Verb-verb complexes in Avar

This chapter discusses syntactic V-V complexes involving a semantically main verb in the nonfinite form (first verb) and a syntactically main verb (second verb) in Avar. Avar employs no morphological V-V complexes. Avar syntactic V-V complexes include periphrastic tense forms, V-V complexes whose tense is indicated by a first verb, and V-V complexes whose tense is denoted by a second verb. The third type of V-V complexes uses twenty-eight second verbs. Most of them are also used as lexical verbs. Twenty-three of these second verbs do not change the number of arguments of first verbs. They are mostly used to express aspectual or modal meaning. Some of them are only employed with a restricted number of first verbs. Some second verbs permit bi-absolutive constructions. There are two types of bi-absolutive constructions. Avar second verbs tend to immediately follow first verbs, but other word orders are possible.