Identity in Gapping and the Lexical Insertion of Verbs

Tojolabal-Maya has four specific verbs of eating. One must k'us meat or other crunchy food, lo(glottal stop) fruits, vegetables, eggs, and other soft foods, we(glottal stop) products made from ground corn, and ti(glottal stop) beans, chile when alone, and tomatoes when with something. In addition, the transitive verb (glottal stop)ab' (to sense something) serves as a general verb of eating. One may (glottal stop)ab' any food or drink. The transitive verb of drinking is (glottal stop)uk'; one must (glottal stop)uk' any liquid. Despite their specific reference to the properties of the food consumed, these verbs do gap as if identical. Based on this optional gapping, it is suggested that: (1) An abstract verb consume exists in the structure of Tojolabal, as well as in six other Mayan languages; (2) Characteristics of the direct object determine the exterior form of the abstract consume; and (3) More than simple surface lexical identity is involved in exclusion rules such as gapping, conjunction reduction, and coordinate deletion. Modified AA