scholarly journals Time in probabilistic causation: direct vs. indirect uses of lexical causative verbs

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 107-124
Author(s):  
Fabienne Martin
Keyword(s):  
Ab Initio ◽  
Probabilistic Causation ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Adverbial Modification ◽  
Lexical Causative ◽  
Causative Verbs

It is traditionally assumed that lexical causative verbs (e.g. kill) express direct causationonly, while periphrastic (bi-clausal) causatives (e.g. cause to die) may also express indirectcausation. In favour of this constraint, Fodor famously observed that the (change of) state introducedby lexical causative verbs is not accessible for separate adverbial modification by temporal(or manner) adverbials. In this paper, I present old and new arguments against the direct causationconstraint under the definitions of directness of Fodor and Wolff. I then propose a new definitionof directness in terms of ab-initio causal sufficiency framed in Kvart’s probabilistic account ofsingular causation. I argue that directness so redefined is an implicature rather than an entailmentof lexical causative verbs, which enables me to account for old and new data. Furthermore, I accountfor why the constraint on separate modification by temporal adverbials can be relaxed witheventuality-denoting subjects.Keywords: lexical causative verbs, direct vs. indirect causation, causal sufficiency, probabilistictheories of causation, semantics/pragmatics interface.

scholarly journals A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Patient-Subject Constructions in Chinese

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-71
Author(s):  
Changsong Wang ◽  
Mingming Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Exact Nature ◽  
Light Verbs ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Adverbial Modification ◽  
Main Verb ◽  
The Right ◽  
Morphosyntactic Analysis ◽  
Morphological Merger ◽  
Right Order

AbstractThe exact nature and derivation of patient-subject constructions (PSC) in Chinese are still at dispute in literature. Based on the restriction of manner adverbial modification and the nonexistence of the manner reading of zenme ‘how’ observed in Chinese PSC, a morphosyntactic analysis has been provided. We argue that the seeming action verb V in PSC is not a real main verb, but a verbal root to be introduced into the derivation after syntax via external morphological merger. The real main verb of PSC in syntax is a covert light verb ∅BEC, which selects a nominal phrase (NP) as its specifier (Spec) and a resultative phrase (RP) as its complement. BECP is further selected by an aspect (Asp) head le. To satisfy the extended projection principle (EPP), the NP at [Spec, BECP] moves to the [Spec, TP] in syntax. After syntax, the resultative (R) head-moves to ∅BEC at the phonological form (PF) to satisfy the phonological requirement of ∅BEC, forming R-∅BEC; then, a bare verbal root merges with R-∅BEC at PF to denote the manner of the change of state. Due to the phonological requirement of le, V-R-∅BEC head-moves to le, producing the right order of PSC. The two elided forms of PSC can be derived similarly. This research suggests that covert light verbs and morphology may play an interactive role in the derivation of some “typical” constructions in Chinese.

Sublexical modality in defeasible causative verbs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabienne Martin ◽  
Florian Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Event Structures ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Modal Component ◽  
Intentional Agents ◽  
Causative Verbs

This chapter is dedicated to an ambiguity characteristic of what we call defeasible causative verbs (of which ‘teach’ is an example). With agentive subjects, the change of state (CoS) encoded by these verbs (e.g. a learning process) can be entirely denied, giving rise to what we call the “zero-CoS” non-culminating reading of these verbs. With causer subjects, however, the same verbs seem to entail the occurrence of (a part of) the CoS (including in imperfective sentences). We argue that this ambiguity cannot be handled by positing different event structures under the agentive and non-agentive uses. Under the analysis proposed, the semantics of these verbs involve a sublexical modal component à la Koenig and Davis (2001), both with agent and causer subjects. In favor of positing a sublexical modality with all types of subject, we investigate the conditions under which the zero-CoS reading is available even with a subset of inanimate subjects and “non-intentional” agents.

First-language-constrained variability in the second-language acquisition of argument-structure-changing morphology with causative verbs

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Morphological Expression ◽  
Causative Verbs

This article presents three related experiments on the acquisition of two classes of causative verbs: physical change of state verbs with agentive subjects (e.g., English break) and psychological change of state verbs with experiencer objects (e.g., English frighten) in English, Spanish and Turkish as second languages by speakers whose native languages are English, Spanish, Turkish and Japanese. These verbs participate in the causative/inchoative alternation crosslinguistically, but the morphological expression of the alternation varies in the four languages. English has predominantly zero-morphology, Spanish has anticausative morphology, and Turkish and Japanese both have causative and anticausative morphology. Assuming the tenets of the Full Transfer/Full Access Hypothesis (Schwartz and Sprouse, 1996), results of a picture judgement task testing transitive and intransitive sentences and manipulating overt/non-overt morphology on the verbs show that morphological errors in the three languages are constrained by the morphological patterns of the learners’ first language (L1s). In addition to showing that formal features of morphemes transfer but morphophonological matrices do not, this study refines the role of L1 influence in the morphological domain by showing that the morphophonological shape of affixes transfers as well.

Where Syntax and Semantics Meet: A Typological Investigation of Old Egyptian Causatives

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 183-213
Author(s):  
Silvia Štubňová
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Complement Clause ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Lexical Causative ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Peculiar Nature ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Comprehensive Study ◽  
Causative Verbs

The earliest stage of the ancient Egyptian language attested in writing, i.e., Old Egyptian, had two productive causative mechanisms that increase the valency of verbs: morphological (mono-clausal) and periphrastic (bi-clausal). The former is characterized by the prefix s-, while the latter employs the lexical causative verb rḏj ‘give’ followed by a complement clause. Despite the fact that both causative strategies have been known to scholars since the inception of the study of the ancient Egyptian language, any systematic or comprehensive study of Egyptian causative verbs is lacking. This paper thus aims to provide a new insight into the Old Egyptian morphological and periphrastic causatives by examining their syntactic as well as semantic properties. The results of this analysis show which types of verbs have a preference for which of the two causative strategies and demonstrate the semantic differences between the morphological and periphrastic causative types. Furthermore, this paper clarifies the peculiar nature of the morphological causatives of transitive verbs, whose valency does not increase. I suggest a possible solution to this issue that lies in the function of the n-prefix in Old Egyptian.

scholarly journals Aspect and Argument structure in adjectival passives

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo García-Pardo
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Theoretical Account ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Verbal Predicate ◽  
Adjectival Passives ◽  
Causative Verbs

This paper investigates the patterns regarding the (un)availability of by-phrases and agent-oriented modification in adjectival passives in Spanish. Departing from the observation that adjectival participles derived from change-of-state verbs ban agent-oriented modification but those derived from stative causative verbs allow it, I put forth a novel theoretical account that derives the restrictions solely from the Aktionsart of the underlying verbal predicate, syntactically modelled and independently motivated. I extend my proposal to German and Hebrew, which display a similar behavior, and propose a parametric account for languages like Greek that freely allow by-phrases and agent-oriented modification regardless of the Aktionsart of the underlying verbal predicate.

scholarly journals Explaining the link between agentivity and non-culminating causation

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabienne Martin
Keyword(s):  
Change Of State ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Causative Verbs

This paper offers an account for why, cross-linguistically, denying the whole change of state encoded by causative verbs is easier with agent than with causer subjects. It does so by extending Varasdi's theory of the progressive to non-culminating reading sof causative verbs, not only in progressive but also in perfective sentences. It additionally sustains two claims about the difference between agentive and nonagentive ongoing causation events: only the former (a) can in principle start before their potential effects start and (b) are systematically `indicative' of these potential effects.

Ab initio band theory approach to electron energy loss near edge structures

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 506-507
Author(s):  
Xudong Weng ◽  
O.F. Sankey ◽  
Peter Rez
Keyword(s):  
Ab Initio ◽  
Local Density ◽  
Interpolation Method ◽  
Atomic Orbital ◽  
Plane Waves ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Band Theory ◽  
Atomic Orbitals ◽  
Pseudopotential Calculations

Single electron band structure techniques have been applied successfully to the interpretation of the near edge structures of metals and other materials. Among various band theories, the linear combination of atomic orbital (LCAO) method is especially simple and interpretable. The commonly used empirical LCAO method is mainly an interpolation method, where the energies and wave functions of atomic orbitals are adjusted in order to fit experimental or more accurately determined electron states. To achieve better accuracy, the size of calculation has to be expanded, for example, to include excited states and more-distant-neighboring atoms. This tends to sacrifice the simplicity and interpretability of the method.In this paper. we adopt an ab initio scheme which incorporates the conceptual advantage of the LCAO method with the accuracy of ab initio pseudopotential calculations. The so called pscudo-atomic-orbitals (PAO's), computed from a free atom within the local-density approximation and the pseudopotential approximation, are used as the basis of expansion, replacing the usually very large set of plane waves in the conventional pseudopotential method. These PAO's however, do not consist of a rigorously complete set of orthonormal states.

An ab initio study of Se-reacted GaAs(0 0 1) surfaces

1998 ◽  
Vol 184-185 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 80-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Faschinger
Keyword(s):  
Ab Initio ◽  
Ab Initio Study
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