This article is a study of subject-like possessors and experiencers in Neo-Aramaic. These are expressed through person affixes on verbs and verboids that historically go back to a dative preposition—the marker of recipients. Based on a cross-dialectal study of their clause structure, the paper argues that these arguments are non-canonical subjects whose morphosyntax is still reminiscent of their original recipient-like function. The identical marking of the agent of past perfective verbs and these non-canonical subjects are likely to be ultimately historically related and part of the overall typology of the language area, since some of these constructions have close parallels in Iranian languages.