In Serial Verbs in White Hmong Nerida Jarkey investigates verb serialization, a highly productive grammatical strategy in this dynamic Southeast Asian language in which multiple verbs are simply concatenated within a single clause to depict a single event. The investigation identifies four major types of serial verb construction (SVC) in White Hmong and finds that the key function of all these types is to depict a single event in an elaborate and vivid way, a much-favoured method of description in this language. These findings concerning the nature and function of SVCs in White Hmong contribute to broader discussions on the nature of events as both cognitive and cultural constructs.
Nerida Jarkey, Ph.D. (1991), University of Sydney, is Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies at that university. She has published articles on Japanese and White Hmong on topics including complex predicates, complementation, transitivity, and language and identity.
Students and researchers with an interest in Hmong and other Southeast Asian languages, complex predicates, serial verb constructions (SVCs), grammaticalization, and event representation within the clause.