Posture verbs in locative and existential predication across three Australian languages

In this chapter, we examine the role of posture verbs in locative and existential predication in three Australian Aboriginal languages: Kukatja (Western Desert, Pama-Nyungan), Kune (a variety of Bininj Kunwok; Gunwinyguan), and Wik-Mungkan (Paman, Pama-Nyungan). We detail the semantic range of each posture verb and consider the extent to which individual posture verbs are recruited in more grammaticalised roles. Posture verbs exist alongside verbless predicational strategies in all three languages and the frequency of their use differs across the three languages in notable ways depending on the animacy of the figure referent. We utilise standardised elicitation tasks to quantify observed variation in posture verb use and find that in each language, different posture verbs show differing degrees of grammaticalisation.