Change of state and valency

1992 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Labelle
Keyword(s):  
Subject Position ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
The Subject

The goal of this article is twofold. First, I explore the hypothesis that a number of regularities in the distribution of the two types of inchoative constructions with verbs of change of state in French, the superficially intransitive construction and the reflexive construction (illustrated in (1)–(3)), can be captured by an analysis whereby monovalent verbs of change of state may project the Patient argument to the subject or to the object position. When the Patient argument is projected to the subject position (as in (1a) and (3a)), the construction is unergative. When it is projected to the object position, the construction is unaccusative (as in (1b)–(3b)). Verbs of change of state in French diner as to whether they may enter an intransitive inchoative construction (1), a reflexive inchoative construction (2) or both (3).

Here's Looking at Me: Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of the Woman Artist*

1994 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary D. Garrard
Keyword(s):  
Women Artists ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Sofonisba Anguissola ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Art And Society

An Unusual Portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola has gained new prominence from its illustration in color in a recent publication. In her Women, Art, and Society (1990), Whitney Chadwick claims of the portrait in question, Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola (fig. 1), that in presenting herself in the guise of a portrait being painted by her teacher, Anguissola produced “the first historical example of the woman artist consciously collapsing the subject-object position.” Chadwick's succinct observation opens up the possibility of understanding the painting in a new way, for she points to the peculiar conflation of subject and object that uniquely befell women artists in the Renaissance and complicates their art, especially their self-portraits. From this starting point, I will here explore the form of self-presentation offered by Anguissola in the Siena portrait and several other works in the context of what was a fundamental problem for the Renaissance female artist: the differentiation of herself as artist (the subject position) from her self as trope and theme for the male artist (the object position).

scholarly journals The negation of cualquier NP

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Ana Clara Polakof
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Universal Quantifier ◽  
Alternative Semantics ◽  
Freedom Of Choice ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Original Proposal ◽  
Syntactic Approach ◽  
The Subject

Even though the interpretation of Free Choice Items such as any has been on debate for more than 50 years (Vendler, 1974, Dayal, 1998, Horn, 2000, etc.), it is relatively more recent in Spanish (Menéndez-Benito, 2005, Giannakidou and Quer, 2013, among others). Some have analyzed it as a universal quantifier, neither taking its free choiceness into account nor contexts which seem to be problematic for the universal account (see, for instance, Etxepare and Uribe-Etxebarria, 2011). In this article, we defend that cualquier is a universal indeterminate pronoun which involves freedom of choice (as in the original proposal by Vendler, 1974). We will take into account data (taken from https://www.corpusdelespanol.org/web-dial) which has not been properly considered. We will analyze the interaction of negation and cualquier in Rioplantese Spanish in the subject position of negative generic statements, in the object position in negative episodic statements, and in a non argumental position. We will combine an alternative semantics approach to the analysis of the FCI cualquier, inspired in Menéndez-Benito (2010) and Aloni (2019), with a syntactic approach to negation inspired in Etxepare and Uribe-Etxebarria (2011).  

scholarly journals Processing cataphors: Active antecedent search is persistent

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Giskes ◽  
Dave Kush
Keyword(s):  
Main Clause ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Argument Position ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Incremental Processing ◽  
Active Search ◽  
The Subject

AbstractCataphors precede their antecedents, so they cannot be fully interpreted until those antecedents are encountered. Some researchers propose that cataphors trigger an active search during incremental processing in which the parser predictively posits potential antecedents in upcoming syntactic positions (Kazanina et al., Journal of Memory and Language, 56[3], 384–409, 2007). One characteristic of active search is that it is persistent: If a prediction is disconfirmed in an earlier position, the parser should iteratively search later positions until the predicted element is found. Previous research has assumed, but not established, that antecedent search is persistent. In four experiments in English and Norwegian, we test this hypothesis. Two sentence completion experiments show a strong off-line preference for coreference between a fronted cataphor and the first available argument position (the main subject). When the main subject cannot be the antecedent, participants posit the antecedent in the next closest position: object position. Two self-paced reading studies demonstrate that comprehenders actively expect the antecedent of a fronted cataphor to appear in the main clause subject position, and then successively in object position if the subject does not match the cataphor in gender. Our results therefore support the claim that antecedent search is active and persistent.

Conjunctive agreement in Lamaholot

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
KUNIO NISHIYAMA
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Related Language ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Verbal Agreement

This paper presents a description and a theoretical analysis of agreement within coordination in Lamaholot (Austronesian), where the first conjunct agrees with the conjunction ‘and’. Conjunctive agreement is obligatory in the subject position but is optional in the object position. The analysis is couched in terms of markedness of case and proposes that the case of the subject (nominative) is unmarked compared to the case of the object (accusative), and that only unmarked case enables phi-features of the agreement control to be copied onto the agreement host. Apparent optionality is accounted for by manners of case spreading in coordination. Conjunctive agreement is also reported in the genetically unrelated but areally related language of Walman. Although conjunctive agreement originates in verbal agreement with the comitative function in both languages, it is shown that grammaticalization from the comitative to the conjunction is more advanced in Lamaholot, at least in terms of syntax and morphology.

On the intransitive usage of transitive verbs in Tooro, a Bantu language of Western Uganda

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeki Kaji
Keyword(s):  
Subject Position ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Western Uganda

AbstractIn some Bantu languages of western Uganda, we find an interesting construction in which typical transitive verbs such as “to cut (a tree),” “to bend (a wire),” “to smoke (meat),” “to tear (paper),” “to open (a door),” etc., are used intransitively, without any additional suffixes such as passive and neuter. I call this construction the syntactically intransitive construction of transitive verbs, and illustrate it with examples from Tooro, a Bantu language of western Uganda. However, two important restrictions apply regarding the use of this construction. One is that among transitive verbs, only those causing a change of state that take human agents and inanimate objects may be used intransitively, with inanimate objects being promoted to the subject position. The second restriction is that this construction may only be used with the perfective ending -

scholarly journals Marked Causative Structures of Chinese Verb-Resultative Construction

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxia Pan ◽  
Limin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Subject Position ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Resultative Constructions ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Complement 3 ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Resultative Construction ◽  
Causative Relation ◽  
Causative Structure ◽  
Resultative Complement

This paper aims to study the syntactic and semantic features of ‘marked VRC causative structures’, those special syntactic-semantic structures formed by verb-resultative constructions (VRCs) which violate both the Uniformity of Theta Assignment Hypothesis and the Thematic Hierarchy. Their syntactic and semantic features are defined as follows: 1) VRC has a causative relation within itself; 2) the argument in the object position is the causee and the only argument of the resultative complement; 3) the causer in the subject position is any conceptual component from the cause event other than the agent of the predicate verb. This paper then attempts to propose an extended account to expound how they are formed syntactically and semantically. On this account, a marked VRC causative structure is re-causativization of a VRC when the VRC is self-causative; it enables other conceptual components of the cause event than the agent to become the causer when a VRC is not self-causative. There are some constraints on what becomes the causer of a marked VRC causative structure.

scholarly journals Russian constructions with numerals and quantifiers: Their non-standard use in the subject and object position

Rhema ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 70-89
Author(s):  
Alexander В. Letuchiy
Keyword(s):  
Subject Position ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Verbal Agreement ◽  
Object Behavior

In the article, I describe cases of special behavior of Russian phrases with quantifiers like neskol’ko ‘some’, mnogo ‘many, much’ and small numerals like dva ‘two’. I show that they can occur in the subject position in contexts that usually do not contain a canonical DP/NP subject (constructions with the verb xvatat’ ‘be enough’, negation contexts with the verb byt’ ‘be’ and its habitual / iterative correlate byvat’), and for neskol’ko-like quantifiers, the direct object position with intransi- tive predicates like na-...-sja circumfixed verbs is also available. The reason of non- canonical subject behavior is the possibility to be subjects without controlling plural verbal agreement, while the non-canonical direct object behavior is possible because neskol’ko-like quantifiers lack the category of case.

How are Lexical-Semantic Differences Represented in L2 Syntax? A Study of the Unaccusative/Unergative Distinction in L2 Chinese

1996 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 201-215
Author(s):  
Boping Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Subject Position ◽  
External Argument ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Internal Argument ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Single Argument ◽  
Unaccusative Verbs ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Intransitive Verbs

It has been proposed that intransitive verbs can be divided into two subgroups, unaccusative verbs, such as break and arrive, and unergative verbs, such as laugh and swim. The former type has an internal argument, but no external one, whereas the latter type has an external argument but no internal one. Unaccusative verbs are verbs of change of state or location, while unergative verbs are a set of agentive monadic verbs including verbs of manner of motion. In English, the internal argument of the unaccusative verb has to move to subject position to be Case-marked. In Chinese, however, the internal argument can remain in object position and get inherent partitive Case as long as it is an indefinite NP. External arguments of unergative verbs in both English and Chinese are in preverbal position whether they are definite or indefinite. The study reported in this paper was aimed at finding out whether the lexical-semantic distinction between the unaccusative verb and the unergative verb could be properly represented in English-speaking learners' L2 syntax of Chinese and whether the learner would only allow the single argument of the unaccusative verb but disallow that of the unergative verb to be in object position. The results indicate that the unaccusative/unergative distinction is acquired very late by English-speaking learners, and that the acquisition does not proceed in a linear fashion.

scholarly journals The Illness Experience: Palliative Care Given the impossibility of Healing

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (spe) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarida Maria Florêncio Dantas ◽  
Maria Cristina Lopes de Almeida Amazonas
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Experience Of Illness ◽  
Therapeutic Possibilities

This paper presents a reflection about being terminally ill and the various ways that the subject has at its disposal to deal with this event. The objective is to understand the experience of palliation for patients undergoing no therapeutic possibilities of cure. The methodology of this study has the instruments to semi-structured interview, the participant observation and the field diary, and the Descriptive Analysis of Foucault’s inspiration how the narratives of the subjects were perceived. The Results of paper there was the possibility of looking at the experience of illness through the eyes of a subject position assumed by the very sick. As conclusion we have than when choosing palliative care, the terminally ill opts for a way to feel more comfortable and resists the impositions of the medical model of prolonging life.

Event spaces and the shaping of economic subjectivity: Inside the Social Enterprise World Forum

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 347-355
Author(s):  
Tom Baker ◽  
Ryan Jones ◽  
Michael Mann ◽  
Nick Lewis
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Affective Responses ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Global Conference

Drawing on observations at the 2017 Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) – a global conference held in Christchurch, New Zealand – this paper examines the significance of localised event spaces in shaping economic subjects and, by extension, economic sectors. Conferences such as the SEWF are sites and moments that provide access to new knowledge, foster collective action and shape the subjectivities of economic actors. We describe how the SEWF cultivated sympathetic affective responses towards social enterprise and the subject position of the social entrepreneur, and demonstrate how the local specificities of Christchurch, as a place, were key to the cultivation of social-entrepreneurial subjectivity at the SEWF.

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