scholarly journals Event structure and argument realization in English zero-derived nominals with particles

Nordlyd ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-51
Author(s):  
Gianina Iordachioaia
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Functional Structure ◽  
Seminal Work ◽  
Argument Realization

This paper is concerned with the morphosyntax of deverbal zero-derived nominals (e.g., to climb > a climb), which have received much less attention in the literature than suffix-based nominals (cf. the climb-ing, the examin-ation, the assign-ment). In the generative literature, in particular, after Grimshaw’s (1990) seminal work on suffix-based nominals and their possibility to inherit verbal event and argument structure, zero-derived nouns have been claimed to lack such properties: e.g., in syntax-based models of word formation, which take argument realization in deverbal nouns to indicate the inheritance of functional structure from the base verb, they have been analyzed as derived not from a verb but from an uncategorized root, as implemented in Borer (2013). Following Rappaport-Hovav and Levin’s (1998) theory of event structure and argument realization, I investigate zero-derived nouns built from verbs with preposed and postposed particles and show that they may realize argument structure on their event readings, which can only come about from the event structure of their base verbs.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Artemis Alexiadou ◽  
Hagit Borer
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Simple Event ◽  
Multiple Accounts ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Deverbal Nominals

The introduction to this book reviews detail the major claims put forth in RoN in 1970, and in particular, the claim that complex words, with deverbal nominals being the case at point, represent a formation that is neither predictable nor productive, and are hence lexically listed. This claim goes hand in hand, in RoN, with the claim that whatever similarities do hold between the deverbal nominal such as destruction and the verb destroy emerge from the existence of a category neutral listed form, DESTROY, which has a consistent subcategorization frame (an object in this case), which is realized identically in the syntax, in accordance with the X’-theory, and where the form DESTROY itself inherits its category from its categorial insertion context (N, V etc.). Since 1970, a rich body of studies has emerged which investigated the properties of lexical formations such as destruction and their relationship with the verb destroy, giving rise to multiple accounts of the emergence of complex words, as well as to the emergence of distinct argument structure combination in the context of nominalizations in particular, and word formation in general. Particularly influential was Grimshaw’s (1990) work, which introduced a typologically sound distinction between nominalizations with event structure (Complex Event Nominals, or Argument Structure Nominals) and nominals which lack event structure, and which may be result nominals or referential nominals or Simple Event Nominals, i.e. nouns which denote an event, but which do not have an event structure in the verbal sense (e.g. trip). More recently there has been the questioning of the partition between word formation and syntactic constituent building altogether, starting with Marantz (1997), and continuing with influential work by many of the contributors to this volume. This volume brings together a sample of contemporary approaches to nominalization, based on the historical record, but also branching into new grounds, both in terms of their syntactic approaches, and in terms of the range of languages considered.<320>

Event Structure and Complex Predicates in Persian

2001 ◽  
Vol 46 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Megerdoomian
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Complex Predicates ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Complex Predicate ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
Verbal Construction ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThis article investigates the syntactic and semantic properties of complex predicates in Persian in order to isolate the individual contributions of the verbal components. The event structure of causative alternation and unergative verbs is determined, based on a decomposition of the verbal construction into primitive syntactic elements consisting of lexical roots and functional heads, with the latter projecting all arguments of the verbal construction. An analysis is provided whereby the argument structure is not projected from the lexicon but is formed compositionally by the conjunction of the primitive components of the complex predicate in syntax. The dual behaviour of Persian complex predicates as lexical and syntactic elements, which has been attested in Persian literature on light verb constructions, follows naturally from the analysis proposed since there is no strict division between the level of word formation and the component manipulating phrasal constructs.

Niuean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Massam
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Noun Incorporation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Theta Role ◽  
Predicate Argument Structure

This book presents a detailed descriptive and theoretical examination of predicate-argument structure in Niuean, a Polynesian language within the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family, spoken mainly on the Pacific island of Niue and in New Zealand. Niuean has VSO word order and an ergative case-marking system, both of which raise questions for a subject-predicate view of sentence structure. Working within a broadly Minimalist framework, this volume develops an analysis in which syntactic arguments are not merged locally to their thematic sources, but instead are merged high, above an inverted extended predicate which serves syntactically as the Niuean verb, later undergoing movement into the left periphery of the clause. The thematically lowest argument merges as an absolutive inner subject, with higher arguments merging as applicatives. The proposal relates Niuean word order and ergativity to its isolating morphology, by equating the absence of inflection with the absence of IP in Niuean, which impacts many aspects of its grammar. As well as developing a novel analysis of clause and argument structure, word order, ergative case, and theta role assignment, the volume argues for an expanded understanding of subjecthood. Throughout the volume, many other topics are also treated, such as noun incorporation, word formation, the parallel internal structure of predicates and arguments, null arguments, displacement typology, the role of determiners, and the structure of the left periphery.

On the Event Structural Properties of the English Get-Passive

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-74
Author(s):  
Alison Biggs ◽  
David Embick
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Event Structures ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Responsible Party

An important ongoing discussion in theories of argument structure concerns the explanatory division of labor between thematic properties and event structure. In this context, the English get-passive provides an interesting test case. Much previous work has analyzed get-passives as differing thematically from be-passives. Yet many get-passive properties remain poorly understood. We present an analysis of the get-passive centered on the proposal that it contains additional event structure (realized as get) relative to its be counterpart. We employ by-adjuncts to identify the event structures in passive types, and demonstrate that the behavior of this and other diagnostics support the conclusion that get- and be-passives differ systematically in ways that accord with our analysis. Further discussion considers the prominent proposal from previous studies that get-passives differ thematically from be-passives in (sometimes) assigning an Agent role to their surface subjects. We show that there is no evidence for such an analysis. Instead, intuitions about the interpretation of the get-passive surface subject arise from how an event’s Responsible Party is identified: contrasts between get and be on this dimension are a consequence of event structural differences between the two. The overall result is a unified analysis of the get-passive, one that has implications for the role of event structure in understanding the syntax and interpretation of arguments.

Changes in the argument and event structure of psych verbs in the history of Spanish

2019 ◽  
pp. 249-270
Author(s):  
Montserrat Batllori ◽  
Elisabeth Gibert-Sotelo ◽  
Isabel Pujol
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Psych Verbs ◽  
History Of

This chapter offers a detailed study of changes affecting the argument structure of Spanish psych verbs that appear with a dative experiencer (EXP). After proposing a three-way classification of these verbs based on their etymological origin, the chapter traces two parallel, but interconnected, diachronic paths: the first one involves the development from transitive (or pronominal) to unaccusative constructions with a dative EXP, whereas the second one concerns the evolution from dynamic to stative events. The use and decrease of the passive in Classical Spanish is also shown to play a role in this change: to wit, passive and unaccusative structures with a dative EXP are structurally similar, as the prepositional agent phrase and the dative EXP originate in the same position.

Morphology and Argument Alternations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malka Rappaport Hovav
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Causative Alternation ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Argument Realization ◽  
Morphologically Rich Languages ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Morphological Patterns

Theories of argument realization typically associate verbs with an argument structure and provide algorithms for the mapping of argument structure to morphosyntactic realization. A major challenge to such theories comes from the fact that most verbs have more than one option for argument realization. Sometimes a particular range of realization options for a verb is systematic in that it is consistently available to a relatively well-defined class of verbs; it is then considered to be one of a set of recognized argument alternations. Often—but not always—these argument alternations are associated morphological marking. An examination of cross-linguistic patterns of morphology associated with the causative alternation and the dative alternation reveals that the alternation is not directly encoded in the morphology. For both alternations, understanding the morphological patterns requires an understanding of the interaction between the semantics of the verb and the construction the verb is integrated into. Strikingly, similar interactions between the verb and the construction are found in languages that do not mark the alternations morphologically, and the patterns of morphological marking in morphologically rich languages can shed light on the appropriate analysis of the alternations in languages that do not mark the alternations morphologically.

Argument Structure and Morphology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Wood ◽  
Neil Myler
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Proper Treatment ◽  
Structure And Morphology ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The One ◽  
Theoretical Issues

The topic “argument structure and morphology” refers to the interaction between the number and nature of the arguments taken by a given predicate on the one hand, and the morphological makeup of that predicate on the other. This domain turns out to be crucial to the study of a number of theoretical issues, including the nature of thematic representations, the proper treatment of irregularity (both morphophonological and morphosemantic), and the very place of morphology in the architecture of the grammar. A recurring question within all existing theoretical approaches is whether word formation should be conceived of as split across two “places” in the grammar, or as taking place in only one.

Parallel Computation in Word Formation

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis López
Keyword(s):  
Parallel Computation ◽  
Parallel Computations ◽  
Event Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Testing Ground ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Morphology Model ◽  
The Way

Taking the Distributed Morphology model as a starting point, this article presents and develops the hypothesis that parallel computations drive some word formation processes. Along the way, some Distributed Morphology assumptions, particularly those concerning contextual allomorphy, are revised. It is argued that event structure is a syntactic head independent of the presence of a vP. Nominalizations in Spanish, which often exhibit verbal thematic vowels between the root and the nominalizing affix, turn out to be an ideal testing ground for theoretical hypotheses.

scholarly journals The causative–instrumental syncretism

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (04) ◽  
pp. 751-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
KYLE JERRO
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Causal Chain ◽  
Traditional View ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
General Constraints ◽  
Argument Realization ◽  
Semantic Notion ◽  
Verb Meaning ◽  
Insight Into

Causative and applicative morphemes have been central in work on the morphosyntax of argument structure. However, several genetically unrelated languages use a single, syncretic form for both functions, which complicates the traditional view that a causative adds a new subject and an applicative adds a new object. In this paper, I propose an analysis of a morphological syncretism found in the Bantu language Kinyarwanda where the morphological causative and instrumental applicative are both realized by the morpheme –ish. I argue for Kinyarwanda that both causation and the introduction of an instrument are analyzable as two outgrowths of the same semantic notion of introducing a new link into the causal chain described by the verb. The different causative and instrumental readings derive from underspecification of the position of the new link in the causal chain, although its placement is restricted via general constraints on possible event types as well as constraints on verb meaning and argument realization. This analysis provides an explanation for the presence of the causative–instrumental syncretism as well as provides insight into the interface between verb meaning and valency-changing morphology.

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