In linguistics, volition is a concept that distinguishes whether the subject, or agent of a particular sentence intended an action or not. Simply, it is the intentional or unintentional nature of an action. Volition concerns the idea of control and for the purposes outside of psychology and cognitive science, is considered the same as intention in linguistics. Volition can then be expressed in a given language using a variety of possible methods. These sentence forms usually indicate that a given action has been done intentionally, or willingly. There are various ways of marking volition cross-linguistically. When using verbs of volition in English, like "want" or "prefer", these verbs are not expressly marked. Other languages handle this with affixes, while others have complex structural consequences of volitional or non-volitional encoding.
Linguistic approaches to volition The way a particular language expresses volition, or control, in a sentence is not universal. Neither is any given linguist's approach to volition. Linguists may take a primarily semantic or primarily syntactic approach to understanding volition. Still others use a combination of semantics and syntax to approach the problem of volition.
The semantic approach A semantic approach to a given problem is motivated by the notion that an utterance is composed of many semantic units (compositionality). Each of these units plays a role in the overall meaning of an utterance. The effect of this is such that when a semantic unit is changed or removed, the meaning of the utterance will differ in some way. A semantic approach to volition disregards any structural consequences (this is handled by the syntactic approach) and focuses primarily on speaker-meaning, and what the listener understands. For example, when a language uses affixation to encode volition (the addition of a semantic unit), such as in the Sesotho language, it is possible to analyze the volitional component while overlooking the structural changes. Such an analysis would simply test the meaning difference with or without the volitional (verbal) affix (the semantic unit in question), as understood by the listener.
The syntactic approach The hallmark of a syntactic approach to any problem is that it acknowledges various levels of structure. A syntactic approach to analyzing volition focuses primarily on structural change, and does not rely on either speaker meaning or the information understood by the listener in order to explain the phenomena. In his analysis of the Squamish language, Peter Jacobs examines how transitive predicates are marked differently according to the degree of control an agent has over an event. Jacobs argues that the relationship between a predicate and its semantic interpretation is determined by syntax. Under this analysis, the difference between control and limited control predicates lies in the syntactic position of object agreement, with control predicates being associated with VP, and limited control predicates associated with a functional projection of aspect (which Jacobs refers to as FP-delimit). As limited control predicates are associated with aspect, a telic (completion) reading is obtained. In these constructions, the speaker conveys that the agent managed to complete something despite a lack of control, or accidentally did something due to a lack of control. With control predicates, the object agreement is associated with the VP, so a non-telic reading is obtained. In this case, the speaker conveys that an action was initiated, and as the actor exercised control over the situation, the action was expected to be completed as a natural course of events. Whether or not the action was actually completed is not specified. Unlike semantic approaches, this and others based on syntax focus on the relationship between elements within the sentence structure hierarchy to explain differences in meaning.
The mixed approach Simply put, the mixed approach is a combination of a syntactic and semantic approach. Neither is disregarded, and both are incorporated into the analysis. Such an approach can be found in the linguistic analysis of languages like Sinhala (see section 2.4). When analyzing volition in this language, linguists look at the semantics through the use of verbal morphology, changes in the words rather than the grammatical structures, in distinguishing between volitional and non-volitional events. In looking at the syntax, linguists analyze the use of case marking, which distinguishes between volitional and non-volitional agents of an event. When both these aspects of the language are analyzed simultaneously, a linguist is using a mixed approach. This is sometimes referred to as the syntax-semantics interface.
Ways of marking volition Languages use a variety of strategies to encode the presence or absence of volition. Some languages may use specific affixes on syntactic categories to denote whether the agent intends an action or not. This may, in turn, also affect the syntactic structure of a sentence in the sense that a particular verb may only select a volitional agent. Others, like English, do not have an explicit method of marking lexical categories for volition or non-volition.
Adverbs Even though some verbs in English may seem like they can only be done intentionally, there are ways to alter the way they are understood. When English speakers want to be clear about whether an action was done intentionally or not, adverbs such as “intentionally”, or “accidentally” are included in the sentence. Examples are shown below.
Sentences in English cannot express both volitionality and non-volitionality for one action. This is indicated by the following semantically ill-formed sentence using both kinds of adverbs:
Note: Modern English seems to allow use of the "accidentally on purpose" construction to convey two separate volitional meanings. I kicked her doll accidentally on purpose would be +volitional to the listener but carries too, the implied request that the action be reported as -volitional to the indirect object.
Transitivity
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