scholarly journals A Minimalistic Approach to English Middle Constructions

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (null) ◽  
pp. 81-107
Author(s):  
Jinhee Suh ◽  
김영미
Keyword(s):  
Middle Constructions

Middle constructions in Romanian

2018 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 1154-1176
Author(s):  
Alice Bodoc ◽  
Mihaela Gheorghe
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Implicit Argument ◽  
Adverbial Modification ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Formal Properties ◽  
Middle Constructions ◽  
Heterogeneous Class

Abstract The present paper aims to present an inventory of Romanian middle contructions (se‑verbal constructions), and to extend the analysis to other structures (with or without se) that were not previously investigated, but exhibit the same characteristics, and seem to allow middle reading (adjunct middles). Since Jespersen (1927), middles were attested cross-linguistically, and the focus on middles is justified if we consider the fact that this is an interesting testing ground for theories of syntax, semantics and their interaction (Fagan 1992). Starting from Grahek’s definition (2008, 44), in this paper, middles are a heterogeneous class of constructions that share formal properties of both active and passive structures: on the one hand, they have active verb forms, but, on the other hand, like passives, they have understood subjects and normally display promoted objects. The corpus analysis will focus on the particular contexts in which the middle reading is triggered: i) the adverbial modification; ii) the modal/procedural interpretation of the event; iii) the responsibility of the subject; iv) the arbitrary interpretation of the implicit argument which follows from the generic interpretation (Steinbach 2002).

Light and heavy reflexive marking

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 239-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreea S. Calude
Keyword(s):  
Current Paper ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Semantic Property ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Middle Domain ◽  
Cognitive Theories ◽  
The Common ◽  
Situation Types ◽  
Middle Constructions ◽  
Insight Into

In Romanian, the middle marker se is employed to encode five distinct situation types: reflexive, reciprocal, (medio-)passive, inchoative and impersonal. This work identifies the relationships among the different uses of the marker and puts forward explanations for them within a cognitive, functional framework. Following studies such as those by Faltz (1985), Haiman (1983), Haspelmath (2005), Kemmer (1993ab), Lakoff (1977), Manoliu-Manea (1994, 2000), Maldonado (1992, 1999), Manney (2000), and Yoshimura and Taylor (2004), the current paper gives a synchronic account of the Romanian Middle Domain, its organization and the relationships between the various middle constructions found inside it. Findings suggest that the semantic property of low elaboration of events (introduced by Kemmer, 1993ab) constitutes the common denominator among the different uses explored. This work provides an insight into Romanian itself, as well as a contribution to cognitive theories of human language and responds to the call for more data and further investigations of middles cross-linguistically (see Smith, 2004).

Middles and Reflexivity

1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Stroik
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
External Agent ◽  
Middle Constructions ◽  
Passive Verbs

This article investigates the argument structure of middle predicates. It argues that middle verbs syntactically project the entire argument grids of their active counterparts; however, middle verbs, like passive verbs, project the external (Agent) arguments of their active counterparts as adjuncts. These demoted Agent arguments can appear, in middle constructions, as the objects of for-PPs.

scholarly journals Estonian Middle Semantics with Evidence from Discourse

Nordlyd ◽  
10.7557/12.29 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virve-Anneli Vihman
Keyword(s):  
Middle Voice ◽  
Discourse Patterns ◽  
Discourse Pragmatics ◽  
Intransitive Verbs ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Middle Constructions

This paper presents arguments for recognizing a middle voice in Estonian. The claim that the semantics of middle-marked verbs differs in a substantial way from the semantics of other intransitive constructions leads to the examination of the discourse pragmatics of these constructions, and the relationship between discourse patterns and their valency and argument properties. Various topicality measures show that the argument participant in middle clauses lies between that of the sole participant (S) in intransitive clauses and the O of active transitive clauses. The results regarding the discourse behaviour of middle arguments constitute new evidence for the view that middle constructions differ from ordinary intransitive verbs, despite structural similarities, and mark a unique range on the scale of transitivity exhibited by verbs in Estonian.

Middle Constructions in Dutch and English

1993 ◽  
pp. 183-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teun Hoekstra ◽  
Ian Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Middle Constructions

scholarly journals An Overview of the Studies on the Generation of Typical Middle Construction

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohua Zhai
Keyword(s):  
Future Study ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Middle Constructions

This paper mainly takes an overview of previous studies on the generation of middle constructions. First is the introduction of the research background of the generation of middle constructions. Then the author describes the main syntactic features of typical middle constructions, followed by an overview of previous studies on this construction It can be seen that each study has its advantages and disadvantages. Through this review, the author advise to study the middle construction from different aspects because of its complexity. Through this review, the author hopes to find some space for future study.

scholarly journals Grammatical encoding of agency in Asturian middle constructions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imanol Suárez-Palma
Keyword(s):  
Northern Spain ◽  
Grammatical Encoding ◽  
Romance Language ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Reflexive Pronoun ◽  
Unaccusative Verbs ◽  
Generic Agent ◽  
Linguistic Transfer ◽  
Middle Constructions

Middle-passive constructions in Asturian –a Romance language spoken in the diglossic region of Asturias, in northern Spain– appear to optionally allow the occurrence of the reflexive pronoun se in them; this has been traditionally considered a pleonastic use of the reflexive due to the influence of Spanish, i.e. the dominant language in the territory (ALLA 2001). Here, I show that the presence of such pronoun is neither aspectual nor stylistic; instead, I argue that this clitic spells out a passivized Voice head encoding the participation of an implicit generic agent/experiencer in the event, i.e. a generic passive construction. The non-pronominal variant, on the contrary, is only possible with unaccusative verbs or those undergoing the causative alternation, i.e. in inchoative configurations, which can be generic. Evidence for this claim is that only the pronominal counterpart can control into a purpose clause but does not license the insertion of the PP por sí mesmu (‘by itself’), and vice versa. Additionally, these structures can host an additional dative argument which can only be interpreted as an unintentional causer of the event in absence of the reflexive, therefore supporting Suárez-Palma’s (2020) claim that there exists a mutual incompatibility between Voice and a high applicative head –both different realizations of i* (Wood & Marantz 2017)–, which compete for the position above the verbalizing head in generic passives. Finally, cases of linguistic transfer between Asturian and Asturian Spanish are discussed.

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