scholarly journals Small clause results revisited

2001 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 127-152
Author(s):  
Jaume Mateu
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Resultative Constructions ◽  
Parametric Variation ◽  
Configurational Theory ◽  
Motion Constructions

The main purpose of this paper is to show that argument structure constructions like complex telic path of motion constructions (John walked to the store) or complex resultative constructions (The dog barked the chickens awake) are not to be regarded as "theoretical entities" (Jackendoff (1997b); Goldberg (1995)). As an alternative to these semanticocentric accounts, I argue that their epiphenomenal status can be shown iff we take into account some important insights from three syntactically-oriented works: (i) Hoekstra's (1988, 1992) analysis of S<mall>C<lause> R<esults>, (ii) Hale & Keyser's (1993f.) configurational theory of argument structure, and (iii) Mateu & Rigau’s (1999; i.p.) syntactic account of Talmy's (1991) typological distinction between 'satellite framed languages' (e.g., English, German, Dutch, etc.) and 'verb-framed languages' (e.g., Catalan, Spanish, French, etc.). In particular, it is argued that the formation of the abovementioned constructions involves a conflation process of two different syntactic argument structures, this process being carried out via a 'generalized transformation'. Accordingly, the so-called 'lexical subordination process' (Levin & Rapoport (1988)) is argued to involve a syntactic operation, rather than a semantic one. Due to our assuming that the parametric variation involved in the constructions under study cannot be explained in purely semantic terms (Mateu & Rigau (1999)), Talmy's (1991) typological distinction is argued to be better stated in lexical syntactic terms.  

scholarly journals A formação de construções resultativas no português brasileiro

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Núbia Rech
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Resultative Constructions ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Causative Alternation ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Motion Constructions ◽  
Secondary Predicates ◽  
Germanic Languages

This paper aims mainly at investigating if there is the formation of resultative constructions with simple adjective in Brazilian Portuguese, since researchers disagree on the existence of these constructions in Romance Languages. To start this discussion, first I make a distinction between resultative, depictive and circumstantial constructions. Then, I relate some of their main characteristics, testing how they appear in sentences written in Brazilian Portuguese. Afterwards, I propose an extension of Folli and Ramchand (2001)’s analysis on the Portuguese. These authors use a structure of verb phrase that consists of three different projections, each one consisting in a subpart of the event: Cause, Process and Result. My hypothesis about the Brazilian Portuguese is that the verbs of causative alternation – as they imply change of state – are the head of Result projection and have as their complement an adjective small clause (SC), whose predicate indicates the telic aspect of event, forming a resultative construction. Following this perspective of analysis, I study the possibility of formation of adjective resultatives with atelic and telic verbs that admit causative alternation. I also approach – although briefly – other types of constructions that express results, whose secondary predicates are, respectively, a complex adjective phrase, a PP or a DP. In this paper, only the constructions resulting from verbal actions are considered. Thus, goal of motion constructions – in which prepositions indicate the following of movement and its ending – and resultative constructions with causative verbs are not considered. The results show that there are not resultative constructions in the Brazilian Portuguese equivalent to those found in Germanic Languages, in which an atelic verb becomes a telic verb by adding a resultative secondary predicate to the sentence.

scholarly journals Towards a Hierarchy of Resultative Constructions: Theoretical and Empirical Issues

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Sánchez Calderón
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Resultative Constructions ◽  
Syntactic Status ◽  
Syntactic Properties

This paper investigates how linguistic theory can account for the acquisition of the so-called English resultative constructions. It examines the syntactic dichotomies that X-Bar theory poses in their argument structure and puts forward several proposals that give answer to Chomsky’s hypothesis (1981). In particular, it focuses on the ternary branching analysis and the small clause approach. Taking into account the syntactic properties of the resultative phrase (RP), a taxonomy of resultative constructions is displayed (based on Goldberg and Jackendoff, 2004) in order to test how the syntactic status of the RP is acquired by monolingual English children. As confirmed by the empirical data, the degree of syntactic complexity of the RP correlates with the age of acquisition of resultative constructions.Keywords: resultative phrase, monolingual acquisition, X-Bar Theory, secondary predicate, CHILDES, small clause.

Depictive Secondary Predicates and Small Clause Approaches to Argument Structure

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bruening
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Result State ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Adverbial Modification ◽  
Resultative Construction ◽  
Verb Particle Constructions ◽  
Motion Constructions ◽  
Small Clauses ◽  
Secondary Predicates

Some syntactic approaches to argument structure posit small clause constituents to represent what they take to be the semantics of the constructions being analyzed. For example, this approach would analyze a resultative construction like Martha hammered the metal flat as containing a small clause [the metal flat]. In the small clause analysis, the NP the metal is only an argument of the result state denoted by the small clause, and its referent is not part of the causal hammering event. Depictive secondary predicates show that this analysis is incorrect; the NP referent must be part of the verbal causing event. I show this for several constructions that have been analyzed as small clauses: resultatives, caused-motion constructions, verb-particle constructions, and double object constructions, among others. I also revisit arguments that have been presented in favor of small clause analyses (e.g., the argument from adverbial modification) and show that they do not actually favor small clause analyses. Domains of anaphora, in contrast, converge with depictives as a reliable diagnostic for small clauses, as actual small clauses always constitute opaque domains for anaphora.

scholarly journals A new resultative construction in Spanish? A reply to Rodríguez Arrizabalaga

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 517-546
Author(s):  
Alessandro Bigolin ◽  
Josep Ausensi
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Resultative Constructions ◽  
Constructivist View ◽  
Resultative Construction ◽  
Recent Claim

Abstract We respond to Rodríguez Arrizabalaga’s recent claim that Spanish shows genuine cases of strong resultative constructions, e.g. Juan apuñaló a Tomás hasta la muerte ‘John stabbed Tom to death’, argued to be equivalent to the English construction with the PP to death. This claim is theoretically relevant as it challenges the verb-framed behavior of Spanish with respect to Talmy’s typology. Adopting a constructivist view of argument structure, we argue that Spanish hasta la muerte and English to death constructions of this type involve two completely distinct syntactic configurations, and that only the English to death PP can be regarded as a resultative phrase. We claim that the Spanish hasta PP is syntactically computed as an adjunct external to the argument structure of the predicate and provides a boundary to the predicate it merges with. We thus show that the Spanish construction with hasta la muerte fully conforms to the class of Talmy’s verb-framed languages in that this type of construction is expected to be fully available and productive in this class of languages.

The partitive construction in Mandarin Chinese

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Jin
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Parametric Variation ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Syntactic Derivation

This paper investigates the semantic and syntactic properties of [N(oun)+de+Q(uantifier)] in Mandarin Chinese. Based on a comparison with the quantitive construction [Q+N], the paper advocates that [N+de+Q] is the Chinese partitive construction. Adopting a clausal approach to the syntactic derivation of partitives, it is hypothesized that Chinese partitives are formed via applying Predicate Inversion to a small clause that features a BELONG-type possession relationship. The difference between Chinese partitives and English-type partitives in terms of the surface word order is a result of a parametric variation with respect to whether the remnant of Predication Inversion undergoes further raising or not.

The issue of specifying slots in argument structure constructions in terms of form and meaning

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Herbst ◽  
Peter Uhrig
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Formal Specifications ◽  
Motion Constructions

Abstract In Construction Grammar theory, constructions are generally described as form-meaning pairings. It will be argued here that the formal specifications of some abstract constructions are so vague that the notion of form needs to be discussed rather critically. We aim to demonstrate how, in the English predicative and intransitive-motion constructions, the slots of more general constructions can be seen as being specified indirectly through sets of mini-constructions.

Of travels and travails: The role of semantic typology, argument structure constructions, and language contact in semantic change

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-94
Author(s):  
Judith Huber
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
Motion Constructions ◽  
Semantic Typology

Abstract This paper is an investigation into the role of argument structure constructions as catalysts or blockers of lexical semantic change. It presents a case study of the divergent semantic development of French travailler ‘work’ and English travel ‘journey’ from their shared earlier meaning ‘labour, toil’. This divergence is shown to not be random: It can be explained as a product of the different intransitive motion constructions (IMCs) and different communicative habits in these two languages. Consequently, the development of travailler ‘journey’ in the Anglo-Norman dialect of French can be understood as the result of contact influence of Middle English. By pointing to similar instances in which verbs meaning ‘labour, toil’ have acquired a polysemous ‘motion’ sense in languages with an IMC that can coerce non-motion verbs into contextual motion readings, the paper argues that this is most probably a regular semantic trajectory in satellite-framing, manner-conflating languages.

Satellite-framed Latin vs. verb-framed Romance: A syntactic approach

Probus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Acedo-Matellán ◽  
Jaume Mateu
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Intermediate Stage ◽  
The Other ◽  
Directed Motion ◽  
Structure And Morphology ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Locative Alternation ◽  
Syntactic Approach ◽  
Motion Constructions ◽  
The One

Abstract In this paper we are interested in the relation between two facts accompanying the diachronic change from Latin to Romance within the domain of the morphological and argument-structural properties of the predicates expressing change. On the one hand, the element encoding the transition itself, which we call the Path, and the verb are realised as two distinct morphemes in Latin, but as one and the same morpheme in the daughter languages: in Talmy's (2000) terms, the former is a satellite-framed language and the latter are verb-framed languages. On the other hand, there is a whole range of argument-structural patterns which are found in Latin but not in Romance: unselected object contructions, complex directed motion constructions, productive locative alternation, etc. We show, within a syntactic view of argument structure and morphology, that both facts are intimately related. Furthermore, we provide data from Old Catalan showing an intermediate stage between the Latin satellite-framed system and the Romance verb-framed system.

scholarly journals Resultatives, goal PPs, and postverbal subjects: From Scotland to Belfast

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
ANDREW WEIR
Keyword(s):  
Standard English ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Resultative Constructions ◽  
Functional Head ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Unaccusative Verbs ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Small Clauses

This paper investigates postverbal imperative subjects (e.g., get you to school), ungrammatical in standard English but grammatical in certain contexts in dialects of Scottish and Belfast English. Henry (1995) reports that unaccusative verbs generally allow postverbal subjects in Belfast English, but in the Scottish English (ScotE) dialect considered here, only a very restricted subset of verbs allow it. Moreover, in ScotE, the preposition away can appear without an overt verb (I’ll away to my bed); this also allows a postverbal subject in imperatives (away you to school). The ScotE data cast doubt on Henry’s (1995) proposal that the licensor of postverbal subjects is weak agreement. The paper argues that the subjects in these constructions are actually external arguments of small clauses (of which goal PPs are taken to be a subset following, e.g., Beck & Snyder 2001). The differences between dialects are located in the structure of resultatives; Belfast English allows Case to be assigned to the subject of small clauses in resultative constructions via a functional head endowed with a causation feature, allowing them to remain in situ in imperatives. In standard English, the causation feature is directly merged onto the verb, not allowing for Case assignment and forcing raising of the subject of the small clause. The ScotE data is argued to arise from the availability of a very ‘light’ verb which is realized as get in some contexts and as silence in others.

Effects of verb–construction association on second language constructional generalizations in production and comprehension

2020 ◽  
pp. 026765832093262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Chang Sung ◽  
Hyunwoo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Association Strength ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Resultative Constructions ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
L2 Learners

How strongly a verb is associated with a construction plays a crucial role in the learning of argument structure constructions. We examined the effect of verb–construction association strength on second language (L2) constructional generalization by analysing L2 learners’ production and comprehension of two complex constructions (i.e. ditransitive and resultative), comparable in constructional complexity and input frequency but distinctive in verb–construction association. Using a learner corpus study, we found greater verbal usage variability in the production of ditransitive rather than resultative constructions. The results of an acceptability judgment task indicated that L2 learners accepted the ditransitive sentences regardless of whether they contained high-frequency or low-frequency verbs, but learners were more likely to accept the resultative sentences when they read high-frequency rather than low-frequency verbs. These findings suggest that verb–construction association affects the learning of argument structure constructions, supporting its contribution to the constructional generalization.

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