Verbal Locutions in Tamil

Tamil verbal locutions, defined as predicates consisting of noun + verb, are identified by two constraints: no adverb may intervene between the components, & the noun may not have a determiner. Verbal locutions are characterized as a major & highly productive form of lexical derivation in Tamil; /aaga/ 'to become' & /aakka/ 'to make' combine with nouns to form, respectively, intransitive & transitive verbs, adverbials, & adjectivals. A typology of nominal formants by referent distinguishes categories of humans, feelings, physical states, & body parts; approximately 60 verbal formants are found, with a wide range of semantic load. Variation is also found in the compositionality of verbal locutions, their valence, & the extent to which the noun formant can be marked for case. J. Hitchcock