Give as a light verb

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-306
Author(s):  
Elena Martínez Caro ◽  
Jorge Arús-Hita
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
British English ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Pragmatic Variation ◽  
Semantic Properties

Abstract Light Verb Constructions (LVCs) have received widespread attention. Research on these constructions, however, has for the most part focused exclusively on their syntactic and lexical-semantic properties. Additionally, studies devoted to specific LVCs tend to neglect the phrasal-semantic and pragmatic variation brought about by the combination of a light verb with different nominal complements. This paper tries to fill those gaps by means of a quantitative and qualitative corpus-based study of Light give Constructions (LgiveCs). The quantitative analysis investigates frequencies of LgiveCs in British English and compares them across spoken and written (fiction) discourse, which reveals a high frequency of this construction in speech, especially in combinations of give with a ring, a kiss and an answer. When these combinations are excluded, LgiveCs are significantly more frequent in writing. In a complementary qualitative approach, we highlight the structural and discursive features of the construction and attempt to explore the factors that motivate the frequent use of the LgiveC in British English.

Processing light verb constructions

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Wittenberg ◽  
Maria Mercedes Piñango
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Processing Cost ◽  
Verb Constructions

Henry gave Elsa a kiss give kiss give a kiss We test two approaches to light verb constructions: (1) joint predication in light verb constructions is stored as pre-specified, and their high frequency predicts less processing cost. (2) Joint predication in light verb constructions is built in real-time. The entailed extra-syntactic composition predicts greater cost. Results from a cross-modal lexical decision task show delayed, higher reaction times for light verb constructions, supporting (2), which is consistent with a linguistic architecture that has partly autonomous lexico-semantic storage and processing.

scholarly journals Determining light verb constructions in contemporary British and Irish English

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Ronan ◽  
Gerold Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Light Verbs ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Quantitative Results

This study implements an automated parser-based approach to the investigation of light verb constructions. The database consisting of ICE-GB and ICE-IRE is used to obtain qualitative and quantitative results on the use of light verb structures. The study explains and evaluates the steps employed to optimize parser output in detecting open lists of light verb constructions. It discusses the qualitative usage differences of these structures in the data between the two varieties and finds that ICE-GB favours fewer high frequency light verbs while ICE-IRE contains more diverse lower frequency light verbs and more passives. Overall, counts of light verb constructions are considerably higher than previously assumed. The projected counts suggest that attestations of light verb constructions will increase considerably if the search is not restricted to certain high-frequency light verbs as is typically done in studies employing manual or semi-automatic approaches to data collection.

A Diachronic Analysis of Light Verb Constructions in Old Swedish

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-306
Author(s):  
John D. Sundquist
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Old Swedish ◽  
Diachronic Analysis

This study provides an empirical analysis of light verb constructions in Old Swedish. These constructions contain a semantically light verb, such as giva ‘give’ or göra ‘make’, that may be paired with an abstract nominal object, as in giva radh ‘give advice’ or giva hiälp ‘give help’. Using a corpus of nine Old Swedish texts written in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, I track the frequency of light verb constructions and analyze the range of transitive light verb + object pairings. I consider the effects of time, genre, and the type of modification to the nominal object in the quantitative analysis. The results contribute to ongoing discussions in crosslinguistic, diachronic research on the reasons for the increase in frequency of light verb constructions as well as the possibility that this construction exhibits characteristics of grammaticalization or lexicalization.

scholarly journals Paraphrasing of Japanese light-verb constructions based on lexical conceptual structure

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Fujita ◽  
Kentaro Furihata ◽  
Kentaro Inui ◽  
Yuji Matsumoto ◽  
Koichi Takeuchi
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Lexical Conceptual Structure ◽  
Verb Constructions

Reciprocity in Czech Light Verb Constructions: The Dependency Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Václava Kettnerová ◽  
Markéta Lopatková
Keyword(s):  
Structure Formation ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Complex Mapping

Abstract In this paper, we draw attention to reciprocity in Czech light verb constructions – a language phenomenon, which has not been discussed yet. Reciprocity is contributed to light verb constructions by predictive nouns, as they are the nouns that represent the semantic core of these constructions. Here we focus on reciprocal light verb constructions derived by the syntactic operation of reciprocalization. We show that the complex mapping of semantic participants onto valency complementations, characteristic of reciprocalization, is reflected in reciprocal light verb constructions in the same way as in reciprocal nominal constructions. The main difference between reciprocal nominal constructions and reciprocal light verb constructions lies in the morphosyntactic expression of reciprocalized participants. We demonstrate that surface syntactic changes in reciprocal light verb constructions are regular enough to be described on the rule basis: the rule based generation of reciprocal light verb constructions requires a cooperation of two sets of rules – rules for deep and surface syntactic structure formation of light verb constructions and rules for capturing reciprocity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document