On the Origin of the Categories of Voice and Aspect

In two recent studies I have attempted to show (a) how such ubiquitous grammatical categories as gender, number, case, person, and the parts of speech are interrelated and have given rise to new categories by mutual superimposition1; (b) that the aspects of the IndoEuropean verb go back to three older verb classes, namely (I) verbs which express a physical or mental state like sleep, thrive, hate, (II) verbs designating a transition from one state into another: awaken, die, and (III) verbs indicating an action proper, i.e., an action caused by the volition of the subject: run, seize, give2. It is the purpose of this paper to form a connecting link between these studies by showing that the three original IE verb classes are inextricably bound up with the category of voice or diathesis, which in turn has its origin in the distinction of the nominal and verbal phrase. In many African and American languages3 a 'verbal phrase' can be recognized as such grammatically only if it contains an object. The object can be expressed by a double pronominal affix of the verb as in Nahuatl ti-nets-itta 'you-me-see'4, or by a compound of the type noun