scholarly journals Bulgarian Spatial Prefixes and Event Structure

Nordlyd ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Pantcheva
Keyword(s):  
Vector Space ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Event Decomposition ◽  
Syntactic Behavior ◽  
Path Structure ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Verbal Meaning

In this paper, I explore the combination possibilities of Bulgarian directional prefixes with various motion verbs. Adopting Ramchand’s (in press) event decomposition, Zwarts’ (2005) vector space semantics for directional prepositions, and drawing on various discussions regarding the manner component in the verbal meaning, I propose an analysis that captures the distribution of Goal and Source prefixes. I show how this proposal accounts for the change in the syntactic behavior of prefixed motion verbs compared to their unprefixed counterparts. The proposal also explains the syntactic properties exhibited by verbs when prefixed by different prefixes. I offer a unified treatment of path structure and event structure and suggest that directional prepositions and directional prefixes are semantically identical and originate in the extended PP. The differences between them are due to the syntactic structure in which they participate.

scholarly journals A Cartographic Analysis of the Syntactic Structure of Mandarin Ba

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-154
Author(s):  
Yangyu Sun
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Decomposition Method ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Head Position ◽  
Final Word ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Functional Head ◽  
Syntactic Representation ◽  
Event Decomposition ◽  
Syntactic Properties

Abstract This paper analyzes the syntactic properties of the “ba-construction” or “disposal form” in Mandarin Chinese under new theoretical frameworks. By introducing the event-decomposition method proposed by Ramchand (2008), it argues that the ba-construction conveys the causativity and the resultativity of the event at the same time, which can be shown from the syntactic representation. Then, this paper tests the position of ba, assuming that it is a functional head, and the result of the test indicates that ba is a voice head in the hierarchy of functional projections proposed by Cinque (1999, 2006). The final word order of a ba-construction can be derived by the argument movement of the direct object and by a head movement of ba or by the merge of ba at the head position of the higher functional head of a split VoiceP.

scholarly journals Enriching VALLEX with Light Verbs: From Theory to Data and Back Again

2018 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-56
Author(s):  
Václava Kettnerová ◽  
Markéta Lopatková ◽  
Eduard Bejček ◽  
Petra Barančíková
Keyword(s):  
Formal Model ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Data Annotation ◽  
Light Verbs ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Linguistic Annotation ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Syntactic Behavior ◽  
Syntactic Properties

Abstract This paper summarizes results of a theoretical analysis of syntactic behavior of Czech light verb constructions and their verification in the linguistic annotation of a large amount of these constructions. The concept of LVCs is based on the observation that nouns denoting actions, states, or properties have a strong tendency to select semantically underspecified verbs, which leads to a specific rearrangement of valency complementations of both nouns and verbs in the syntactic structure. On the basis of the description of deep and surface syntactic properties of LVCs, a formal model of their lexicographic representation is proposed here. In addition, the resulting data annotation, capturing almost 1,500 LVCs, is described in detail. This annotation has been integrated in a new version of the VALLEX lexicon, release 3.5.

The Role of the Lexicon in the Syntax–Semantics Interface

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-87
Author(s):  
Stephen Wechsler
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Partial Synthesis ◽  
Paradigmatic Structure

Evidence from the study of verbal argument alternations suggests that the syntactic structure of an event-denoting clause often reflects the structure of the event it denotes, in the sense that parts of the clause refer to aspects of the event. The patterns of such mappings between clause structure and event structure tend to be crosslinguistically uniform. Proffered explanations for these phenomena fall into two distinct theoretical currents. Lexicalists explain these phenomena in terms of the inherent paradigmatic structure of the lexicon, which leads verbs with similar meanings to have similar valence structures. Constructionists see these phenomena as evidence that the syntax itself conveys meaning that composes with the meaning contributed by the verb. The roots of this theoretical split are traced to differing perspectives on polysemy, and a partial synthesis of the two perspectives is proposed.

Conciliating States and Locations: Towards a More Comprehensive and In- Depth Account of the Spanish Copula Estar

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma. Eugenia Mangialavori
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Integrative Analysis ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Selectional Restrictions ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Spatial Domains ◽  
Structural Analogy ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Copular Clauses

AbstractThe case of estar may reveal how different proposals of study have failed to grasp grammatically relevant semantic features shared by its occurrences. The results of this study indicate that an integrative analysis of estar clauses would account not only for the consistent lexical properties observed - comprising (a)analogous lexical-syntactic structure predicting possible copular complements, (b)analogous selectional restrictions and (c)interpretative effects -, but also for the complementary distribution of two aspectually nontrivial verbal alternations (ser / estar and estar / haber). Our proposal lays on the standard syntactic structure of copular clauses - assumed to embrace locative clauses, against what traditional Spanish grammar suggests - in combination with (i) the structural analogy between estar’s alternative complements (APs and PPs) and (ii) the understanding of states as abstract spatial domains (be at). Thus, the eventual differences between clauses like ‘estoy triste’ and ‘estoy en casa’ could be accounted for by virtue of the semantic / syntactic properties of the lexical head selected.

scholarly journals Verbal prefixes in Russian: Conceptual structure versus syntax

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
INNA K. TOLSKAYA
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Object A ◽  
Verbal Prefixes ◽  
Verbs Of Motion ◽  
Directional Motion ◽  
Motion Verb ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Structure Versus ◽  
Conceptual Meaning

At first glance, the variety of possible denotations of a given prefix in Russian might appear a chaotic set of idiomatic meanings, e.g. the prefix za- may refer to the beginning of an action, movement to a position behind an object, a brief deviation from a path, or completion of an action. I propose a unified analysis of Russian prefixes, where the differences in meaning are claimed to arise from different syntactic positions, while the lexical entry of a prefix remains the same. The main focus is on the verbs of motion due to the consistent duality displayed by the prefix meanings when added to directional and non-directional motion verbs. It turns out that prefixes modify path when added onto a directional motion verb and refer to movement in time with non-directional motion verbs. This semantic distinction corresponds to distinct sets of syntactic properties, characteristic of the lexical and superlexical prefixes. Furthermore, a tripartite division emerges in each set of prefixes, corresponding to goal, source and route of motion (TO, FROM, VIA, respectively) for lexical prefixes and to beginning, completion and duration for superlexical prefixes. This leads to the suggestion that the same prefix with a consistent conceptual meaning, shared with the corresponding preposition receives part of its denotation from its position in the syntactic representation. The separation of conceptual meaning from the structural meaning allows the polysemy to arise from position, rather than from arbitrary homophony. Thus, conceptual structure is unified with syntax.

scholarly journals syntax of small clause predication

2001 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 153-170
Author(s):  
Joan Rafel
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Semantic Value ◽  
Syntactic Behavior

In this paper I put forward and justify a syntactic configuration that I call Complex Small Clause-structure. I show that this single syntactic structure can explain both the semantic value and the syntactic behavior of a range of constructions that up to now have been explored separately and, hence, proposed divergent analyses among them.  

scholarly journals Verbos de movimento do português brasileiro: evidências contra uma tipologia binária / Brazilian Portuguese motion verbs: evidence against a two-way typology

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 1101
Author(s):  
Letícia Lucinda Meirelles
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Linguistic Typology ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Path Direction ◽  
Syntactic Constraints ◽  
Syntactic Behavior ◽  
Semantic Properties

Resumo: Neste artigo, analisamos os verbos de movimento do português brasileiro em relação à tipologia linguística binária proposta por Talmy (1985, 2000). Focamos no comportamento sintático dos verbos com o intuito de mostrar que o português brasileiro não se caracteriza como uma língua emoldurada nos verbos (verb-framed language), como proposto pelo autor. Isso ocorre, pois, nessa língua, o sentido de trajetória é representado através de satélites, mesmo em verbos que lexicalizam o sentido de direção em sua raiz. Nós mostramos que o português brasileiro não apresenta um padrão tipológico definido, como tem sido proposto por diferentes autores para várias outras línguas. Concluímos que restrições sintáticas amplas, como a presença de sintagmas preposicionados, de adjuntos adverbiais e de orações subordinadas, determinam como nossa língua expressa as propriedades semânticas trajetória, direção e maneira em sentenças com verbos de movimento.Palavras-chave: português brasileiro; verbos de movimento; tipologia linguística.Abstract: This paper brings an analysis about Brazilian Portuguese motion verbs in relation to the binary linguistic typology proposed by Talmy (1985, 2000). It focuses on the syntactic behavior of those verbs in order to show that Brazilian Portuguese is not a verb-framed language, as proposed by the author. That occurs because in Brazilian Portuguese the meaning of path is expressed by satellites, even in verbs that lexicalize the meaning of direction in their roots. We show that Brazilian Portuguese does not present a definite typological pattern, as has been shown by different authors for several other languages. The conclusion is that broad syntactic constraints, such as the presence of prepositional phrases, adverbial adjuncts and subordinate clauses, determine how Brazilian Portuguese expresses the semantic properties path, direction and manner in sentences with motion verbs.Keywords: Brazilian Portuguese; motion verbs; linguistic typology.

scholarly journals Predicate and Objective Syntaxeme in the Semantic and Syntactic Structure of a Sentence in Modern Greek

2020 ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
T. V. Liubchenko
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Variable Valence ◽  
Morphological Form ◽  
Modern Greek ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Semantic Types ◽  
Syntactic Behavior

The relevance of the proposed study arose from the necessity to define the correlation between the morphologic and syntactic categories of the verb; disclose the functional characteristics of this part of speech that defines the structure of the sentence, the implementation of word formation intentions of the word and construction of the text as an integral unit of the communicative syntax. The article observes the major types of predicates, existing in Modern Greek. The author has coined the lexical content, morphological arrangement as well as the syntactic behavior of objective syntaxemes. At the semantic and syntactic level, the objective syntaxemes hold the position of right-sided strongly controlled member of the sentence. Prototype objective syntaxeme is the causative with a categorical seme expressing motivation of occurrence of the signs of substances. In Modern Greek, causative verbs are represented by the verbs of one lexeme; the verbs of different lexemes; the verbs created using word-formation instruments. Causatives represented by the verbs of one lexeme are interpreted by author as verbs with the variable valence. Verbs with the variable valence include those in which the morphological form itself creates the transitive and intransitive constructions without changing its voice affiliation Word-formation transformative of verbs with the variable valence is represented by the adjective-based and noun-derived verbs. This description enables the preparation of the functional grammar of Modern Greek, which is an urgent task of Modern hellinistic. In common language sense, the interpretation of the study results is important to identify the correlation between the semantic and syntactic structure of the sentence, to determine the semantic types of predicates and to classify the objective syntaxemes.

The Event Bush Method in the Light of Typed Graphs Illustrated by Common Sense Reasoning

2018 ◽  
pp. 320-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uwe Wolter ◽  
Olga Korableva ◽  
Nikita Solovyov
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Knowledge Engineering ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Directed Graphs ◽  
Mathematical Foundation ◽  
Efficient Tool ◽  
Common Sense Reasoning ◽  
Syntactic Properties

The event bush method being an efficient tool for representation and engineering of dynamic knowledge still lacks a strict mathematical foundation. Many of the syntactic properties of event bushes, however, seem compliant with directed graphs and can be described by typed graphs (i.e., by homomorphisms between directed graphs). This chapter explores an opportunity to formalize the syntactic structure of event bushes by means of typed graphs and shows useful implications of this approach for knowledge engineering and representation.

Conditions on prominent internal possessors in Turkish

2019 ◽  
pp. 163-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asli Göksel ◽  
Balkiz Öztürk
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Matrix Subject ◽  
Psych Verb

This chapter investigates the syntactic properties of the prominent possessor constructions in Turkish. Possessors of possessive phrases become prominent only in a set of well-defined constructions, namely, from within an adverbial clause, typically containing a body part idiom. These idioms have the structure NP-POSS V, where N is a noun of inalienable possession, V is an unaccusative verb, and the idiom itself is paraphraseable as a psych-verb. The chapter analyses the syntactic structure of these idioms and proposes that the subject position in the adverbial clause is occupied by PRO. PRO is in the c-command domain of the matrix subject and is the locus of the experiencer of the unaccusative verb. The possessor is coindexed with this experiencer via its morphosyntactic features.

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