Varying functions of the comitative preposition ábə̀ in Gavar

Abstract The purposes of this study are to investigate and describe the varying functions of the comitative preposition ábə̀ with Throughout this paper the preposition ábə̀ will be glossed in small caps with in order to reflect the fact that its meaning has extended beyond ‘with’ to a variety of other grammatical functions. in Gavar, compare these functions with cross-linguistic observations and propose an explanation for their diachronic development. This particle has a wide variety of functions. Firstly, it is used as a preposition marking phrases with a wide range of semantic roles. Secondly, its use has extended to Noun Phrase coordination, a common occurrence cross-linguistically. Its clause linking functions include its use as a temporal/sequential marker and elaboration. Of special interest to typologists is its predicative/complementizer use. This function is not observed in nearby languages and appears to be unusual cross-linguistically. Informed by previous research on the behavior of the comitative/instrumental preposition with cross-linguistically, general grammaticalization principles and an analysis of the semantic links between the different functions based on shared semantic features, a semantic map/network is provided showing the possible paths of development for the various functions of ábə̀ with in Gavar.