Serial verbs and minimal markers

Abstract This article examines minimal markers, a previously under-recognised type of linking element found in multi-verb constructions (MVCs). Minimal markers are phonologically small, semantically light, and restricted to verb–verb environments, yet they occur in constructions that otherwise display the defining properties of monoclausal predicate integration. Because most definitions of serial verb constructions (SVCs) exclude overt linking morphology, such markers have typically been treated as problematic or as grounds for excluding a construction from serial verb status. Drawing on a convenience sample of languages in which minimal markers have been identified, this study demonstrates that they occur in diverse genealogical settings and participate in systematic patterns of language-internal and cross-linguistic variation. Their diachronic behaviour suggests pathways of reduction from more overt coordinators or medial-verb forms, while their synchronic distribution shows that overt morphology is not a reliable diagnostic for clause boundaries. Recognising minimal markers as a distinct phenomenon clarifies the structural landscape of MVCs, challenges rigid typological criteria based solely on the presence or absence of linkers, and motivates a more gradient model of predicate integration. The findings have implications for the typology of serialisation, for analyses of complex predicates, and for the design of future comparative surveys.