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Deconstructing Ergativity
OXFORD STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE SYNTAX
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Deconstructing Ergativity: Two Types of
Ergative Languages and Their Features
Maria Polinsky
Deconstructing
Ergativity
Two Types of Ergative Languages
and Their Features

Maria Polinsky

3
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-​in-​Publication Data

Names: Polinsky, Maria, author.
Title: Deconstructing ergativity : two types of ergative languages
and their features / Maria Polinsky.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016] | Series: Oxford
Studies in Comparative Syntax | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015031701| ISBN 9780190256593 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780190256586 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780190256609 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190256616 (online content)
Subjects: LCSH: Grammar, Comparative and general—Ergative constructions. |
Generative grammar.
Classification: LCC P291.5 .P65 2016 | DDC 415—dc23 LC
record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015031701

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Webcom, Canada
In memory of Lana Borodkin (1903–​1980)
CONTENTS

Preface  xiii
Abbreviations  xvii

PART I: Two types of ergatives  

1. Introduction   3
1.1. Setting the stage   3
1.2. Syntactic ergativity   7
1.2.1. The phenomenon   7
1.2.2. The range of the phenomenon   11
1.2.3. The relevance of syntactic ergativity   13
1.3. The importance of starting small   15
1.3.1. Syntactic ergativity broadly defined   15
1.3.2. Not all A-​bar movement phenomena are created equal   20
1.3.3. Some methodological odds and ends   21
Appendix: Compensatory strategies under syntactic ergativity   22
2. Proposal   28
2.1. Crucial empirical observations   29
2.1.1. Diachronic pathways to ergativity   29
2.1.2. Oblique subjects   35
2.2. The proposal: Two classes of ergative languages   35
2.3. From a PP specifier to syntactic ergativity   38
2.3.1. The relationship between the verbal functional head and
ergative P  38
2.3.2. Ergative P and P-​stranding   39
2.3.3. Ergative P and pied-​piping   40
2.3.4. From a PP subject to syntactic ergativity   44
2.4. Basic clausal structures in the two types of ergative languages   45
2.4.1. PP-​ergative and DP-​ergative languages: transitive clauses   45
2.4.2. PP-​ergative and DP-​ergative languages: unergative clauses   49
2.4.3. PP specifiers everywhere? Preventing overgeneration   53
2.4.4. Compatibility between the ergative and the passive   54
2.5. Summary   55
3. Prepositional phrases: Establishing the diagnostics   56
3.1. PPs have distinct extraction and subextraction properties   57
3.2. Restrictions on PPs as pivots of clefts   59
3.3. PPs have resumptive proforms and may have special modifiers   60
3.4. PPs are less accessible to agreement probes than DPs are   60
3.5. PPs and binding   62
3.6. PPs and A-​movement   65
3.7. PPs cannot be at the tail of a control chain   68
3.8. Summary   70
4. Ergative as a PP: Initial evidence   72
4.1. Ergative expressions can be PPs   72
4.2. Subextraction out of the ergative expression   73
4.3. Extraction: Ergative extraction requires resumption   79
4.4. Ergative and agreement   82
4.5. Ergative and depictives   83
4.6. Ergative and quantifier float   84
4.7. Interim summary   87
4.7.1. Silent P head   87
4.7.2. Overt P head   88
4.7.3. The nature of the operator   90
5. Ergative as a PP: Take two   94
5.1. Binding: Reflexives and reciprocals   94
5.2. Raising   101
5.2.1. No true raising   102
5.2.2. Ergative is not preserved under raising—​at least in Tongan   104
5.3. Control   104
5.4. Summary   109
6. Cross-​linguistic landscape: Correlates of PP-​ergativity   111
6.1. Word order correlates   111
6.2. Expletive subjects   117
6.3. Non-​canonical (quirky) subjects   120
6.4. Summary   123
7. The other ergative: A true DP   124
7.1. Extraction of the ergative with a gap   125
7.2. Subextraction from the ergative and the absolutive   127
7.3. Agreement   132
7.4. Binding   135
7.5. Control and raising   136
7.6. Word order   138
7.7. By way of summary   139

[ viii ] Contents
8. The relationship between PP-​ergativity and DP-​ergativity:
Phylogeny and ontogeny   141
8.1. Diachronic relationship between PP-ergativity
and DP-ergativity   141
8.2. Caught in transition: Niuean   144
8.3. Caught in transition: Adyghe   151
8.4. PP-​ergatives and DP-​ergatives in language acquisition   154
8.5. By Way of Conclusion   158
9. Alternative accounts of variation across ergative languages   160
9.1. Comp-​trace versus P-​trace   160
9.2. Criterial freezing   163
9.3. Phase boundaries and high-/​low- absolutive languages   166
9.4. Non-​syntactic explanations for variation across ergative languages   173
9.5. Summary   180

PART II: Paradigm languages  

10. A paradigm PP-​ergative language: Tongan   185
10.1. Tongan basics   186
10.1.1. General remarks   186
10.1.2. Predicates   188
10.1.3. Case marking   189
10.1.4. Word order: Preliminary remarks   193
10.1.5. Questions   193
10.2. Subject and possessive marking: Clitics   195
10.2.1. Subject clitics   195
10.2.1.1. Basic facts about clitics   195
10.2.1.2. Accounting for Tongan clitics   198
10.2.1.3. Clitic doubling   202
10.2.2. Possessive clitics and possessive markers   203
10.3. Deriving Tongan clause structure   206
10.3.1. Word order: Deriving V1   206
10.3.2. Word order: The right periphery   207
10.3.2.1. The definitive accent   208
10.3.2.2. VOS is not due to scrambling   211
10.3.2.3. VOS as rightward topicalization   212
10.3.3. Basic clause structures   220
10.3.3.1. Intransitives: Unaccusatives   220
10.3.3.2. Intransitives: Unergatives   225
10.3.3.3. Transitive clauses   229
10.3.4. Tongan ergativity and split ergativity   232
10.4. A-​bar movement   234
10.4.1. Relative clauses   234
10.4.2. Wh-​questions   239

Contents [ ix ]
 10.4.3. Focus: Exceptive constructions   240
10.4.4. Ko-​Topicalization   242
10.4.5. Interim summary   243
10.5. Raising and control   244
10.5.1. The status of ke-​clauses   244
10.5.2. “Raising”   248
10.5.2.1. Raising-​like verbs and their structures   248
10.5.2.2. What moves in ke-​clauses, and where does it
move to?   250
10.5.2.3. What is the nature of the operator in ke-​clauses?  255
10.5.2.4. The transparency of finite ke-​clauses  260
10.5.3. The verb lava  262
10.5.3.1. Monoclausal structure with lava: Restructuring  263
10.5.3.2. Biclausal structures with lava  266
10.5.4. Control   270
10.5.4.1. Basic facts   270
10.5.4.2. No obligatory control   275
10.5.4.3. The internal syntax of control ke-​clauses  280
10.5.5. Interim summary   283
10.6. Binding   284
10.6.1. Anaphoric binding   284
10.6.2. Reciprocals? Just pluractionality   287
10.6.3. Other binding contexts   290
10.7. Summary   291
11. A paradigm DP-​ergative language: Tsez   294
11.1. Tsez basics   294
11.1.1. Preliminaries   294
11.1.2. Unergatives and unaccusatives   297
11.1.3. Clauses with two or more arguments   299
11.2. Discontinuous noun phrases   301
11.3. Non-​finite forms   306
11.3.1. Infinitival and masdar clauses   306
11.3.2. Event nominalizations   307
11.4. A-​bar movement   312
11.5. Raising and control   317
11.5.1. Raising   317
11.5.2. Complement control   318
11.5.2.1. Forward control   318
11.5.2.2. Backward control   321
11.5.3. Infinitival relative clauses   324
11.6. Binding   326
11.6.1. Anaphoric binding   326
11.6.2. Depictives   330

[ x ] Contents
 11.7. Interim summary   331
11.8. Deriving Tsez clauses   333
11.8.1. Two possible analyses   333
11.8.1.1. A single vP  333
11.8.1.2. Layered functional heads in the verb phrase   339
11.8.2. Single heads or layered structure: Which analysis
is superior?  342
11.9. Summary   345
12. Taking stock   347

References  355
Index  385

Contents [ xi ]
P R E FA C E

Linguists often have to deal with the tension between working on language and
working with languages. The present manuscript is no exception; I have tried to
account for the range of variation in natural language by looking at a number of
individual languages, some of them rather “exotic.” The main subject of this book,
ergativity, is still a rather alien topic in linguistic theory. I do not expect to settle all
theoretical debates pertaining to ergativity within these pages; rather, it is my hope
that this work will help to make this unusual phenomenon look less mysterious.
Peering behind the veil of such mysteries is a driving force of linguistic progress, and
one that often results in the languages under consideration seeming less exotic when
all is said and done. Thus, although I may not arrive at a novel theory, as long as fresh
data allow me to reduce the bizarre to the familiar, I will consider my job done.
The reality of the presence of ergative languages in our midst compels us to under-
stand them better. In my work on this book, I have made an effort to obtain detailed
data on several ergative languages: Tongan, Niuean, Samoan, Chukchi, Q’anjob’al,
Tsez, Archi, Avar, and Circassian. The encounter with these particular ergative lan-
guages has been critical for my own growth as a linguist, and I consider myself for-
tunate to have caught a glimpse of their structure; nevertheless, they represent just
a tiny portion of all ergative languages, and many others still remain a puzzle. Quite
a few times during the composition of this work, I have been tempted to write, “We
need more data to understand this better”; this need for more comprehensive empir-
ical coverage will hopefully push us forward as well.
The main idea promoted in this book is very simple. There are two types of erga-
tive languages; in one type, the ergative expression is a PP in the subject position,
and in the other type, the ergative is a DP in a structural case, not very different
from the familiar nominative or accusative. The two ergative types are characterized
by a cluster of correlated properties, and once these properties are considered all
together, each type emerges as internally consistent. The result is a simpler, more
streamlined syntactic representation of ergativity.
This book consists of two parts. Part I outlines the general principles that under-
lie the division of ergative languages into two types, with a particular emphasis on
PP-​ergative languages. Part II presents two case studies illustrating the two types of
ergative languages: the PP-​ergative Tongan and the DP-​ergative Tsez.
Part I is structured as follows. Chapter 1 introduces the notion of ergativity,
focusing in particular on syntactic ergativity, the puzzle that serves as the starting
point of my investigation. Chapter 2 presents the main proposal advanced in this
work: that syntactic ergativity follows as a side effect from the combination of two
other linguistic properties: (i) that the ergative in the language in question is a prep-
ositional phrase, not a DP, and (ii) that the language does not allow extraction of (or
subextraction out of) PPs. Chapter 3 identifies several diagnostics that can be used to
determine the status of an expression as a PP. Chapters 4 and 5 build on these diag-
nostics to present arguments in favor of the main proposal and introduce the critical
properties of PP-​ergative languages. Chapter 6 explores further cross-​linguistic cor-
relates of PP-​ergativity that follow from the presence of a PP in the subject position.
Chapter 7 presents an idealized contrast case—​that of a DP-​ergative language that
exhibits morphological, but not syntactic, ergativity. In that chapter, the emphasis
is on the properties that separate PP-​ergative languages and DP-​ergative languages.
(Chapter 11, which describes an actual example of a “well-​behaved” DP-​ergative lan-
guage, Tsez, can be read as a companion to Chapter 7.)
Chapter 8 considers the possible diachronic relationship between the two types
of ergative languages; I argue that both types can be traced back to the same source
and can therefore be viewed as diachronically related.
Chapter 9 compares the proposal advanced in this book with other approaches
to syntactic ergativity, of which there are several. These alternatives include criterial
freezing of a constituent in the subject position (which can lead to the ban on subject
extraction or subextraction), the presence of different licensing restrictions on the
absolutive (which may incidentally produce concomitant constraints on the extrac-
tion of the ergative), and explanations based on processing.
In Part II, ­chapters 10 and 11 offer a more detailed empirical exploration of two
languages that characterize the two types: ­chapter 10 examines Tongan, which
instantiates the PP-​ergative type; ­chapter 11 outlines the grammar of Tsez, which
is unambiguously DP-​ergative. Chapter 12 presents my conclusions and addresses
several unanswered questions that I hope will form the basis for future work on
ergativity.
Many people have helped to make this work possible; none bear responsibility
for the final product, but many have been gracious in sharing their time, intuitions,
insights, and comments with me. The course on ergativity that Anoop Mahajan and
I co-​taught at UCLA in 2011 provided an important impetus for this work, and I am
grateful to Anoop and all the students in the course for their encouragement. I have
benefitted from discussions with Edith Aldridge, Ivano Caponigro, Sandy Chung,
Jessica Coon, Shin Fukuda, Itziar Laka, Eric Potsdam, Omer Preminger, and Yakov
Testelets. I am also indebted to the four anonymous reviewers whose comments
were extremely helpful in edging this manuscript closer to completion.
I am grateful to David Adger, Judith Aissen, Peter Arkadiev, Jeremy Aron-​Dine,
Winifred Bauer, Abbas Benmamoun, Jason Brown, Seth Cable, Lauren Eby Clemens,
Bernard Comrie, Annabel Cormack, Norbert Corver, Marcel den Dikken, David
Erschler, Nomi Erteschik-​Shir, Anamaria Falaus, Grant Goodall, Boris Harizanov,
Robert Henderson, Vincent Homer, Caitlin Keenan, Roni Katzir, Hilda Koopman,
Julie Legate, Beth Levin, Nick Longenbaugh, Diane Massam, Pedro Mateo Pedro,
Jason Merchant, Adam Milton Morgan, Léa Nash, Yuko Otsuka, Hazel Pearson,

[ xiv ] Preface
Nina Radkevich, Luigi Rizzi, Jerry Sadock, Bridget Samuels, Peter Sells, Dominique
Sportiche, Dieter Wunderlich, and Colin Zwanziger for helpful discussions of this
work at its various stages. I am sorry that I was unable to follow up on all the excel-
lent suggestions I received.
Empirical data collection for this book was supported in part by NSF grants
BCS-​0131993, BCS-​ 0231946, BCS–​ 1144223, BCS-​ 137274, and BCS-​ 1414318; by
the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University; by the David Rockefeller
Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard; by the Davis Center for Eastern
European Studies at Harvard; by the Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL)
at the University of Maryland; and by the Max-​Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology in Leipzig.
Unless noted otherwise, the language examples come from my own fieldwork. I am
indebted to the native speakers who have shared their language data with me: Raxmet
Gisheva, Raxmet Esheva, Mira Unarokova, and Miriam Djakoe (Adyghe); Aminat
Eldarova, Kerim Kerimov, Madjid Khalilov, Djamilya Magomedova, and Magomed
I. Magomedov (Avar); Peter Inenlikey and Vladimir Raxtilin (Chukchi); Eka Egutia,
David Erschler, Maya Iashvili, and Léa Nash (Georgian); Archna Bhatia, Ashwini
Deo, and Gyanam and Anoop Mahajan (Hindi); Ana Lopez de Mateo (Kaqchiqel);
Tom Etuata, Pefi King, Tammi King, Mele Nemaia, Pat and Granby Siakimotu, Ligi
Sisikefu, Lynsey Talagi, and Kara-​Ann Tukuitonga (Niuean); Pedro Mateo Pedro
(Q’anjob’al); John Frujean and Lotu Sili (Samoan); Kaufo’ou Faletau, Sisilia Lutui,
Saia Mataele, Sofia Tolu, and Melenaite Taumoefolau (Tongan); and Arsen Abdulaev,
Madjid Khalilov, Paxruddin Magomedinov, and Ramazan Rajabov (Tsez). Without
their help, this work would not have been possible.
And finally, many thanks to my family for keeping me sane and for having such
a great sense of humor. What’s in this book is unlikely to enthrall you, but it is for
you—​with love.

Preface [ xv ]
A B B R E V I AT I O N S

The abbreviations in the glosses follow the Leipzig Glossing Rules.

A agent-​like argument of canonical transitive verb

ABS absolutive
ACC accusative
ADJ adjective
ADN adnominal
ANTIP antipassive
AOR aorist
APUDESS apudessive
AT actor topic
AUX auxiliary
CLASS noun class
CLF classifier
COMP complementizer
COMPL completive
DAT dative
DEIC deictic
DEP dependent
DER derived
DET determiner
EMPH emphatic
ENC enclitic
ERG ergative
F feminine
FF final form
FOC focus
FUT future
GEN genitive
GER gerund
INCEPT inceptive
INCOMPL incompletive
IND indicative
INF infinitive
INTR intransitive
IPFV imperfective
IRC infinitival relative clause
LD long-​distance
LNK linker
LOC locative
M masculine
MASD masdar
N neuter
NEG negation, negative
NMLZ nominalizer/​nominalization
NOM nominative
NONFIN non-​finite
NS non-​subject
OBJ object
P patient-​like argument of canonical transitive verb
PASS passive
PAUC paucal
PFV perfective
PL plural
POSS possessive
PRET preterite
PRF perfect
PRS present
PRT particle
PST past
PTCP participle
RECP reciprocal
RP resumptive pronoun
S single argument of canonical intransitive verb
SBJ subject
SBJV subjunctive
SC small clause
SG singular
SUF (unspecified) suffix
TNS (unspecified) tense
TR transitive
WIT witnessed

[ xviii ] Abbreviations
Deconstructing Ergativity
PART ONE

Two types of ergatives

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 SETTING THE STAGE

Linguists have long classified languages according to the ways in which their intran-
sitive subjects, transitive subjects, and direct objects align with respect to case
marking and/​or agreement. If the intransitive subject (abbreviated here as S) and
transitive subject (A[gent]) are encoded the same way (NOM; nominative case), in
contrast to a differently encoded object (O; accusative case), the alignment pattern
is referred to as “accusative” (1a); if the intransitive subject and direct object share
encoding (ABS; absolutive case) to the exclusion of the transitive subject (ERG; erga-
tive case), then the alignment pattern is referred to as “ergative” (1b) (Comrie 1978;
Dixon 1979, 1994; Manning 1996; Aldridge 2008; McGregor 2009; Palancar 2009;
among others). These alignments can be expressed not only in case marking but also
in agreement; agreement can group S and A together, in contrast to O, or it can group
S and O together, in contrast to A.

(1) a. Accusative b. Ergative

S S

A O A O

The realization of ergative alignment in case marking and/​or agreement results

in what is known as “morphological ergativity.” Observing these surface differences
in alignment leads us to the following question: Does alignment have deep syntactic
repercussions, or is it only skin-​deep, with simple morphological reflexes?
The initial answer to this question is that differences in alignment seem lim-
ited to surface morphology. Although ergative languages may appear exotic at first
glance to those of us who speak nominative-​accusative languages, long-​standing
research has shown them to be less alien than one might expect, especially with
respect to familiar structural properties. Starting with Anderson’s seminal work
(S. Anderson 1973, 1976, 1977), researchers have noted that the ergative DP is
structurally superior to the absolutive DP. This asymmetry manifests itself in sev-
eral ways. For instance, it is the ergative DP, not the absolutive DP, that corresponds
to the null pronominal (addressee) of the imperative in (2); this pattern is similar to
the pattern observed in accusative languages, where the nominative (not the accu-
sative) corresponds to the addressee of the imperative. It is also the ergative argu-
ment of a transitive verb, rather than the absolutive, that can undergo raising and
corefer with the silent subject in control structures (3). Compare illustrative exam-
ples from two Nakh-​Dagestanian languages spoken in the Northeast Caucasus:

(2) T’et’r-​o pro debi kaɣat! Tsez

read.imper 2sg.poss letter.abs
‘Read your letter!’

(3) Uže [PRO lɨdo bit’x-​a] ukk-​u goli. Khwarshi

boy.abs firewood.abs chop-​inf must-​ptcp is
‘The boy has to chop firewood.’ (Khalilova 2009: 383)

Furthermore, the ergative binds the absolutive, but not the other way around. The
following example from Tsaxur illustrates this with a monomorphemic reflexive.1 As
the examples below show, the order of elements does not affect the interpretation.

(4) a. Rasul-​e wuƷa get-​u. Tsaxur

Rasul-​erg self.abs class1.beat-​prf
‘Rasul beat himself up.’
b. *Rasul wuƷ-​e get-​u.
Rasul.abs self.erg class1.beat-​prf
(‘Rasul beat himself up.’)
c. *WuƷ-​e Rasul get-​u.
self.erg Rasul.abs class1.beat-​prf
(‘Rasul beat himself up.’) (Kibrik and Testelets 1999: 346)

In ergative languages that allow multiple wh-​fronting and show superiority effects,
these superiority effects are just like those found in English. This effect is illustrated
by the following examples from Basque (Ortiz de Urbina 1989; Reglero 2004; Jeong
2004; 2007). As in more familiar languages, when a clause contains two wh-​words,
the one that undergoes wh-​movement is the one closest to the interrogative C.2

1. Here and below, it is important to differentiate the binding of monomorphemic reflex-

ives from the binding of complex reflexives (cf. Reinhart and Reuland 1993). The latter
often have logophoric properties (cf. Reinhart and Reuland 1993; Reuland 2011); the pres-
ence of these properties makes complex reflexives a weaker test case, since a logophoric
center can take scope over several clauses.
2. The Basque facts are only relevant if we adopt the view that Basque has wh-​movement.
An alternative, explored by Arregi (2002), is that it has wh-​in-​situ with pied-​piping.

[ 4 ] Deconstructing Ergativity
(5) a. Nork nori zer eman dio? Basque
who.erg who.dat what.abs give aux
‘Who gave what to whom?’
b. *Nori nork zer eman dio?
who.dat who.erg what.abs give aux
c. *Zer nori nork eman dio?
what.abs who.dat who.erg give aux
d. *Zer nork nori eman dio?
what.abs who.erg who.dat give aux
(‘Who gave what to whom?’)

Accusative and ergative languages are also alike in having multiple verb-​object
idioms (Verb+ACCOBJECT in accusative languages, Verb+ABSOBJECT in ergative ones)
but few subject idioms (Manning 1996; Ura 2000). For instance, English idiomatic
expressions with objects are plentiful, and their number keeps growing, with expres-
sions such as talk smack “insult” or jump the shark “decline (of a show, brand, etc.)”
added on a regular basis. At the same time, English has just a handful of subject-​
oriented idioms, such as the shit hit the fan, the pot (is) calling the kettle black, cat got
your tongue, and the cat is out of the bag. Tsez, similarly, exhibits scores of object idi-
oms. Even though the sources available for Tsez are not as extensive as the English
Urban Dictionary, a relatively modest collection of 7,500 lexical items presents ten
idioms with the word rok’u ‘heart’ in object position (Xalilov 1999: 220) but only one
with that word in subject position:3

(6) Nesi-​s rok’u q’idar r-​ik’i-​n. Tsez

dem.i-​gen heart.abs.iv down iv-​go-​pst.nwit
‘He calmed down.’ (lit.: his heart went down)

In addition, ergative and accusative languages pattern alike in permitting true

incorporation or pseudo-​ incorporation of objects (and sometimes the sub-
jects of unaccusatives). Compare the illustrations of pseudo-​incorporation in
two Polynesian languages—​accusative Māori and ergative Niuean—​in (7) and
(8) below; note that incorporation in Niuean is morphologically visible, in the
sense that the case of the subject changes from ergative to absolutive (i.e., incor-
poration results in detransitivization). Crucially, neither alignment type allows
the incorporation of a transitive subject, be it nominative or ergative. It is well
known that the incorporation of transitive nominative subjects is impossible
(Baker 1988); we again observe a parallel between the nominative subject of a
transitive and the ergative argument.

3. In Tsez glosses, the Roman numeral after a noun indicates the gender (grammatical
class) of that noun. The verb agrees in gender with the absolutive.

Introduction [5]
(7) a. E mahi ana te iwi i te kai. Māori4
tns/​asp do tns/​asp det tribe acc det food
‘The tribe was procuring (the) food.’
b. E mahi kai ana te iwi.
tns/​asp do food tns/​asp det tribe
‘The tribe was procuring food.’
c. *E mahi iwi te kai.
tns/​asp do tribe det food
(‘The tribe was procuring food.’)
(8) a. Kai he tau pusi e moa. Niuean5
eat erg pl cat abs bird
‘(The) cats eat the/​a chicken.’
b. Kai moa e/​*he tau pusi.
eat bird abs/​*erg   pl cat
‘(The) cats eat chickens.’
c. *Kai pusi e moa.
eat cat abs bird
(‘(The) cats eat the/​a chicken.’)
OK in the unintended meaning “The bird eats cats.”

The properties presented above all serve to identify syntactic subjects as behavior-
ally distinct from other grammatical elements —​although researchers do not always
agree on the range of the relevant properties or their relative importance. For exam-
ple, some researchers have argued that imperative addressees and incorporated/​
idiomatic NPs are potentially identifiable on a semantic basis.6 To avoid potential
controversy, I will not be relying very heavily on these particular properties; there
are other unambiguous diagnostics identifying the highest structural argument of a
clause. In fact, even if we exclude some of the properties discussed above, the erga-
tive argument still exhibits plenty of standard properties associated with syntactic
subjects. This finding suggests that ergativity is only skin-​deep: a simple morpholog-
ical difference in the encoding of subjects and objects.
Nevertheless, there are also systematic differences between languages with
ergative case-​marking and those with accusative case-​marking. The two main
areas of dissimilarity have to do with agreement and A-​bar movement.7 The

4. See also Bauer (1993: 478–​480).

5. See Seiter (1980: 69–​77); Massam (2001) for a detailed discussion of Niuean pseudo-​
noun incorporation, and see more discussion of this property in Chapter 8.
6. See Dixon 1979, 1994 on the idea that the addressee of the imperative is determined
on the basis of a semantic diagnostic; see Kiparsky 1997 on the semantic conditions for
forming idioms.
7. In addition, there has been lingering uncertainty concerning the possibility of syn-
tactic ergativity in Dyirbal (Dixon 1972, 1979, 1994). If Dyirbal is syntactically ergative
in a profound way, it presents a serious contrast to all other known languages (includ-
ing other ergative languages). Some researchers have proposed alternative accounts of

[6] Deconstructing Ergativity

agreement asymmetry is as follows: languages with ergative case-​marking can
have ergative or accusative alignment in agreement, but languages with accu-
sative case-​marking never show ergative alignment in agreement (S. Anderson
1976, 1977, 1984; Comrie 1978; Dixon 1979, 1994; among others). Thus, ergative
languages impose fewer restrictions on their agreement alignment than accusa-
tive languages do. This discrepancy has attracted a substantial amount of atten-
tion (cf. Bobaljik 2008; Preminger 2014; Režać 2011; see also Corbett 2006; Deal
2010; Markman and Graschenkov 2012), and I will not discuss it here in great
detail (although it is tangentially connected to the main issues I will address
throughout the rest of this work). The second area of significant divergence has to
do with displacement under A-​bar movement: this is the major puzzle examined
in this book.

1.2 SYNTACTIC ERGATIVITY
1.2.1 The phenomenon

In a number of ergative languages, the ergative argument cannot be extracted

under relativization,8 wh-​question formation, focusing, topicalization, or tough
movement—​all phenomena subsumed under the rubric of A-​bar movement, i.e., the
displacement of a constituent to a position not associated with a thematic role or a
fixed grammatical function. At the same time, the absolutive argument, be it subject
or object, can undergo A-​bar movement.
Consider the following Tongan examples, which illustrate syntactic ergativity
under relativization. Example (9a) is a baseline transitive clause; in (9b), the absolu-
tive object of that clause is extracted, leaving a gap at the base position (here and
below, unless I am discussing a particular syntactic analysis, I indicate the gap at
the extraction site atheoretically as “_​_​” with a subscript indicating co-​indexation).
Extraction that produces a gapped structure for an ergative argument is impossible;
instead, the extraction position must be occupied by a resumptive pronoun which is
cliticized to the tense marker (9c):

Dyirbal that rule out syntactic ergativity and thus make this language look more compa-
rable to the other six thousand–​odd languages of the world (Jake 1978; Polinskaja 1989;
Legate 2008b).
8. Throughout this book, I am using the term relativization only in relation to the forma-
tion of restrictive relative clauses. Descriptive (appositive) relative clauses, such as the
English (i) below, may be subject to different principles, and even more crucially, not all
languages have such relative clauses.

(i) The major greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36–​70% of the
greenhouse effect; carbon dioxide (CO2), which causes 9–​26%; methane (CH4),
which causes 4–​9%; and ozone (O3), which causes 3–​7%. (from Wikipedia, “Global
warming”)

Introduction [7]
(9) a. baseline transitive sentence
‘Oku fakamolemole‘i ‘e Mele ‘a  e  kaiha‘a.          Tongan
prs forgive erg Mary abs det thief
‘Mary forgives the thief.’
b. ABS object (must relativize with a gap at the extraction site)
e kaiha‘ai [‘oku fakamolemole‘i ‘e Mele _​_i​ /​*‘a ia]
det thief  prs forgive     erg  Mary abs  3sg
‘the thief that Mary forgives’
c. ERG subject (must leave a resumptive pronoun in the relative clause)
e ta‘ahinei  [‘oku *(nei) fakamolemole‘i _​_​i ‘a  e   
kaiha‘a]
det girl    prs rp forgive   abs  
det thief
‘the girl that forgives the thief’
(10) a. baseline intransitive sentence
‘Oku  tangi  ‘a   
Mele.
prs   cry  abs Mary
‘Mary is crying.’
b. ABS subject (must relativize with a gap at the extraction site)
e ta‘ahinei [‘oku (*ne) tangi _​_​_i​ /​*‘a ia ]
det girl      
prs rp cry   abs    3sg
‘the girl that is crying’

Likewise, a resumptive pronoun is required in Tongan if the ergative is topicalized or

appears as the pivot of a cleft (see also Chung 1978: 226–​229; Otsuka 2000; and see
further discussion in ­chapter 10 of this book).
Contrast this pattern with the pattern of extraction observed in Basque, where
both the ergative subject and the absolutive object can leave a gap at the extrac-
tion site. Thus, the two arguments extract the same way, and there is no contrast
between them:

(11) a. baseline transitive sentence9

Gizon-​e-​k etxe hau eraiki zuten. Basque
man-​det.pl-​erg house.abs this built aux
‘The men built this house.’
b. ABS object (must relativize with a gap at the extraction site)
[gizon-​e-​k _​_​_i​ eraiki zuten] etxe-​ai
man-​det.pl-​erg built aux house-​det
‘the house that the men built’
c. ERG subject (must relativize with a gap at the extraction site)
[_​_​_i​ etxe-​a-​∅    eraiki zuten] gizon-​ ek i
house-​det-​abs built aux  man-​ det.pl
‘the men that built the house’

9. Basque exhibits homophony between the plural absolutive, shown in (11c), and the
singular ergative, shown in (11a, b).

[8] Deconstructing Ergativity

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
opportunity to come before the Commission and suggest
objections or amendments to the bills. The Commission has
likewise adopted as part of its regular procedure the
submission of all proposed bills to the Military Governor for
his consideration and comment before enactment. We think that
the holding of public sessions furnishes instructive lessons
to the people, as it certainly secures to the Commission a
means of avoiding mistakes. … The Commission has now passed
forty-seven laws of more or less importance. … A municipal
code has been prepared and forwarded to you for the
consideration of one or two critical matters, and has not yet
been adopted, pending your consideration of it. A tariff bill
… has been prepared. … A judicial and civil procedure bill is
nearly completed. The same thing is true of a bill for
provincial government organization. A new internal tax law
must then be considered. The wealth of this country has
largely been in agricultural lands, and they have been
entirely exempt. This enabled the large landowners to escape
any other taxation than the urbana, a tax which was imposed
upon the rental value of city buildings only, and the cedula
tax, which did not in any case exceed $37.50 (Mexican) a
person. We think that a land tax is to be preferred, but of
this there will be found more detailed discussion below. …

"The only legislation thus far undertaken by the Commission

which bears directly on the conduct of municipal affairs in
the city of Manila is a law regulating the sale of spirituous,
malt, vinous or fermented liquors. It is provided that none of
the so-called native 'wines' [said to be concocted by mixing
alcohol with oils and flavoring extracts] shall be sold except
by holders of native wine licenses, and that such holders
shall not be allowed to sell intoxicants of any other sort
whatever. … The selling of native wines to soldiers of the
United States under any circumstances is strictly prohibited,
because the soldiers are inclined to indulge in those
injurious beverages to excess, with disastrous results. … The
Filipino ordinarily uses them moderately, if at all.
 Fortunately, he does not, to any considerable extent, frequent
the American saloon. With a view to preventing his being
attracted there, the playing of musical instruments or the
operation of any gambling device, phonograph, slot machine,
billiard or pool table or other form of amusement in saloons,
bars or drinking places is prohibited."

The report of the Commission urged strongly the establishing

of a purely civil government in the Islands, for reasons thus
stated: "The restricted powers of a military government are
painfully apparent in respect to mining claims and the
organization of railroad, banking and other corporations and
the granting of franchises generally. It is necessary that
there be some body or officer vested with legislative
authority to pass laws which shall afford opportunity to
capital to make investment here. This is the true and most
lasting method of pacification. Now the only corporations here
are of Spanish or English origin with but limited concessions,
and American capital finds itself completely obstructed.
{395}
Such difficulties would all be removed by the passage of the
Spooner bill now pending in both houses.

See below: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).

The far reaching effect upon the feeling of the people of

changing the military government to one purely civil, with the
Army as merely auxiliary to the administration of civil law,
cannot be too strongly emphasized. Military methods in
administering quasi-civil government, however successful in
securing efficiency and substantial justice, are necessarily
abrupt and in appearance arbitrary, even when they are those
of the Army of the Republic; and until a civil government is
established here it will be impossible for the people of the
Philippine Islands to realize the full measure of the
difference between a government under American sovereignty and
one under that of Spain."
Another subject of great importance dealt with in the November
report of the Commission was that concerning the employment of
native troops and police, on which it was said: "The question
as to whether native troops and a native constabulary are at
present practicable has received much thought and a careful
investigation by the Commission. … We have sought and obtained
the opinions of a large number of Regular and volunteer officers
of all rank, having their fields of operation in all parts of
the islands, and there appears to be a general consensus of
opinion among them that the time is ripe for these
organizations, and this is also our conclusion. Assuming that
Congress at its next session will provide for an increase of
the Regular Army, it by no means follows that a large part
thereof will, or should, be stationed here permanently.
Considerations of public policy and economy alike forbid such
a programme, nor in our judgment is it necessary.

"While the American soldier is unsurpassed in war, as it is

understood among civilized people, he does not make the best
policeman, especially among a people whose language and
customs are new and strange to him, and in our opinion should
not be put to that use when, as we believe, a better
substitute is at hand. We therefore earnestly urge the
organization of ten regiments of native troops of infantry and
cavalry, the proportion between the two arms of the service to
be fixed by competent military judges. These troops should in
the main be officered by Americans. Certainly this should be
the case as to their field officers and company commanders.
Lieutenants might be Filipinos, judicially selected, and
provision might be made for their promotion in the event of
faithful or distinguished service.

"We further recommend that a comprehensive scheme of police

organization be put in force as rapidly as possible; that it
be separate and distinct from the army, having for its head an
officer of rank and pay commensurate with the importance of
the position, with a sufficient number of assistants and
subordinates to exercise thorough direction and control. This
organization should embrace every township in the islands, and
should be so constituted that the police of several contiguous
townships could be quickly mobilized. The chief officers of
this organization should be Americans, but some of the
subordinate officers should be natives, with proper provision
for their advancement as a reward for loyal and efficient
services. The main duty of the police would, of course, be to
preserve the peace and maintain order in their respective
townships, but occasion would, no doubt, frequently arise when
it would be necessary to utilize the forces of several
townships against large bands of ladrones."

With regard to the organization of municipal government in the

townships (pueblos) of the Islands the report of the
Commission says, in part: "The 'pueblos' of these islands
sometimes include a hundred or more square miles. They are
divided into so-called 'barrios' or wards, which are often
very numerous and widely separated. In order that the
interests of the inhabitants of each ward may be represented
in the Council, on the one hand, and that the body may not
become so numerous as to be unwieldy, on the other, it is
provided that the Councillors shall be few in number (eighteen
to eight, according to the number of inhabitants), and shall
be elected at large; that where the wards are more numerous
than are the Councillors the wards shall be grouped into
districts, and that one Councillor shall be in charge of each
ward or district, with power to appoint a representative from
among the inhabitants of every ward thus assigned to him, so
that he may the more readily keep in touch with conditions in
that portion of the township which it is his duty to supervise
and represent. …

"In order to meet the situation presented by the fact that a

number of the pueblos have not as yet been organized since the
American occupation, while some two hundred and fifty others
are organized under a comparatively simple form of government
and fifty-five under a much more complicated form on which the
new law is based, the course of procedure which must be
followed in order to bring these various towns under the
provisions of the new law has been prescribed in detail, and
every effort has been made to provide against unnecessary
friction in carrying out the change.

"In view of the disturbed conditions which still prevail in

some parts of the archipelago it has been provided that the
military government should be given control of the appointment
and arming of the municipal police and that in all provinces
where civil provincial government has not been established by
the Commission the duties of the Provincial Governor,
Provincial Treasurer and Provincial 'Fiscal' (prosecuting
attorney) shall be performed by military officers assigned by
the Military Governor for these purposes. It has been further
provided that in these provinces the Military Governor shall
have power through such subordinates as he may designate for
the purpose to inspect and investigate at any time all the
official books and records of the several municipalities, and
to summarily suspend any municipal officer for inefficiency,
misconduct or disloyalty to the United States. If upon
investigation it shall prove that the suspended officer is
guilty, the Military Governor has power to remove him and to
appoint his successor, should he deem such a course necessary
in the interest of public safety. It is thought that where the
necessity still exists for active intervention on the part of
the Military Governor it will ordinarily be desirable to allow
the towns to retain their existing organization until such
time as conditions shall improve; but, should it prove
necessary or desirable in individual instances to put the new
law into operation in such provinces, it is felt that the
above provisions will give to the Military Governor ample
power to deal with any situation which can arise, and he has
expressed his satisfaction with them.
{396}

"There are at the present time a considerable number of

provinces which, in the judgment of the Commission, are ready
for a provincial civil government. It is believed that in the
majority of cases it will be possible to organize all the
municipalities of a province, creating at the same time a
civil provincial government. So soon as civil government is
established in any province, power to remove officials for
inefficiency, misconduct or disloyalty, and, should public
safety demand it, to fill the offices thus made vacant, is
vested in the civil authorities. The law does not apply to the
city of Manila or to the settlements of non-Christian tribes,
because it is believed that in both cases special conditions
require special legislation. The question as to the best
methods of dealing with the non-Christian tribes is one of no
little complexity. The number of these tribes is greatly in
excess of the number of civilized tribes, although the total
number of Mahometans and pagans is much less than the number
of Christianized natives. Still, the non-Christian tribes are
very far from forming an insignificant element of the
population. They differ from each other widely, both in their
present social, moral and intellectual state and in the
readiness with which they adapt themselves to the demands of
modern civilization."

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (October).

United States military forces in the Islands.

"At the date of my last annual report there were in the

Philippine Islands 971 officers and 31,344 enlisted men; and
there were en route for service in those islands 546 officers
and 16,553 enlisted men—the latter force being principally in
California. Since that time an additional force ordered to
China was diverted to the Philippine Islands, making a total
of 98,668 men sent to the archipelago. Of this number 15,000
volunteers, first sent to that country in 1898, together with
 the sick and disabled, have been returned to the United
States, leaving at the present time in the islands, according
to last report, 2,367 officers and 69,161 enlisted men.
Fifteen hundred men have been left in China to act as a guard
for the American legation in that country and for other
purposes."

United States, Annual Report of Lieutenant-General

Commanding the Army, October 29, 1900.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (November).

The problem of the Spanish Friars.
Two contradictory representations of their work and influence.
Views and recommendations of the United States Commission.

Of the character, work and influence of the Spanish religious

orders in the Philippine Islands there are two diametrically
opposite accounts given by different writers. Both are
represented in two of the quotations below, and those are
followed by extracts from a report made by the United States
Commission, November 30, 1900, on the subject of the problem
they present to the new government of the Islands. The first
writer is condemnatory. He says:

"The better classes [of the Filipinos] have absorbed much of

Spanish civilization in their three-century-old
apprenticeship. They show extraordinary talent for music. The
church of the mother land of Spain is much in evidence among
them. It brought to them its blessings, but also incidentally
a terrible curse. The mendicant orders—the Franciscans, the
Dominicans, the Augustinians, no longer poor preachers,
thinking only of serving, blessing, loving men, but grown
rich, domineering, and, in many cases, sadly corrupt in
morals—ate up the land. They added field to field, house to
house, till there was but little space left for the people.
They charged enormous rents to those who to put bread in their
mouths must till their fields. Just such cause for revolt existed
as that which in France aroused the storm of the great
revolution; the people taxed without mercy, the clergy
untaxed, reaping the benefit. Had the Christ-like St. Francis
of Assisi been endowed with the gift of prophetic vision to
see this gross degeneracy of his followers, more than ever
would he have felt the soundness of his intuition which made
him set his face like flint against the acquisition of any
property by his order. His beloved fair Lady of Poverty would
have seemed to him more beautiful than ever. He would have
been horrified with the knowledge of the cruel rapacity of
monks bearing his name, who, nevertheless, grossly oppressed
the Philippine peasantry in rents and taxes,—the very poor
whom St. Francis founded his order to serve.

"Perhaps the most deep-seated cause of Filipino insurrection

against Spanish authority was this unchecked growth of
ignorant, cruel, and oppressive ecclesiasticism. It was this
which weighed most heavily upon the people. It made the mere
question of gaining a livelihood difficult, but especially did
it strangle intellectual and moral growth. It not only
oppressed the Filipinos, but it overawed and dominated the
Spanish authorities. It was the power of the mendicant orders
which drove out the just Condé de Caspe, and later the
well-disposed and clement Blanco, which stimulated and
supported the frightful atrocities of the cruel Polavieja
during the revolution of 1896. Archbishop Nozaleda, a Spanish
monk of the Dominican order, was a leader in urging wholesale
and often wholly unjustifiable arrests, which were succeeded
by the torture and execution of hundreds of persons. It is
difficult for a mind reared in the freedom and culture of
modern Europe, or still freer America, to realize the horrible
excesses and actual mediæval cruelties which were committed in
the prisons of Manila and elsewhere in the islands upon Filipino
insurgents, or those accused of being in league with them,
during the revolution of 1896. The actual story of these
things as it is unfolded, not only from Filipino sources, but
from the Spanish archives of Manila, is like a scene evoked
 from the long-buried and forgotten past in the middle ages.
Indeed, the only intelligible interpretation of events which
cast shame on the name of Spanish authority and Spanish
Christianity is found by reflecting that affairs in the
Philippines, just previous to the battle of Manila, were
controlled by ideas and forces which existed generally in
Europe previous to the Reformation,—ideas which slowly
retreated before the dawn of the new learning and the
liberation of the individual conscience."

H. Welsh,
The Other Man's Country,
chapter 1 (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company).

{397}

In the other view there is an appeal to results which cannot

easily be divested of force. They are set forth in the
following:

"The ideals of civilization for the Spanish missionary priests

in the Philippines were substantially the same as those of
Bacon and Raleigh, of the founders of New England and the
founders of New York. In the mind of all, a civilized people
was one which lived under settled laws by steady labor, which
was more or less acquainted with the material progress made
amongst the races of Europe, and, as all would say, which was
Christian. The Spanish friars undertook the task of giving
such a civilization to the Malays of the Philippines, and no
other body of men of any race or any faith have accomplished
what they have done. A task of somewhat similar kind has been
attempted by others in our own day in the name of Christian
civilization but not the Catholic Church. Hawaii has been
under control of missionaries from New England for
seventy-five years more completely than the Philippines were
ever under that of the Spanish friars. The native kings
adopted the new creed and enforced its adoption on their
subjects by vigorous corporal punishments. The missionaries
were abundantly supplied with such resources of civilization
as money could buy, and they have grown wealthy on their
mission; but what has been the fate of the natives? They have
dwindled in numbers to a fourth of what they were when Messrs.
Bingham and Thurston entered their islands, their lands have
been taken by strangers, their government overthrown by brute
force, and the scanty remnant has dropped the religion imposed
on them. In the Philippines in a hundred and forty years a
million of Catholic natives has grown seven fold. In Hawaii
under missioners of the world's manufacture a hundred and
forty thousand of the same race has shrunk to thirty-eight
thousand. Have the promises of the Spanish friars or those of
the American ministers been the most truthfully kept? The
actual condition of the Catholic population formed by the work
of the religious orders should not be judged by the excesses
which have marked the present revolution. Many old Christian
nations have gone through similar experiences. It would be as
unreasonable to judge the Christianity of France by the Reign
of Terror as to condemn the Filipino population for the
atrocities sanctioned by Aguinaldo. The mass of the country
population has taken no part in these deeds of blood which are
the work of a small number of political adventurers and
aspirants for office by any means. Until lately revolutionary
disturbance was unknown in the Philippines. During three
centuries there was only one serious Indian rebellion, that of
Silan, in the province of Illocos, at the time of the English
invasion. The Spanish military force was always too small to
hold the islands had there been any real disaffection to the
Government. The whole force at Manila in the present war, as
given by General Otis, was only fifty-six hundred, and about
as many more represented the entire Spanish force among a
population of seven millions.

"The disposition of the Catholic Filipinos is essentially law

abiding. One of the friars lately driven from the islands by
the revolution assured the writer that in Panay, an island
with a population of half a million, a murder did not occur
more often than once or twice in a year. In our own country
last year the proportion was more than fifty times as great.
There is no forced labor as in the Dutch Indian colonies to
compel the native Filipinos to work, yet they support
themselves in content without any of the famines so common in
India under the boasted rule of civilized England. A sure
evidence of material prosperity is the growth of the
population, and of its religion a fair test is the proportion
of Catholic marriages, baptisms and religious interments to
the whole number. The proportion of marriages in 1806 to the
population among the natives administered by the friars was
one to every hundred and twenty, which is higher than England,
Germany, or any European country. The number of baptisms
exceeded the deaths by more than two and a half per cent, a
greater proportion than in our own land. Compare this with
Hawaii and one feels what a farce is the promise of increased
prosperity held out by the American Press as the result of the
expulsion of the Spanish friars. It is not easy to compare
accurately the intellectual development of the Catholic
Filipinos with American or European standards. The ideals of
civilization of the Catholic missioners were different from
those popular with English statesmen and their American
admirers. The friars did not believe that the accumulation of
wealth was the end of civilization, but the support of a large
population in fair comfort. There are no trusts and few
millionaires in the islands, but their population is six times
greater than that of California after fifty years of American
government. The test so often applied of reading and writing
among the population finds the Filipinos fairly up to the
standard of Europe at least. Of highly educated men the
proportion is not so large as in Europe, but it is not
inconsiderable, and neither in science nor in literature are
the descendants of the Malay pirates unrepresented in their
remote islands. The native languages have developed no
important literature of their own, but they have a fair supply
of translations from Spanish works in history, poetry, and
 philosophy. In that they are superior to the Hindoo of British
India, though spoken by nearly a hundred millions. These are
facts that throw a strange light on the real meaning of
civilization as planted by the Spanish friars among a
barbarian race. Compare them with the fate of the Indian races
on our own territory and say what benefit the Filipinos may
expect from the advent of 'Anglo-Saxon' civilization."

Bryan J. Clinch
(American Catholic Quarterly Review,
volume 24, page 15).

These opposing views are suggestive of the seriousness of the

problem which the subject offers to the new authority in the
Philippines. The American Commission now studying such
problems in those islands has presented its first views
concerning the Spanish friars in a lengthy report, written by
Judge Taft, and transmitted to Washington as part of the
general report of the Commission, bearing date November 30,
1900. The passages quoted below contain what is most essential
in the interesting document:

"Ordinarily, the Government of the United States and its

servants have little or no concern with religious societies or
corporations and their members. With us, the Church is so
completely separated from the State that it is difficult to
imagine cases in which the policy of a Church in the selection
of its ministers and the assignment of them to duty can be
regarded as of political moment, or as a proper subject of
comment in the report of a public officer.
{398}
In the pacification of the Philippines by our Government,
however, it is impossible to ignore the very great part which
such a question plays. Excepting the Moros, who are Moslems,
and the wild tribes, who are pagans, the Philippine people
belong to the Roman Catholic Church. The total number of
Catholic souls shown by the Church registry in 1898 was
6,559,998. To care for these in that year there were in the
archipelago 746 regular parishes, 105 mission parishes and 116
missions, or 967 in all. Of the regular parishes all save 150
were administered by Spanish monks of the Dominican,
Augustinian, or Franciscan orders. Natives were not admitted
to these orders. There were two kinds of Augustinians in these
islands, the shod and the unshod. The latter are called
Recolletos, and are merely an offshoot from the original order
of St. Augustine.

"By the revolutions of 1896 and 1898 against Spain, all the
Dominicans, Augustinians, Recolletos, and Franciscans acting
as parish priests were driven from their parishes to take
refuge in Manila. Forty were killed and 403 were imprisoned,
and were not all released until by the advance of the American
troops it became impossible for the insurgents to retain them.
Of the 1,124 who were in the islands in 1896, only 472 remain.
The remainder were either killed or died, returned to Spain,
or went to China or South America. There were also in the
islands engaged in missions and missionary parishes, 42
Jesuits, 16 Capuchins, and six Benedictines, and while many of
these left their missions because of disturbed conditions they
do not seem to have been assaulted or imprisoned for any
length of time. In addition to the members of the monastic
orders, there were 150 native secular clergymen in charge of
small parishes who were not disturbed. There were also many
native priests in the larger parishes who assisted the friar
curates and they have remained, and they have been and are
acting as parish priests. The burning political question,
discussion of which strongly agitates the people of the
Philippines, is whether the members of the four great orders
of St. Dominic, St. Augustine, St. Francis, and the Recolletos
shall return to the parishes from which they were driven by
the revolution. Colloquially the term 'friars' includes the
members of these four orders. The Jesuits, Capuchins,
Benedictines, and the Paulists, of whom there are a few
teachers here, have done only mission work or teaching, and
have not aroused the hostility existing against the four large
orders to which we are now about to refer. …

"The truth is that the whole government of Spain in these

islands rested on the friars. To use the expression of the
Provincial of the Augustinians, the friars were 'the pedestal,
or foundation, of the sovereignty of Spain in these islands,'
which being removed, 'the whole structure would topple over.'
… Once settled in a parish, a priest usually continued there
until superannuation. He was, therefore, a constant political
factor for a generation. The same was true of the Archbishop
and the bishops. The civil and military officers of Spain in
the island were here for not longer than four years, and more
often for a less period. The friars, priests, and bishops,
therefore, constituted a solid, powerful, permanent, well
organized political force in the islands which dominated
policies. The stay of those officers who attempted to pursue a
course at variance with that deemed wise by the orders was
invariably shortened by monastic influence. Of the four great
orders, one, the Franciscans, is not permitted to own
property, except convents and schools. This is not true of the
other three. They own some valuable business property in
Manila, and have large amounts of money to lend. But the chief
property of these orders is in agricultural land. The total
amount owned by the three orders in the Philippines is
approximately 403,000 acres. Of this 121,000 acres is in the
Province of Cavité alone. The whole is distributed as follows:
Cavité, Province of Luzon, 121,747 acres; Laguna, Province of
Luzon, 62,172 acres; Manila, Province of Luzon, 50,145;
Bulacan, Province of Luzon, 39,341; Morong, Province of Luzon,
4,940; Bataan, Province of Luzon, 1,000; Cagayan, Province of
Luzon, 49,400; Island of Cebu, 16,413; Island of Mindoro,
58,455. Total, 403,713. …

"It cannot admit of contradiction that the autocratic power

which each friar curate exercised over the people and civil
officials of his parish gave them a most plausible ground for
belief that nothing of injustice, of cruelty, of oppression,
of narrowing restraint of liberty, was imposed on them for
which the friar was not entirely responsible. His sacerdotal
functions were not in their eyes the important ones, except as
they enabled him to clinch and make more complete his civil
and political control. The revolutions against Spain's
sovereignty began as movements against the friars. … Having in
view these circumstances, the statement of the bishops and friars
that the mass of the people in these islands, except only a
few of the leading men of each town and the native clergy, are
friendly to them cannot be accepted as accurate. All the evidence
derived from every source but the friars themselves shows
clearly that the feeling of hatred for the friars is well nigh
universal and permeates all classes. In the provinces of
Cavité, Laguna, and Bulacan, as well as in the country
districts of Manila, the political feeling against the friars
has in it also an element of agrarianism. For generations the
friars have been lords of these immense manors, upon which,
since 1880, they have paid no taxes, while every 'hombre'
living on them paid his cedula, worked out a road tax, and, if
he were in business of any kind, paid his industrial impost. …

"In the light of these considerations it is not wonderful that

the people should regard the return of the friars to their
parishes as a return to the conditions existing before the
revolution. The common people are utterly unable to appreciate
that under the sovereignty of the United States the position
of the friar as curate would be different from that under
Spain. This is not a religious question, though it concerns
the selection of religious ministers for religious
communities. The Philippine people love the Catholic Church. …
The depth of their feeling against the friars may be measured
by the fact that it exists against those who until two years
ago administered the sacraments of the Church upon which they
feel so great dependence and for which they have so profound a
respect. The feeling against the friars is solely political.
The people would gladly receive as ministers of the Roman
 Catholic religion any save those who are to them the
embodiment of all in the Spanish rule that was hateful.
{399}
If the friars return to their parishes, though only under the
same police protection which the American Government is bound
to extend to any other Spanish subjects in these islands, the
people will regard it as the act of that Government. They have
so long been used to have every phase of their conduct regulated
by governmental order that the coming again of the friars will
be accepted as an executive order to them to receive the
friars as curates with their old, all-absorbing functions. It
is likely to have the same effect on them that the return of
General Weyler under an American Commission as Governor of
Cuba would have had on the people of that island.

"Those who are charged with the duty of pacifying these

islands may therefore properly have the liveliest concern in a
matter which, though on its surface only ecclesiastical, is,
in the most important phase of it, political, and fraught with
the most critical consequences to the peace and good order of
the country, in which it is their duty to set up civil
government. … It is suggested that the friars, if they
returned, would uphold American sovereignty and be efficient
instruments in securing peace and good order, whereas the
native priests who now fill the parishes are, many of them,
active insurgent agents or in strong sympathy with the cause.
It is probably true that a considerable number of the Filipino
priests are hostile to American sovereignty, largely because
they fear that the Catholic Church will deem it necessary, on
the restoration of complete peace, to bring back the friars or
to elevate the moral tone of the priesthood by introducing
priests from America or elsewhere. But it is certain that the
enmity among the people against the American Government caused
by the return of the friars would far outweigh the advantage
of efforts to secure and preserve the allegiance of the people
to American Sovereignty which might be made by priests who are
still subjects of a monarchy with which the American
Government has been lately at war, and who have not the
slightest sympathy with the political principles of civil
liberty which the American Government represents.

"We have set forth the facts upon this important issue because
we do not think they ought to be or can be ignored. We
earnestly hope that those who control the policy of the
Catholic Church in these islands with the same sagacity and
prevision which characterize all its important policies, will
see that it would be most unfortunate for the Philippine
Islands, for the Catholic Church and for the American
Government to attempt to send back the friars, and that some
other solution of the difficulties should be found. … The
friars have large property interests in these islands which
the United States Government is bound by treaty obligations
and by the law of its being to protect. It is natural and
proper that the friars should feel a desire to remain where so
much of their treasure is. … It would avoid some very
troublesome agrarian disturbances between the friars and their
quondam tenants if the Insular Government could buy these
large haciendas of the friars, and sell them out in small
holdings to the present tenants, who, forgiven for the rent
due during the two years of war, would recognize the title of
the Government without demur, and gladly accept an
opportunity, by payment of the price in small instalments, to
become absolute owners of that which they and their ancestors
have so long cultivated. With the many other calls upon the
insular treasury a large financial operation like this could
probably not be conducted to a successful issue without the
aid of the United States Government, either by a direct loan
or by a guaranty of bonds to be issued for the purpose. The
bonds or loans could be met gradually from the revenues of the
islands, while the proceeds of the land, which would sell
readily, could be used to constitute a school fund. This
object, if declared, would make the plan most popular, because
the desire for education by the Filipinos of all tribes is
very strong, and gives encouraging promise of the future
 mental development of a now uneducated and ignorant people.
The provincials of the orders were understood in their
evidence to intimate a willingness on the part of the orders
to sell their agricultural holdings if a satisfactory price
should be paid. What such a price would be we are unable
without further investigation to state. If an agreement could
not be reached it is probable, though upon this we express no
definite opinion, that there would be ground in the
circumstances for a resort to condemnation proceedings."

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901.

Act of the United States Congress increasing army and
authorizing the enlistment of native troops.
Rejection of the proviso of Senator Hoar.

See (in this volume)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901 (February-March).

Congressional grant of military, civil and judicial
powers for the government of the Islands to persons whom the
President may appoint.
The so-called "Spooner Amendment."

During the first session of the 56th Congress the following

bill was introduced in the U. S. Senate by Mr. Spooner, of
Wisconsin, but received no action:

"Be it enacted, etc., That when all insurrection against the

sovereignty and authority of the United States in the
Philippine Islands, acquired from Spain by the treaty
concluded at Paris on the 10th day of December, 1898, shall
have been completely suppressed by the military and naval
forces of the United States, all military, civil, and judicial
powers necessary to govern the said islands shall, until
otherwise provided by Congress, be vested in such person and
 persons, and shall be exercised in such manner as the
President of the United States shall direct for maintaining
and protecting the inhabitants of said islands in the free
enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion."

Half the following session of Congress passed before any

disposition to take the action proposed by Senator Spooner was
shown. Then the matter was brought to notice and pressed by
the following communication to the Secretary of War, from the
Commission in the Philippines:

"If you approve, ask transmission to proper Senators and

Representatives of following: Passage of Spooner bill at
present session greatly needed to secure best result from
improving conditions. Until its passage no purely central
civil government can be established, no public franchises of
any kind granted, and no substantial investment of private
capital in internal improvements possible." This was repeated
soon afterwards more urgently by cable in the message
following:

{400}

"Sale of public lands and allowance of mining claims

impossible until Spooner bill. Hundreds of American miners on
ground awaiting law to perfect claims. More coming. Good
element in pacification. Urgently recommend amendment Spooner
bill so that its operation be not postponed until complete
suppression of all insurrection, but only until in President's
judgment civil government may be safely established."

The request of the Philippine Commission, endorsed by the

Secretary of War, was communicated to Congress by the
President, who said in doing so: "I earnestly recommend
legislation under which the government of the islands may have
authority to assist in their peaceful industrial development."
Thereupon the subject was taken up in Congress, not as
formulated in Senator Spooner's bill of the previous session,
but in the form of an amendment to the Army Appropriation
Bill, then pending in the Senate. The amendment, as submitted
to discussion in the Senate on the 25th of February, 1901, was
in the following terms:

"All military, civil, and judicial powers necessary to govern

the Philippine Islands, acquired from Spain by the treaties
concluded at Paris on the 10th day of December, 1898, and at
Washington on the 7th day of November, 1900, shall, until
otherwise provided by Congress, be vested in such person and
persons and shall be exercised in such manner as the President
of the United States shall direct, for the establishment of
civil government and for maintaining and protecting the
inhabitants of said islands in the free enjoyment of their
liberty, property, and religion: Provided, That all franchises
granted under the authority hereof shall contain a reservation
of the right to alter, amend, or repeal the same. Until a
permanent government shall have been established in said
archipelago full reports shall be made to Congress, on or
before the first day of each regular session, of all
legislative acts and proceedings of the temporary government
instituted under the provisions hereof, and full reports of
the acts and doings of said government and as to the condition
of the archipelago and its people shall be made to the
President, including all information which may be useful to
the Congress in providing for a more permanent government."

Strenuous opposition was made, firstly to the hasty grafting

of so profoundly important a measure of legislation on an
appropriation bill, and secondly to the measure itself, as
being a delegation of powers to the President which did
violence to the Constitution and to all the precedents and
principles of the American government, and also as having
objects which would not only do flagrant wrong to the people
of the Philippine Islands, but bring dishonor on those of the
United States. The military authority already exercised by the