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Event paths, conflation, argument structure, and VP shells[1].
- Source :
- Linguistics; 2004, Vol. 42 Issue 3, p523-571, 49p, 2 Diagrams, 1 Chart
- Publication Year :
- 2004
-
Abstract
- I discuss the semantics and syntax of a phenomenon often called "lexical subordination" and here called "conflation," in which a VP with a single verb expresses both an activity and a result predication, although only the former is licensed by the verb's permanent lexical entry. Alongside standard cases such as resultatives and particle verbs, I discuss what I call "event-path structures" in English and German. In these, an activity is argued to conflate with a predication expressing a (sometimes metaphoric) "path" of the activity. These little-known data challenge many argument-structure theories because the path expressions sometimes disallow the linking of the verb's normal object. They require a theory where the lexical verb does not contribute arguments in conflation structures, a conclusion motivated empirically. I present a theory of syntax -- semantics mapping which relies on VP shells with meaningful light verbs which constrain the interpretations of their specifiers and complements. Conflation is treated as compounding of a verb root to one of the light verbs. This accounts simply for the argument-structural patterns of resultatives and event-path structures. None of the argumentation appeals to operations at a lexical-semantic level between conceptual structure and syntax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- SEMANTICS
SYNTAX (Grammar)
LEXICAL grammar
ENGLISH language
GERMAN language
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00243949
- Volume :
- 42
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Linguistics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 13063364
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.2004.018