I've enjoyed the contributions on this topic very much. Peter P's latest with the analysis of the moral signification done by forms like these was particularly interesting for me. I do want to take small issue with the assertion:
> True serials don’t inflect either verb, certainly not the preceding (in this case, directional) one.
This may well be true in the Caribbean (and perhaps also West Africa) but it is not true in Pacific languages (indigenous vernaculars and creole vernaculars). There, it is quite possible to have inflected V1 and inflected V2 (as well as uninflected V2 – the directional verb is always the V2). There is also a less well discussed option – but not unusual in the languages of Vanuatu – for full inflection of V1 and reduced inflection of V2 (if anyone is interested, I can give some references offlist). I realise the discussion has been about the possible Caribbean origins of the speaker, but I wanted to point this out because I think it is a reminder against inflating descriptive trends in one set of languages to diagnostic or definitional criteria for a phenomenon. I've always found it helpful to think about serialisation in terms of semantics and syntax (as plenty of other people have suggested).
chrz, mm
Oh yeah, and about the digression on "try V" constructions: these are quite common in the Pacific Englishes. You get it in Bislama and Hawai‘i Pidgin, I'd have to check Geoff Smith's book on Tok Pisin about whether they're used there. In both Hawai‘i and Vanuatu they serve as politeness markers, i.e. "try come"/"try ask" = "could you come"/"could you ask".
Miriam Meyerhoff
Professor of Linguistics, DALSL
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
+64 9 373 7999 x85236
http://www.artsfaculty.auckland.ac.nz/staff/?UPI=mmey023
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