Case, Argument Structure, and Word Order

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeru Miyagawa
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure

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.

scholarly journals Tunnekausatiivilauseen argumenttirakenne I

Virittäjä ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saara Huhmarniemi
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Generative Syntax ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Syntactic Theories

Tunnekausatiivilauseet luokitellaan usein omaksi lausetyypikseen, johon kuuluu tunnetta tai tuntemusta ilmaiseva verbi (tunnekausatiivi), partitiivisijainen kokija ja nominatiivimuotoinen aiheuttaja. Tunnekausatiivilauseen aiheuttaja- ja kokija-argumenttien asemaa syntaktisessa rakenteessa on pidetty avoimena kysymyksenä ja rakenteen on arvioitu jopa olevan muutoksessa. Tässä artikkelissa käydään generatiivisen kieliopin kehyksessä läpi argumentti-rakenteeseen liittyviä kieliopillisia testejä, jotka koskevat esimerkiksi kongruenssia, anaforien sidontaa ja sanajärjestystä. Testien perusteella voidaan havaita, että kun tunnekausatiivilauseen aiheuttaja on NP, se sijaitsee tyypillisesti argumenttirakenteessa ylempänä kuin partitiivimuotoinen kokija. Tätä tulosta verrataan Suomi24-korpusaineistosta tehtyihin havaintoihin, joiden perusteella kokija esiintyy useammin verbin edellä kuin aiheuttaja. Tunnekausatiivilauseen sanajärjestyksen vaihtelun katsotaan olevan sidoksissa puhetilanteeseen ja argumenttien ominaisuuksiin.  Tämä artikkeli on osa kahden artikkelin sarjaa. Sarjan toisessa osassa tarkastellaan lausemaisten aiheuttajien asemaa tunnekausatiivilauseen argumenttirakenteessa.   The argument structure of the Finnish experiencer construction I: An NP causer This article investigates the Finnish experiencer construction, which involves a psychological predicate and two optional arguments: the nominative causer and the partitive experiencer. The argument structure of the Finnish experiencer construction has ­remained an open question in syntactic theories. In this paper, several grammatical tests concerning congruence, binding and word order are applied in the framework of generative syntax. They suggest that when the nominative causer is an NP, it typically occupies a higher position in the argument structure than the partitive experiencer. This result is evaluated against data from the Suomi24 corpus, which reveals that the partitive experiencer occurs preverbally more frequently than the nominative causer. The article asserts that the word order of the Finnish experiencer construction reflects contextual factors and discourse features of the arguments. This article is the first in a series of two. The second article investigates experiencer constructions with an embedded clause as a causer argument.

An Experimental Study on the Effect of Argument Structure on VP Focus

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 89-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sun-Ah Jun ◽  
Hee-Sun Kim ◽  
Hyuck-Joon Lee ◽  
Jong-Bok Kim
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Argument Type ◽  
Focus Projection ◽  
Vp Focus

Abstract. It has been claimed that a focused word may project its focus to a syntactic constituent larger than the focused item, under what are known as Focus Projection principles (Selkirk 1995; Rochemont 1998). Engdahl and Vallduvi (1996) rejected this purely syntax-based approach and proposed considering the interactions between the grammatical function and the types of an argu-ment. Chung, Kim, and Sells (to appear) applied Engdahl and Valduvi's theory to Korean and claimed that in Korean only a theme argument, but not an oblique argument (1.O or Locative PP), can project its focus to the Verb Phrase. This paper examines how VP focus is realized in Korean and tests Chung et al.'s claim that the types and the order of arguments can affect the focus projec-tion (especially 'VP focus'). The results show that there is no sensitivity to argument type, word order, or the length of VP in projecting the domain of focus to VP in Korean. Regardless of these factors, VP focus was prosodically marked by boosting the prominence of all words inside the VP, with the VP-initial word being the most prominent. Our data suggest that focus projection rules can be eliminated as proposed in Buring (2003).

Rules and construction effects in learning the argument structure of verbs

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE DEMUTH ◽  
'MALILLO MACHOBANE ◽  
FRANCINA MOLOI
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Rule Learning ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Learning Problem ◽  
Order Restrictions ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Verb Semantics ◽  
Applicative Constructions

Theorists of language acquisition have long debated the means by which children learn the argument structure of verbs (e.g. Bowerman, 1974, 1990; Pinker, 1984, 1989; Tomasello, 1992). Central to this controversy has been the possible role of verb semantics, especially in learning which verbs undergo dative-shift alternation in languages like English. The learning problem is somewhat simplified in Bantu double object constructions, where all applicative verbs show the same order of postverbal objects. However, Bantu languages differ as to what that order is, some placing the benefactive argument first, and others placing the animate argument first. Learning the language-specific word-order restrictions on Bantu double object applicative constructions is therefore more akin to setting a parameter (cf. Hyams, 1986). This study examined 100 three- to eight-year-old children's knowledge of word order restrictions in Sesotho double object applicatives. Performance on forced choice elicited production tasks found that four-year-olds showed evidence of rule learning, although eight-year-olds had not yet attained adult levels of performance. Further investigation found lexical construction effects for three-year-olds. These findings suggest that learning the argument structure of verbs, even when lexical semantics is not involved, may be more sensitive to lexical construction effects than previously thought.

scholarly journals SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF THETA ROLES OF VERBS IN THE MAH MERI LANGUAGE

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Maisarah Maisarah ◽  
Kais Amir Kadhim ◽  
Zahid Ali Veesar
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Endangered Languages ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Thematic Relations ◽  
Theta Role

The Mah Meri language, one of the severely endangered languages of Malaysia, is facing the threat of extinction. In order to save valuable information of this language, this paper focuses on one of its aspects, the Theta Roles in relation to the verbs. Using Radford’s (1997 & 2009) theory of Theta Roles, this study analyzes and explores the verb phrase of Mah Meri. The main objective of this study is to establish the Theta Roles in relation to verbs in the Mah Meri language. In order to fully understand the verb structures, the morphological entities of affixes such as prefixes and suffixes are studied. Moreover, the word order of the sentential constructions are also analyzed according to active and passive forms. These are done in tandem with analyzing the pronouns in relation to the placement of verbs in a Mah Meri sentential construction. It is found that Theta Roles are present in the data except for the Theta Role Recipient. However, this is not due to the lack of the Theta Role of Recipient in the Mah Meri language; rather it is due to the limitation of the scope in this study as data is analyzed based on the interviews only. On the other hand, the Theta Role of Agent is clearly evident in the Mah Meri language.Keywords: Mah Meri Language, Argument Structure, Theta Roles, Thematic Relations

scholarly journals Aspects of the morphosyntactic typology of Hong Kong English

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas Gisborne
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Significant Feature ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
Languages In Contact ◽  
Sinitic Languages ◽  
Hong Kong English

English and Cantonese are the main two languages in contact in Hong Kong, together with some other minority Sinitic languages and a variety of Austronesian languages spoken by domestic helpers. Cantonese and English are typologically dissimilar in terms of word order, tense, mood and aspect marking, noun phrase structure, relative clause formation, the formation of interrogatives, and argument structure. Yet there is no work which systematically explores how these morphosyntactic typological differences are revealed in Hong Kong English (HKE). This paper explores how a typological perspective facilitates an analysis of the expression of finiteness in HKE, a significant feature because it subsumes a number of other typological facts. The analysis claims that HKE is a new English variety where the typology of the substrate is more directly responsible for the morphosyntactic features under analysis than the typology of the lexifier

Adyghe (Northwest Caucasian)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yakov Testelets ◽  
Yury A. Lander
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
The West ◽  
Morphological Complexity ◽  
Modal Characteristics ◽  
Lexical Categories ◽  
Caucasian Family ◽  
High Degree

Adyghe, a polysynthetic language of the West Caucasian family, shows the typological characteristics of ergativity, left-branching word order, and the flexibility of the lexical categories. Its word has a high degree of morphological complexity and consists of five ordered morphological zones, within which the order of affixes can vary, and recursion is possible. The information encoded in the predicate includes the argument structure, causation, and various aspectual and modal characteristics. Many meanings can be expressed, either with a combination of morphemes, or a combination of words, or with both simultaneously. There are structural asymmetries at the clause level and the principle C violations in cross-clausal syntax—the phenomenon that has been recorded also in many polysynthetic languages of America.

scholarly journals ARG-ST on phrases

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Przepiórkowski
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Complete Information ◽  
Formal Proof ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Complex Predicates ◽  
The Common ◽  
Verb Clusters ◽  
Internal Side

One of the major controversies in present-day HPSG is whether the information about a word's argument structure should also be available on this word's phrasal projections. Some works assume that ARG-ST is present on words only; this is the claim of, e.g., Pollard and Sag 1994, Miller and Sag 1997, Abeillé, Godard and Sag 1998, and Bouma, Malouf and Sag (to appear). The reason for this assumption is that it leads to more restrictive grammars: with this restriction, words cannot select their arguments on the basis of the argument structure of these arguments' heads (e.g., there seems to be no language in which a verb selects exactly VPs with an NP[dat] argument). On the other hand, various other works assume the presence of the complete information about a word's argument structure on this word's phrasal projections. This is the stance of, e.g., Grover 1995 (to formulate a fully nonconfigurational binding theory), Frank 1994 (to deal with verb second in German), Frank and Reyle 1995 (to account for the interactions between scope and word order in German), Calcagno and Pollard 1997 and Abeillé and Godard 2000 (to analyze French causatives), Baxter 1999 (in an account of purpose infinitives in English), and Meurers 1999 (to deal with case assignment in German verb clusters). In this paper, I endeavor to make two kinds of linguistic contribution. On the theory-internal side, I argue that the issue whether ARG-ST or any such attribute should be present at the level of possibly saturated phrases, in addition to its presence on words, is not an "all or nothing" issue. Although I show that there are some environments in Polish which do seem to require the presence of ARG-ST on phrases, I also link this presence to the common feature of such environments, namely, to their semantic vacuity (understood in the sense of Pollard and Yoo 1998). Although no formal proof can be given that this is the only possible analysis, I try to proceed carefully by examining a variety of possible alternatives and showing that all of them fail in one way or another. Since semantically vacuous environments are extremely rare, the resulting grammar is not less restrictive than, say, a grammar which allows a verb to subcategorize for a lexical argument (and, hence, have access to this argument's ARG-ST), a possibility often taken advantage of in HPSG analyses of complex predicates in various languages. On the empirical side, I look at two rarely considered and ill-understood constructions in Polish, namely, at "long raising" across a preposition, and at case agreement with predicative phrases. Neither of these constructions has been successfully analyzed so far. Although the analyses proposed in this paper may be perceived as less than satisfactory on the aesthetical side, they constitute the first formal and uniform account of these phenomena.

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