Journal articles on the topic 'Verb argument structure'
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Ariasih, Ni Luh Putu, and I. Nyoman Sedeng. "Argument structure of transition and transfer verbs." International journal of linguistics, literature and culture 8, no. 3 (April 12, 2022): 67–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v8n3.2076.
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This study entitled Argument Structure of Transition and Transfer Verbs. It focused on the argument structure which maps the grammatical relation and the semantic roles. This study aimed to recognize the grammatical relations of transition and transfer verbs of slides verbs arguments and to explain the semantic roles of transition and transfer verbs of slides verbs arguments. This study is library research. The data of this study were collected from Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) which was related to transition and transfer verbs. The documentation method and note-taking technique were applied in collecting the data. In analyzing the data, the descriptive-qualitative method was applied. The data were described and explained based on the theory of argument structure and the theory of transition and transfer verbs. Based on the analysis, the grammatical relation operated within transition and transfer verbs with the class of slide verb involve subject, object and oblique. Verb bounce, float, move, roll and slide can be constructed with SV, SVO, SV OBL, SVO OBL and SVO OBL OBL. Furthermore, the structure SVO OBL OBL only appears in the verb of move.
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VULCHANOVA, MILA. "ARGUMENTS FOR GOOD OR BAD: SENSITIVITY TO ARGUMENT STRUCTURE AND IDIOM PROCESSING ACROSS POPULATIONS." Journal of Bulgarian Language 69, PR (June 29, 2022): 23–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.47810/bl.69.22.pr.02.
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This paper addresses approaches to verb argument structure from the point of view of the information which can be assumed to be lexically encoded in the verb. It explores ways in which speakers’ sensitivity to verbs can be investigated experimentally across types of expressions, including idioms/non-literal language, and reports findings from recent empirical research in that domain. Keywords: lexically encoded information, verbs, argument structure, sensitivity, idiom processing
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Oomen, Marloes. "Iconicity in argument structure." Sign Language and Linguistics 20, no. 1 (November 6, 2017): 55–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sll.20.1.03oom.
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Abstract A long tradition of psych-verb research in spoken languages has demonstrated that they constitute a class of their own, both semantically and syntactically. This study presents a description and analysis of psych-verbs in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) in order to investigate whether this verb type displays comparable peculiarities in sign languages. The study is primarily based on data from the Corpus NGT (Crasborn et al. 2008). Firstly, the data indicate that all psych-verbs in NGT select a subject Experiencer. Secondly, it is shown that there is an iconic property of psych-verbs in NGT that lays bare a conceptual link between psychological states and locative relations: body-anchoring. The location singled out by the place of articulation of a psych-verb is associated with the metaphoric location of an emotion, or a type of behavior associated with the expression of an emotion. It is furthermore argued that the body as a whole iconically represents the container of a psychological state. The body is analyzed as a possessive determiner that may receive a first person specification as a consequence of body-anchoring. The data support such an analysis, as they suggest that sentences without an overt Experiencer yield a default first person interpretation. Thus, it is claimed that iconicity affects sentence structure and as such should be incorporated into the formal grammar system. Given that body-anchoring is the source of the effects mentioned above, it may be hypothesized that psych-verbs in NGT do not constitute a class of its own, but rather belong to a larger class of iconically motivated body-anchored verbs that share the properties mentioned above.
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Sahkai, Heete, and Ann Veismann. "Predicate-argument structure and verb accentuation in Estonian." Eesti ja soome-ugri keeleteaduse ajakiri. Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics 6, no. 3 (December 31, 2015): 123–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2015.6.3.05.
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This paper reports the results of a production study whose aim was to ascertain whether Estonian exhibits the regularity whereby verbs are unaccented when they are in focus together with an adjacent object. The study also examined whether this regularity holds when the verb is in sentence-final position, or when it is separated from the object by an intervening adjunct. The results suggest that in all these cases the verb is unaccented, unlike when it is complemented only by an adjunct. More generally, these results show that Estonian belongs to the category of languages with plastic sentence accent placement, and that predicate-argument structure is one of the factors that determine sentence accent placement in Estonian. The results also raise questions for future research concerning the theoretical interpretation of the descriptive observations made in the study.Kokkuvõte. Heete Sahkai ja Ann Veismann: Argumentstruktuur ja verbi lauserõhulisus eesti keeles. Artiklis tutvustatakse uurimust, mille eesmärk oli kindlaks teha, kas eesti keeles kehtib levinud seaduspära, et koos objektiga fookuses olev verb ei kanna lauserõhku. Uurimuses kontrolliti seaduspära kehtimist ka juhtudel, kus verb asub lause lõpus või ei paikne objektiga kõrvuti, vaid on lahutatud sellest vaba laiendiga. Tulemused näitavad, et kõigil neil juhtudel on verb rõhutu, erinevalt juhtumist, kus verbi laiendab üksnes vaba määrus. Uurimuse üldisem tulemus on, et eesti keel kuulub tüpoloogiliselt plastilise lauserõhu asukohaga keelte hulka ning et argumentstruktuur on üks neist teguritest, mis määravad lauserõhu asukohta eesti keeles. Tulemused tõstatavad ka edasist uurimist nõudvaid küsimusi, mis puudutavad eelkõige kirjeldatud seaduspärade teoreetilist tõlgendamist.Märksõnad: eesti keel, lauserõhk, deaktsentueerimine, argumentstruktuur
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Baranovska, Olga. "PREDICATE- ARGUMENT STRUCTURE OF EMOTIVE VERBS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE." Naukovì zapiski Nacìonalʹnogo unìversitetu «Ostrozʹka akademìâ». Serìâ «Fìlologìâ» 1, no. 10(78) (February 27, 2020): 13–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.25264/2519-2558-2020-10(78)-13-16.
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This paper seeks to explore the category of emotiveness of the verb units in the lexico-semantic system of the English verb. The article characterizes the evolution of methods in this investigation of lexical units, basic notions of cognitive grammar, in particular. The predicate- argument structure of the verbs that designate emotive states has been defined. The conditions for the realization of grammatical structures have been presented. The survey studies the classification of the verbs according to their syntactic constructions, taking into account the relation of the subject and the object. As a result, the investigation highlights the features of the verbs that denote emotional relations and causatives. Experiencer argument, which can perform different syntactic functions, is an indispensable prerequisite for the predicate-argument structure of English emotive verbs. The algorithm for this analysis has been suggested. The predicate-argument structure of verb units expressing emotions in English and Ukrainian has been compared. Similar deep semantics of emotive verbs in English and Ukrainian finds a distinct expression in the surface structure, favouring different syntactic structures. A significant number of emotive verb units are expressed by intransitive, reflexive verbs with a postfix – sya in Ukrainian, while the constructions with adjectives and participles are characteristic of English.
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Thompson, Cynthia K., Borna Bonakdarpour, Stephen C. Fix, Henrike K. Blumenfeld, Todd B. Parrish, Darren R. Gitelman, and M. Marsel Mesulam. "Neural Correlates of Verb Argument Structure Processing." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 19, no. 11 (November 2007): 1753–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2007.19.11.1753.
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Neuroimaging and lesion studies suggest that processing of word classes, such as verbs and nouns, is associated with distinct neural mechanisms. Such studies also suggest that subcategories within these broad word class categories are differentially processed in the brain. Within the class of verbs, argument structure provides one linguistic dimension that distinguishes among verb exemplars, with some requiring more complex argument structure entries than others. This study examined the neural instantiation of verbs by argument structure complexity: one-, two-, and three-argument verbs. Stimuli of each type, along with nouns and pseudowords, were presented for lexical decision using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging design. Results for 14 young normal participants indicated largely overlapping activation maps for verbs and nouns, with no areas of significant activation for verbs compared to nouns, or vice versa. Pseudowords also engaged neural tissue overlapping with that for both word classes, with more widespread activation noted in visual, motor, and peri-sylvian regions. Examination of verbs by argument structure revealed activation of the supramarginal and angular gyri, limited to the left hemisphere only when verbs with two obligatory arguments were compared to verbs with a single argument. However, bilateral activation was noted when both two- and three-argument verbs were compared to one-argument verbs. These findings suggest that posterior peri-sylvian regions are engaged for processing argument structure information associated with verbs, with increasing neural tissue in the inferior parietal region associated with increasing argument structure complexity. These findings are consistent with processing accounts, which suggest that these regions are crucial for semantic integration.
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Manik Septianiari Putri, Ni Wayan. "Argument Structure of Slide Verb in English." e-Journal of Linguistics 13, no. 2 (July 31, 2019): 327. http://dx.doi.org/10.24843/e-jl.2019.v13.i02.p11.
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Various languages in the world have their own systems, especially in terms of verb classification. It can determine argument in the structure. This paper is intended to analyze the interaction between syntax and semantics in terms of the argument structure of the slide verb in English. The main theory used in this study was the theory of argument structure proposed by Kim & Sells (2008). The result of analysis showed that two kinds of slide verb: bounce and slide are intransitive and transitive verbs. The specifier (SPR) of the sentence structure functions as the agent; the Complement (COMPS) of the verb bounce serves as the patient and the COMPS of the verb slide functions as the theme.
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Arunachalam, Sudha, and Sandra R. Waxman. "Fast mapping from argument structure alone." LSA Annual Meeting Extended Abstracts 2 (July 6, 2011): 8. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/exabs.v0i0.542.
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Parents often utter verbs when their referents are not co-present. We therefore ask whether toddlers can discover a verb’s meaning from its argument structure alone. Toddlers (21-months) heard a novel verb in either transitive or intransitive sentences. They then viewed two test scenes, a causative and a synchronous event, and heard, “Find dacking!” Within 2.5s of the novel verb’s onset, toddlers who had heard transitive sentences reliably preferred the causative scene. The results (1) indicate that 21-month-olds discover verb meaning using argument structure cues, even absent a co-occurring event, and (2) establish the time-course with which 21-month-olds process novel verbs.
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Wolfe-Quintero, Kate. "The connection between verbs and argument structures: Native speaker production of the double object dative." Applied Psycholinguistics 19, no. 2 (April 1998): 225–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0142716400010055.
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AbstractThis study is an investigation of the patterns and strength of the connections between English dative verbs and the double object dative (DOD) argument structure in native speaker production. The subjects completed three written production tasks using dative and other verbs from different semantic classes of verbs. The results show that alternating dative verbs varied in their patterns of connection to argument structures, but were consistent in the strength of their connection to the DOD argument structure across subjects and tasks. There was no support for production differences due to verb class membership, but the results do support a model of lexical representation that represents variable strengths of association between individual verbs and argument structures. With respect to the design of production and processing studies, the results do not support the treatment of alternating dative verbs as a unitary group, nor a priori assumptions about relative argument structure complexity between alternating and nonalternating verbs, but do support the use of production tasks to determine individual verb argument structure preferences.
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Maouene, Josita, Nitya Sethuraman, Mounir Maoene, and Linda B. Smith. "An Embodied Account of Argument Structure Development." Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 36, no. 1 (August 24, 2010): 261. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/bls.v36i1.3916.
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In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:All information enters the cognitive system through the body. Thus, it is possible that the body—and its morphology—may play a role in structurng knowledge and acquisition. This idea is particularly cogent in the case of verbs, since early learned verbs are about bodily actions and since recent advanc-es in cognitive neuroscience (Pulvermueller, 2005; James and Maouene, 2009) indicate that the neural processing of common verbs activates the brain regions responsible for the specific body parts that perform those actions. Here we provide initial evidence these body-part verb relations may also be related to the argument structures associated with specific verbs. We will conclude that in the same way that verb meaning and argument structure develop out of correlations in linguistic experiences, they may also develop out of correlations in body experiences.
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Emirkanian, Louisette, Leslie Redmond, and Adel Jebali. "Maîtrise des clitiques datifs dans les structures bitransitives en français L2 par des apprenants anglophones : influence de la structure argumentale de la L1." Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics 24, no. 3 (November 26, 2021): 30–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2021.26419.
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The objective of this study is to measure the influence of L1 verb argument structure, as well as verb meaning, on the mastery of dative clitics in French as a second language for a group of Anglophone learners. More specifically, we focus on ditransitive structures. While French and English share the V NP PP structure, English also has a double-object structure, V NP NP, for a subset of verbs. The results of our study show that L1 argument structure influences the mastery of dative clitics in French, especially for verbs that only accept the double-object structure in English. Further, the behaviour of our participants with verbs that accept the dative alternation led us to conduct a follow-up study. The findings show that verb meaning also influences performance with dative clitics, but this effect cannot be explained by L1 influence.
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Coopmans, Cas W., and Gert-Jan Schoenmakers. "Incremental structure building of preverbal PPs in Dutch." Linguistics in the Netherlands 37 (October 27, 2020): 38–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/avt.00036.coo.
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Abstract Incremental comprehension of head-final constructions can reveal structural attachment preferences for ambiguous phrases. This study investigates how temporarily ambiguous PPs are processed in Dutch verb-final constructions. In De aannemer heeft op het dakterras bespaard/gewerkt ‘The contractor has on the roof terrace saved/worked’, the PP is locally ambiguous between attachment as argument and as adjunct. This ambiguity is resolved by the sentence-final verb. In a self-paced reading task, we manipulated the argument/adjunct status of the PP, and its position relative to the verb. While we found no reading-time differences between argument and adjunct PPs, we did find that transitive verbs, for which the PP is an argument, were read more slowly than intransitive verbs, for which the PP is an adjunct. We suggest that Dutch parsers have a preference for adjunct attachment of preverbal PPs, and discuss our findings in terms of incremental parsing models that aim to minimize costly reanalysis.
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Yani, La, Ketut Artawa, Made Sri Satyawati, and I. Nyoman Udayana. "Verbal Clause Construction of Ciacia Language: Syntactic Typology Study." e-Journal of Linguistics 13, no. 2 (May 31, 2019): 242. http://dx.doi.org/10.24843/e-jl.2019.v13.i02.p05.
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Typology study of Ciacia language (CL) in various linguistic aspects has not been conducted yet. It is the first study that focus on syntactic typology. Ciacia language is one of local languages in Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province. The study focuses on five main problems, they are (1) How is the base construction of verbal clause in CL? (2) How are the predicate and structure argument constructions of verbal clause in CL, (3) How are the simple predicate and complex predicate constructions of verbal clause in CL? (4) How are valency and valency change mechanism of verbal clause construction in CL? (5) How are complex sentence construction and grammatical alliance system?. The oral data of this study is obtained through recording and elicitation techniques. Written data is obtained through the previous studies. The study also used synthetic data which is verrified by the informants. The data was analyzed by apportion (distributional) method.
The investigation of clause base construction shows that verbal clause construction of Ciacia language is always filled by subject and aspect markers (PS/A) that is affixed to PRED verb. Base structure of verbal clause in CL consists of verbal predicated clause and non-verbal predicated clause. Non-verbal predicated clause can be constructed through base nominal and adjective categories. Verbal clause predicate can be filled by intransitive base verb, mono transitive base verb, ditransitive base verb, and ambi-transitive base verb.
Predication and argument structure of verbal clause construction in CL can be classified in to verbal clause: (i) intransitive with one main argument in terms of SUBJ and as A or OBJ systematically; (ii) semi-transitive with one main argument as A/ACT and with the presence of OBJ argument optionally; (iii) mono-transitive with two main arguments, namely SUBJ as A/ACT with one OBJ argument as UND, (iv) ditransitive with three main arguments, namely SUBJ as A/ACT before PRED and two arguments after PRED, in terms of OTL (indirect object) and OL (direct object); and (v) ambi-transitive with one main argument, namely SUBJ, either as Sa or as So.
Valency and transitivity of verbal clause construction in CL consists of (i) valency and intransitive verb transitivity with one argument or verb with one valency; (ii) semi-transitive verb with one argument before verb and the presence of argument after Pred verb optionally; (iii) transitive with the obligatory of O presence after Pred verb, so it has two main arguments or verb that has two valency arguments, namely S and O; (iv) ditransitive with three main arguments or verb that has three valency arguments; (v) ambi-transitive with only one argument or verb that has one valency.
Verbal clause construction in CL can be filled by simple Pred verb and complex Pred verb. Simple predicate is created by base verb/intransitive verb and non-verb category, semi-transitive verb, and transitive verb with PS/A. Complex predicate is created through verb (i) intransitive; (ii) semi-transitive verb; and (iii) transitive integral verb. The valency change mechanism of verbal clause construction in CL can be done through formal causativation and semantic causativation, applicative, and resultative.
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Braine, Martin D. S., Ruth E. Brody, Shalom M. Fisch, Mara J. Weisberger, and Monica Blum. "Can children use a verb without exposure to its argument structure?" Journal of Child Language 17, no. 2 (June 1990): 313–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305000900013799.
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ABSTRACTWe hypothesize that canonical sentence schemas (e.g. Agent—verb-Patient) can sometimes assign argument structure to verbs. In particular, they provide a default argument structure early in learning when a verb's lexical entry may record the nature of the action but lack a specific argument structure. To test the theory and its application to causative verb errors (e.g. stay it there), novel action verbs were modelled, some as causative, some as intransitive, and some unmarked for transitivity. Spontaneous usage was recorded, along with responses to agent-questions (‘What is the [Agent] doing?’) and patient-questions (‘What is the [Patient] doing?’). Comparable data were obtained for familiar English verbs, some of fixed and some of optional transitivity. Subjects were willing to use all novel verbs both transitively and intransitively, although adults respected assigned transitivity more than children. All subjects largely respected the transitivity of familiar verbs. The discourse pressure of the agent- and patient-questions greatly affected observed transitivity. No evidence was found for the intransitive-to-causative derivational process postulated by Bowerman. We propose that the kind of causativity error observed by Bowerman is due to assignment of argument structure from canonical sentence schemas, especially under pressure of a need to make a sentence with a particular argument (Agent or Patient) as subject. The theory has the advantage of explaining errors without postulating the acquisition of erroneous lexical entries that have to be unlearned, and it can be extended to other kinds of errors in the choice and placement of arguments.
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Thompson, Cynthia K., Borna Bonakdarpour, and Stephen F. Fix. "Neural Mechanisms of Verb Argument Structure Processing in Agrammatic Aphasic and Healthy Age-matched Listeners." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 22, no. 9 (September 2010): 1993–2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21334.
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Processing of lexical verbs involves automatic access to argument structure entries entailed within the verb's representation. Recent neuroimaging studies with young normal listeners suggest that this involves bilateral posterior peri-sylvian tissue, with graded activation in these regions on the basis of argument structure complexity. The aim of the present study was to examine the neural mechanisms of verb processing using fMRI in older normal volunteers and patients with stroke-induced agrammatic aphasia, a syndrome in which verb, as compared to noun, production often is selectively impaired, but verb comprehension in both on-line and off-line tasks is spared. Fourteen healthy listeners and five age-matched aphasic patients performed a lexical decision task, which examined verb processing by argument structure complexity, namely, one-argument [i.e., intransitive (v1)], two-argument [i.e., transitive (v2)], and three-argument (v3) verbs. Results for the age-matched listeners largely replicated those for younger participants studied by Thompson et al. [Thompson, C. K., Bonakdarpour, B., Fix, S. C., Blumenfeld, H. K., Parrish, T. B., Gitelman, D. R., et al. Neural correlates of verb argument structure processing. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 1753–1767, 2007]: v3 − v1 comparisons showed activation of the angular gyrus in both hemispheres and this same heteromodal region was activated in the left hemisphere in the (v2 + v3) − v1 contrast. Similar results were derived for the agrammatic aphasic patients, however, activation was unilateral (in the right hemisphere for three participants) rather than bilateral, likely because these patients' lesions extended to the left temporo-parietal region. All performed the task with high accuracy and, despite differences in lesion site and extent, they recruited spared tissue in the same regions as healthy subjects. Consistent with psycholinguistic models of sentence processing, these findings indicate that the posterior language network is engaged for processing verb argument structure and is crucial for semantic integration of argument structure information.
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NISBET, TIM. "Meaning, metaphor, and argument structure." Journal of Linguistics 56, no. 3 (July 18, 2019): 629–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002222671900029x.
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This paper challenges what it calls the semantic determinist hypothesis (SDH) of argument licensing, according to which the syntactic realisation of a verb’s arguments is a function of its semantic properties. Specifically, it takes issue with ‘event schema’ versions of the SDH applied to the English ditransitive alternation (give/send {Jesse the gun/the gun to Jesse}), which claim a systematic, syntactically predictive distinction between ‘caused possession’ and ‘caused motion’. It is first shown that semantic and syntactic irregularities among the alternating verbs disconfirm such a mapping. More crucially, however, it is argued that ‘non-prototypical’ (metaphorical and idiomatic) usage (The news report gave Walt an idea, Walt’s actions gave the lie to his promises, The discovery sent Jesse into a fury) is fatal to the SDH, since the hypothesis entails the existence of semantic constraints on argument realisation which these expressions violate.Based on an analysis of the semantically-related verbs give, send, and put, it is claimed that prototypical, metaphorical and idiomatic expressions of a verb can all be licensed straightforwardly, but only if theory maintains separate syntactic and semantic representation of arguments in lexical entries, observing the ‘parallel architecture’ of Jackendoff (1997, 2002), and only if argument tokens are licensed by the syntactic representation alone. A type of structure called a Lexical Argument Construction is proposed, which can describe all the relevant properties of verbs and verbal idioms.
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Trips, Carola, and Achim Stein. "Contact-Induced Changes in the Argument Structure of Middle English Verbs on the Model of Old French." Journal of Language Contact 12, no. 1 (February 27, 2019): 232–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/19552629-01201008.
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This paper investigates contact-induced changes in the argument structure of Middle English verbs on the model of Old French. 1 We study two issues: i) to what extent did the English system retain and integrate the argument structure of verbs copied from French? ii) did the argument structure of these copied verbs influence the argument structure of native verbs? Our study is based on empirical evidence from Middle English corpora as well as a full text analysis of the Ayenbite of Inwyt and focusses on a number of verbs governing a dative in French. In the first part of the paper we define the contact situation and relate it to Johanson’s (2002) model of code copying. In the second part we comment on Allen’s (1995) study of please and some other psych verbs and corroborate her assumptions that i) semantic similarity triggered change within the set of these verbs, and ii) this change has reflexes in the syntactic realisation of the dative argument as a prepositional phrase. We propose a method to identify contact-induced change beyond the verb class originally affected. More explicitly, based on further empirical evidence, we show that the argument structure of the native verb give, a transfer of possession verb, was also affected by these changes and that these effects are stronger in texts that are directly influenced by French.
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MCCLURE, KATHLEEN, JULIAN M. PINE, and ELENA V. M. LIEVEN. "Investigating the abstractness of children's early knowledge of argument structure." Journal of Child Language 33, no. 4 (November 2006): 693–720. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305000906007525.
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In the current debate about the abstractness of children's early grammatical knowledge, Tomasello & Abbott-Smith (2002) have suggested that children might first develop ‘weak’ or ‘partial’ representations of abstract syntactic structures. This paper attempts to characterize these structures by comparing the development of constructions around verbs in Tomasello's (1992) case study of Travis, with those of 10 children (Stage I–II) in a year-length, longitudinal study. The results show some evidence that children's early knowledge of argument structure is verb-specific, but also some evidence that children can generalize knowledge about argument structure across verbs. One way to explain these findings is to argue that children are learning limited scope formulae around high frequency subjects and objects, which serve as building blocks for more abstract structures such as S+V and V+O. The implication is that children may have some verb-general knowledge of the transitive construction as early as Stage I, but that this knowledge is still far from being fully abstract knowledge.
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Sánchez Cárdenas, Beatriz, and Carlos Ramisch. "Eliciting specialized frames from corpora using argument-structure extraction techniques." Terminology 25, no. 1 (July 24, 2019): 1–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/term.00026.san.
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Abstract Frame Semantics provides a powerful cross-lingual model to describe the conceptual structure underlying specialized language. Building specialized frames is challenging because of the complex nature of predicate-argument structures, and because of the domain-specific uses of general-language predicates. Our semi-automatic method elicits semantic frames from specialized corpora. It aims to discover lexical patterns that reveal the structure of specialized frames and to populate them with corpus-based data. Firstly, we automatically extracted verb-noun triples from corpora using bootstrapping to identify noun-verb-noun phraseological patterns. Secondly, we annotated each noun-verb-noun triple with the lexical domain of the verbs and the semantic class and role of the noun filling each argument slot. We then used these annotations and patterns to classify similar triples. Thus, the structure and the types of lexical units that belong to each specialized frames were inferred. Specialized corpora analysis of environmental science texts in English and in Spanish illustrate our methodology.
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Massam, Diane. "Predicate Argument Structure in Haitian Creole." Revue québécoise de linguistique 18, no. 2 (May 21, 2009): 95–129. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/602655ar.
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AbstractThis paper outlines the argument properties of Haitian Creole verbs, including intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive verbs, within a lexical framework which includes a level of Lexical Conceptual Structure and a level of Predicate Argument Structure. There is assumed to be a relatively free mapping relation between these two levels in order to explain the many possible variations in argument structure that most verbs exhibit. We see that there are at least two detransitivizing operations in Haitian Creole: one which operates freely and one which must be adverb-licensed. Transitive and ditransitive verbs are classified in terms of which of these operations they may undergo. The paper presents a description of Haitian Creole verb-types in Government and Binding theoretical terms and highlights several problems which Haitian Creole poses for future research.
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Zhou, Xiaotao, and Jun Wang. "An aspectual account of constructions headed by unergatives and unaccusatives." Cognitive Linguistic Studies 9, no. 2 (December 15, 2022): 401–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/cogls.20018.zho.
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Abstract This article presents an aspectual account of the interface between lexicon and syntax. Following Tenny’s AIH (Aspectual Interface Hypothesis), we assume that only the aspectual property of lexical information is sensitive and predictive to argument structure. Based on this assumption, the article claims that aspectual roles associated with measuring-out and delimitedness offer a single and unified account of argument structure. To begin with, a peculiar focus is given to the direct internal argument which serves as the only measuring-out role and participates the measurement constraint in three verb types including the incremental-theme verbs, the change-of-state verbs and route verbs with path objects, Another aspectual property is delimitedenss that functions as the terminus role of event progression in the form of delimiting markers such as verb particles or resultative predicates.To better testify the claim, the article focuses on constructional variations derived from some typical unergatives and unaccusatives, because the semantic distinction between the two verb types is mainly reflected on the syntactic property that urergatives normally require an agent while unaccusatives ask for a compulsory theme or patient. Yet Constructional variations derived from unergatives and unaccusatives consistently instantiate the measuring-out constraint on direct internal argument. For unergatives, an undelimited event is converted into a delimited one by addition of measuring direct argument, while for unaccusatives, semantic differences arise from alternating arguments that go through changes. Hence constructional variations further prove that syntactic structure fundamentally operates over the aspectual roles rather than thematic roles.
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Oeinada, I. Gede, Ni Luh Sutjiati Beratha, I. Nengah Sudipa, and Made Sri Satyawati. "The Argument and Semantic Structures of Japanese Verb Give." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 11, no. 3 (March 1, 2021): 244. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1103.03.
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This study examines four Japanese synonymous verbs that have the same equivalent in English, namely GIVE. These four Japanese synonymous verbs are ageru, kureru, kizou suru, and kifu suru. This study used a qualitative descriptive method. Example sentences for the data were taken from Balance Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese corpus data. The theories applied in this study are argument structure theory and Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory. Based on the analysis, there were selectional restrictions found in the argument structure of these synonymous verbs that can be used to distinguish one verb from another. In addition, these synonymous verbs, although there are some overlapping meaning components, have distinctive meaning components belonging to each verb. Therefore, it can be said that these synonymous verbs cannot fully replace each other in all contexts.
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Castro, Miriam Buendía. "Verb dynamics." Terminology 18, no. 2 (September 7, 2012): 149–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/term.18.2.01bue.
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This paper describes conceptual dynamicity as reflected in the verbs in specialized texts. All the examples used to illustrate this phenomenon are taken from a corpus of meteorological texts, and are typical of processes and actions within the TROPICAL CYCLONE frame. In this study, we analyze verb meaning as well as argument structure. Our results show that the basic meaning of each verb profiles the meaning of the term tropical cyclone in different ways, and provides a way to access the multidimensionality of terms and the concepts they designate. We also classify the verbs most frequently activated by TROPICAL CYCLONE in lexical domains since verbs with similar meaning also have similar argument structure. This method of studying terms in conjunction with the verbs that most frequently activate them is crucial for the representation of conceptual information, and is connected with the network of semantic relations that is activated by a specialized concept.
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Dreschler, Gea. "Changes in argument structure." Linguistics in the Netherlands 36 (November 5, 2019): 115–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/avt.00027.dre.
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Abstract English is often contrasted with German and Dutch when it comes to the semantic roles that the subject can express (Hawkins 1986; Los & Dreschler 2012). Specifically, English seems to have more middles (She photographs well) and allows for unusual inanimate subjects (The cottage sleeps four). However, it seems that the semantics of the grammatical subject in Dutch are also changing, as witnessed by recent examples from websites and advertisements, such as Uw fietsenstalling verbetert and Presikhaaf vernieuwt. Although these sentences do not have the adverb that is typical of middles in Dutch (Broekhuis, Corver & Vos 2015: 455ff.), they meet several other requirements for middle formation. In this paper, I analyse examples with one such verb, vernieuwen, and identify two different types of intransitive uses for this predominantly transitive verb. I argue that ambiguity, analogy and genre all play an important role in this change in argument structure.
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AMBRIDGE, BEN, and RYAN P. BLYTHING. "A connectionist model of the retreat from verb argument structure overgeneralization." Journal of Child Language 43, no. 6 (November 16, 2015): 1245–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305000915000586.
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AbstractA central question in language acquisition is how children build linguistic representations that allow them to generalize verbs from one construction to another (e.g.,The boy gave a present to the girl→The boy gave the girl a present), whilst appropriately constraining those generalizations to avoid non-adultlike errors (e.g.,I said no to her → *I said her no). Although a consensus is emerging that learners solve this problem using both statistical and semantics-based learning procedures (e.g., entrenchment, pre-emption, and semantic verb class formation), there currently exist few – if any – proposals for a learning model that combines these mechanisms. The present study used a connectionist model to test an account that argues for competition between constructions based on (a) verb-in construction frequency, (b) relevance of constructions for the speaker's intended message, and (c) fit between the fine-grained semantic properties of individual verbs and individual constructions. The model was able not only (a) to simulate the overall pattern of overgeneralization-then-retreat, but also (b) to use the semantics of novel verbs to predict their argument structure privileges (just as real learners do), and (c) to predict the pattern of by-verb grammaticality judgements observed in adult studies.
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Johnson, Cynthia A., Peter Alexander Kerkhof, Leonid Kulikov, Esther Le Mair, and Jóhanna Barðdal. "Argument structure, conceptual metaphor and semantic change." Diachronica 36, no. 4 (December 18, 2019): 463–508. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/dia.00014.bar.
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Abstract In contrast to grammaticalization studies of lexical verbs changing into auxiliaries, the realm of semantic changes associated with lexical verbs is an understudied area of historical semantics. We concentrate on the emergence of verbs of success from more semantically concrete verbs, uncovering six conceptual metaphors which all co-occur with non-canonical encoding of subjects in Indo-European. Careful scrutiny of the relevant data reveals a semantic development most certainly inherited from Indo-European; hence, we reconstruct a dat-‘succeeds’ construction at different levels of schematicity for Proto-Indo-European, including a novel reconstruction of a conceptual metaphor, success is motion forward, and the mapping between this metaphor and the verb-class-specific argument structure construction. Hence, this article offers a systematic analysis of regularity in semantic change, highlighting the importance of predicate and argument structure for lexical semantic developments.
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Celano, Giuseppe G. A. "Argument-focus and predicate-focus structure in Ancient Greek." Studies in Language 37, no. 2 (June 7, 2013): 241–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.37.2.01cel.
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In this article, Ancient Greek is shown to allow two word orders, Focus-Verb and Verb-Focus, independently of whether the verb is in focus or in the presupposition. Relying on the behavior of postpositives and Lambrecht’s Principle of Accent Projection, I argue that such word orders are integrated into prosodic constituents where the main sentence accent falls to either the left (Focus-Verb) or the right (Verb-Focus) of the verb. Such an alternation is suggested to be due to a binary iconic contrast whereby the more prominent the focus is, the earlier it is placed.
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Hayashishita, J. R., Daiki Tanaka, and Ayumi Ueyama. "A linguistically-informed way of introducing Japanese verbs to second language learners." Journal of Japanese Linguistics 36, no. 1 (May 27, 2020): 29–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jjl-2019-2017.
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AbstractThis paper describes how the Japanese speakers’ knowledge is organized in regards to verbs, and proposes a linguistically-informed way of introducing it to second language learners. It is maintained by a number of researchers that each verb is stored with the information of its argument structure in the speaker’s mental lexicon. That is, a given verb is stored with the information of how many arguments it takes and what types of arguments they are. In this paper, capitalizing on this assumption, we will maintain that the knowledge of the native speakers of Japanese is organized in such a way that if a verb gives rise to n-number of different meanings, there are n-number of lexical entries, and each such entry is independently stored with the information concerning the meaning of the verb, the verb arguments and their accompanying particles. After the description of the organization of Japanese speakers’ knowledge in regards to verbs, as an effective way of introducing this to Japanese language learners, the paper proposes the format of an innovative approach to Japanese verbs reference book. This proposed format capitalizes on full sentence definitions in the sense of the Collins Cobuild Dictionary.
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MAOUENE, JOSITA C., NITYA SETHURAMAN, MOUNIR M. MAOUENE, and SANGO OTIENO. "Contingencies between verbs, body parts, and argument structures in maternal and child speech: a corpus study." Language and Cognition 8, no. 2 (March 3, 2015): 237–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2014.48.
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abstractPrior work on argument structure development has shown connections between abstract verb meaning and argument structure; neuroimaging and behavioral studies have shown connections between verb meaning and body effectors. Here we examine the contingencies between verbs, their most likely body region pairing, and argument structure. We ask whether the verbs used in six common syntactic frames are specifically linked to one of three main regions of the body:head, arm, leg.The speech of 20-month-olds (N= 67), 28-month-olds (N= 27), and their mothers (N= 54) (CHILDES: MacWhinney, 2000) was examined for the use of early-learned verbs (MCDI: Fenson, Dale, Reznick, Bates, Thal, & Pethick, 1994). In total, 89 verb types in 3321 utterances were coded for their associations with thehead, arm, andlegbody regions (associations taken from Maouene, Hidaka, & Smith, 2008). Significant non-random relations are found both overall and for each age group in analyses using multiple chi-square tests of independence and goodness-of-fit. These results are discussed in terms of their relevance for both argument structure development and embodied cognition, as evidence supporting a developmental path that has not been previously examined, in which the infant can use early and concrete perception-action information to learn later abstract syntactic achievements.
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FOLLI, RAFFAELLA, and HEIDI HARLEY. "The syntax of argument structure: Evidence from Italian complex predicates." Journal of Linguistics 49, no. 1 (March 30, 2012): 93–125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022226712000072.
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This paper provides an analysis of Italian complex predicates formed by combining a feminine nominalization in -ata and one of three light verbs: fare ‘make’, dare ‘give’ and prendere ‘take’. We show that the constraints governing the choice of light verb follow from a syntactic approach to argument structure, and that several interpretive differences between complex and simplex predicates formed from the same verb root can be accounted for in a compositional, bottom–up approach. These differences include variation in creation vs. affected interpretations of Theme objects, implications concerning the size of the event described, the (un)availability of a passive alternant, and the agentivity or lack thereof of the subject argument.
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Apuge, Michael Etuge. "Multiple Objects, Serial Verbs and the Question of Argument-Sharing." World Journal of Education and Humanities 4, no. 2 (March 22, 2022): p12. http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/wjeh.v4n2p12.
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This paper explores syntactic operations that obtain in multiple object and serial verb constructions in Akoose, a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. Focus is placed on the structure and types of multi-verb constructions (MVCs), the structure of (MVCs), as well as multiple object constructions (MOCs). The paper also examines argument-sharing in both (MVCs) and (MOCs). The analysis is done following insights from Chomsky (1981, 1995; Miyagawa, 2010). While (MOCs) display predicates with two structural patterns, namely [VP, [NP IO [NP DO]]] and [VP, [NP DO [NP IO]]], serial verb constructions (SVCs) constitute a maximum of three different VP structures, namely a) [V1 [XP [V2]], b) [XP [V1 [V2]], and c) [V1[V2 [XP [V3]]]. It is found that notwithstanding the normal SVO word order in the language, complex serial verbs impose an S-V1-V2-(V3)-O word order, which further derives S-V1-V2-O-V3 and S-V1-O-V2-V3 surface variants. The analysis further reveals that irrespective of the complex nature of structures examined and the various transformational operations they undergo, there is no argument sharing in MOCs and SVCs in Akoose.
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Dewika, Ni Putu Anna Purna, I. Nyoman Sedeng, and Novita Mulyana. "Passive clauses argument structure of give verbs in corpus of contemporary American English (COCA)." International journal of linguistics, literature and culture 8, no. 3 (April 13, 2022): 76–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v8n3.2077.
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This study is entitled Passive Clauses Argument Structure of Give Verbs in Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). It is concerned with the argument structure which is mapped to the grammatical relation. This study aimed to recognize the grammatical relations in passive clauses which have “give verbs”. This study is library research. The data of this study were taken from Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) which is concerned with passive clauses. To collect the data, the documentation method and note-taking technique were applied. The descriptive-qualitative method was applied in analyzing the data. The data were described and explained based on the theory argument structure and the theory of passive. Based on the analysis, the grammatical relation operated within passive clauses with the class of give verbs involves subject, object, and oblique. Verb feed, give, and pay in passive can be constructed with S-V, S-V-O, S-V-OBL, and S-V-O-OBL. However, the construction found with verb lease in passive is S-V and S-V-OBL. On the other hand, the possible construction found in verb lend in passive is S-V, S-V-OBL, and S-V-O.
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THEAKSTON, ANNA L., ELENA V. M. LIEVEN, JULIAN M. PINE, and CAROLINE F. ROWLAND. "Semantic generality, input frequency and the acquisition of syntax." Journal of Child Language 31, no. 1 (February 2004): 61–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305000903005956.
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In many areas of language acquisition, researchers have suggested that semantic generality plays an important role in determining the order of acquisition of particular lexical forms. However, generality is typically confounded with the effects of input frequency and it is therefore unclear to what extent semantic generality or input frequency determines the early acquisition of particular lexical items. The present study evaluates the relative influence of semantic status and properties of the input on the acquisition of verbs and their argument structures in the early speech of 9 English-speaking children from 2;0 to 3;0. The children's early verb utterances are examined with respect to (1) the order of acquisition of particular verbs in three different constructions, (2) the syntactic diversity of use of individual verbs, (3) the relative proportional use of semantically general verbs as a function of total verb use, and (4) their grammatical accuracy. The data suggest that although measures of semantic generality correlate with various measures of early verb use, once the effects of verb use in the input are removed, semantic generality is not a significant predictor of early verb use. The implications of these results for semantic-based theories of verb argument structure acquisition are discussed.
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Jacques, Guillaume. "Verbal Valency and Japhug / Tibetan Language Contact." Journal of Language Contact 12, no. 1 (February 27, 2019): 116–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/19552629-01201005.
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This paper presents the case of a language with rich indexation and limited case marking (Japhug) extensively borrowing verbs from a language without indexation but with case marking (an unattested Tibetic language close to the ancestor of Amdo Tibetan). It provides a comprehensive survey of the argument structure and transitivity categories of Japhug verbs of Tibetic origin in comparison with those of the corresponding verbs in Amdo Tibetan, the attested Tibetic language closest to the donor of loanwords into Japhug. This survey shows that verbs of Tibetic origin are fully integrated morphosyntactically into Japhug, and that with a few exceptions, the argument structure of the original verb is predictable from that of the Japhug verb.
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Kardana, I. Nyoman, I. Gusti Ngurah Adi Rajistha, and Made Sri Satyawati. "The Predicate Category and Characteristics of Arguments in Balinese Sentences." International Journal of Linguistics 9, no. 5 (September 23, 2017): 126. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v9i5.11815.
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This study discusses about sentence structure of Balinese language. For the analysis, inductive approach is considered to be important for this study as every language has its particular characteristics described based on the inductive approach. Based on the analysis it was found that predicate of Balinese simple sentences may be filled by verb and non-verb, such as noun, adjective, number, adverb. The number and function of the argument is different among the different predicates. The predicate filled by noun, adjective, adverb, number, and intransitive verb requires one argument functioning as the subject of sentence. Two arguments are required by transitive verb especially mono transitive verb. The two arguments can be the subject and object, the subject and complement, or the subject and adverbial. Meanwhile, di-transitive verb requires three arguments and they can be the subject, indirect object, and direct object, or the subject, object, and complement.
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Iordachioaia, Gianina. "Event structure and argument realization in English zero-derived nominals with particles." Nordlyd 44, no. 1 (October 12, 2020): 35–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/12.5205.
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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.
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Friederici, Angela D., and Stefan Frisch. "Verb Argument Structure Processing: The Role of Verb-Specific and Argument-Specific Information." Journal of Memory and Language 43, no. 3 (October 2000): 476–507. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2000.2709.
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Tambusai, Azhary, Khairina Nasution, and Sofia Rahmi. "Basic Structure of the Riau Malay Clauses." International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention 9, no. 08 (August 25, 2022): 7169–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/ijsshi/v9i08.07.
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This study aims to explain the basic structure of Riau Malay clauses using a linguistic typology approach. Data obtained from oral and written data. The method used is Sudaryanto (2005). The discussion is based on the opinion of Jufrizal (2012). The results showed that the basic clauses of BMR were in the form of (1) non-verbal basic clauses whose predicates are nouns (pronouns), adjectives, numerals, and prepositions which are located one argument before the predicate (2) verbal clauses in the form of transitive and intransitive forms. Verbs that occupy the predicate position in the two clauses are marked morphologically with affixes and some can stand alone without affixes. The BMR intransitive clause has one argument that comes before the predicate (verb). There are transitive clauses that have two or three arguments.
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MORGAN, GARY, ROSALIND HERMAN, and BENCIE WOLL. "The development of complex verb constructions in British Sign Language." Journal of Child Language 29, no. 3 (July 22, 2002): 655–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305000902005184.
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This study focuses on the mapping of events onto verb-argument structures in British Sign Language (BSL). The development of complex sentences in BSL is described in a group of 30 children, aged 3;2–12;0, using data from comprehension measures and elicited sentence production. The findings support two interpretations: firstly, in the mapping of concepts onto language, children acquiring BSL overgeneralize the use of argument structure related to perspective shifting;secondly, these overgeneralizations are predicted by the typological characteristics of the language and modality. Children under age 6;0, in attempting to produce sentences encoded through a perspective shift, begin by breaking down double-verb constructions (AB verbs) into components, producing only the part of the verb phrase which describes the perspective of the patient. There is also a prolonged period of development of non-manual features, with the full structure not seen in its adult form until after 9;0. The errors in the use of AB verbs and the subsequent protracted development of correct usage are explained in terms of the conceptual–linguistic interface.
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Mroczyńska, Katarzyna. "Verbal prefixation and realizations of antipassive alternations in Polish." Linguistics Beyond and Within (LingBaW) 3 (December 30, 2017): 169–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.31743/lingbaw.5657.
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Various works on transitivity suggest that aspectual notions may constitute semantic determinants of argument realization. Observations included in these works prompted theories implying that argument realization may be aspectually driven. Following this line of thought, this article presents the results of corpus-based studies on antipassive structure in the Polish language and makes an attempt at confirming the fact that aspectual notion may determine argument realization.
The article consists of three main sections. The first one focuses on notions of aspect and various aspectual propositions distinguished in the literature on the subject, regarding the Polish language in particular. The second section, illustrated with examples extracted from the National Corpus of Polish (NKJP) and the corpus of Wielki Słownik Języka Polskiego (KWSJP), gives an overview of Polish perfectivizing verbal prefixes, i.e. a roz‑, na-, o-/ob- and u-prefix, and deals with the effect they may have on sentence structure and semantics. It also shows how the prefixed verbs combine with the marker się, which flags antipassive, i.e. is a recurring marker attested in antipassive constructions in the Polish language. In section three, an attempt is made at analyzing the interrelations between aspect and antipassive reading of a structure. As it seems that a perfective prefix used with a verb imposes certain requirements on the argument structure of the verb it combines with, we also offer a possible explanation to different aspectual requirements of verbs occurring in antipassive structures, assuming that projections coded in a verb may play a role here.
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MYERS-SCOTTON, CAROL, and JANICE L. JAKE. "Nonfinite verbs and negotiating bilingualism in codeswitching: Implications for a language production model." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17, no. 3 (December 16, 2013): 511–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1366728913000758.
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This paper argues that a set of codeswitching data has implications for the nature of cognitive control in bilingualism and for models of language production in general. The data discussed are Embedded Language (EL) nonfinite verbs that occur in Matrix Language (ML) frames with appropriate ML inflectional morphology in some codeswitching (CS) corpora. Notably EL infinitives are involved, as inwo muconçevoirbe nuɖe. . . “they don't imagine that something . . .” (from Ewe–French CS). The main argument is that such nonfinite forms are selected because they only need checking at the lexical-conceptual level of abstract structure with the speaker's intended semantic-pragmatic meaning. That is, they do not project information about syntactic and argument structure that is included in the abstract structure of finite verbs. Nonfinite EL verbs occur because they better satisfy the speaker's intentions regarding semantic and pragmatic meaning than NL finite verbs. The employment of nonfinite EL verbs instead of EL finite verbs partially explains why codeswitching in general and such verb phrases in particular is perceived as fast and effortless. How one lexical entry (the EL nonfinite verb) can take on the morphosyntactic role of another one (the ML finite verb) implies flexibility in cognitive control at an abstract level. It also implies a certain malleability at an abstract level in the ML morphosyntactic frame that makes it possible to take in a nonfinite verb in a slot for a finite verb.
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Ziegeler, Debra. "Grammaticalisation through constructions." Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics 2 (December 31, 2004): 159–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/arcl.2.06zie.
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Recent arguments by Langacker (2003) on the nature of verb meanings in constructions claim that such meanings are created by entrenchment and frequency of use, and only with repeated use can they become conventionalised and acceptable. Such a position raises the need for a diachronic perspective on Construction Grammar. The present paper investigates the evolution of constructions through the example of thehave-causative in English, which appears to have had its origins as a transfer verb in telic argument structure constructions. When the construction contains a transfer verb, construction meaning reinforces verb meaning and periphrastic causatives may grammaticalise as output; this is a gradual development over time. In one way, then, the verbhavegrammaticalises across a succession of constructions, but in another, the telic argument structure construction itself is seen to have a progressive diachronic development.
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Ellis, Nick C., Matthew Brook O'Donnell, and Ute Römer. "The processing of verb-argument constructions is sensitive to form, function, frequency, contingency and prototypicality." Cognitive Linguistics 25, no. 1 (February 1, 2014): 55–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cog-2013-0031.
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AbstractWe used free association and verbal fluency tasks to investigate verb-argument constructions (VACs) and the ways in which their processing is sensitive to statistical patterns of usage (verb type-token frequency distribution, VAC-verb contingency, verb-VAC semantic prototypicality). In experiment 1, 285 native speakers of English generated the first word that came to mind to fill the V slot in 40 sparse VAC frames such as `he ____ across the. . . .', `it ____ of the. . . .', etc. In experiment 2, 40 English speakers generated as many verbs that fit each frame as they could think of in a minute. For each VAC, we compared the results from the experiments with corpus analyses of verb selection preferences in 100 million words of usage and with the semantic network structure of the verbs in these VACs. For both experiments, multiple regression analyses predicting the frequencies of verb types generated for each VAC show independent contributions of (i) verb frequency in the VAC, (ii) VAC-verb contingency and (iii) verb prototypicality in terms of centrality within the VAC semantic network. VAC processing involves rich associations, tuned by verb type and token frequencies and their contingencies of usage, which interface syntax, lexis and semantics. We consider the implications for the mental representation of VACs.
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Darlina, Lien. "Derivational affixes in Japanese and Indonesian." Journal of Applied Studies in Language 2, no. 1 (June 11, 2018): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.31940/jasl.v2i1.813.
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Japanese and Indonesian seen from morphological typology is an agglutinative language in which the morphological processes are done by affixation, ie by adding prefixes, suffixes and infixes. While the basic sequence sentence structure has a SOV sequence pattern for Japanese and SVO for Indonesian language. The predicate filled by the verb is capable of binding arguments in constructing the clause structure, so that there are verbs with one, two and three arguments, it depends on the type of verb. This study is a preliminary study of Japanese and Indonesian derivative verbs: the study of linguistic typology. The Theory of Linguistic Typology is used to analyze the formation of Japanese and Indonesian derivative verbs in which the verb serves as the core of the predicate to bind the argument in constructing the clause structure. From the perspective of linguistic typology, the results of the analysis show that (1) the basic form of Japanese derivative verb formers are adjectives (keiyoushi) and noun verbs, whereas Indonesian derivative verbs are derived from adjectives, nouns and pre-categorical. (2) The Japanese derivation affixes joining the adjective (keiyoushi) are -める meru, -まるmaru, -がるgaru’, -むmu and which joins the noun verb is -するsuru. While the derivational affix of the Indonesian language that joined the nouns are meng-, ber-, ter-, ke-an, ber-an, ber-kan, per-, -i, per-i, per-kan, the affix that joins the adjective are meng-, ber-, ter-, ke-an, ber-an, ber-kan, per-, -kan, per-i, dan –i and the affixes that join the pre-categorical are meng-, ter-, ber-, ber-an, -i,-kan.
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MEIR, IRIT, CAROL A. PADDEN, MARK ARONOFF, and WENDY SANDLER. "Body as subject." Journal of Linguistics 43, no. 3 (October 22, 2007): 531–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022226707004768.
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The notion of subject in human language has a privileged status relative to other arguments. This special status is manifested in the behavior of subjects at the morphological, syntactic, semantic and discourse levels. Here we present evidence that subjects have a privileged status at the lexical level as well, by analyzing lexicalization patterns of verbs in three different sign languages. Our analysis shows that the sub-lexical structure of iconic signs denoting states of affairs in these languages manifests an inherent pattern of form–meaning correspondence: the signer's body consistently represents one argument of the verb, the subject. The hands, moving in relation to the body, represent all other components of the event – including all other arguments. This analysis shows that sign languages provide novel evidence in support of the centrality of the notion of subject in human language. It also solves a typological puzzle about the apparent primacy of object in sign language verb agreement, a primacy not usually found in spoken languages, in which subject agreement generally ranks higher. Our analysis suggests that the subject argument is represented by the body and is part of the lexical structure of the verb. Because it is always inherently represented in the structure of the sign, the subject is more basic than the object, and tolerates the omission of agreement morphology.
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BARBIERI, ELENA, SILVIA AGGUJARO, FRANCO MOLTENI, and CLAUDIO LUZZATTI. "Does argument structure complexity affect reading? A case study of an Italian agrammatic patient with deep dyslexia." Applied Psycholinguistics 36, no. 3 (July 25, 2013): 533–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0142716413000337.
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ABSTRACTThe argument structure complexity hypothesis (Thompson, 2003) was introduced to account for the verb production pattern of agrammatic patients, who show greater difficulty in producing transitive versus unergative verbs (argument number effect) and in producing unaccusative versus unergative verbs (syntactic movement effect). The present study investigates these two effects in the reading performance of a patient (GR) suffering from deep dyslexia. GR read nouns significantly better than verbs; moreover, her performance was better on unergative than on transitive verbs, whereas the comparison between unergative and unaccusative verbs did not differ significantly. Data support the extension of the argument structure complexity hypothesis to word naming and suggest that the two aspects of argument structure complexity occur at different levels within models of lexical processing.
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Jordens, Peter. "Systematiek En Dynamiek Bij De Verwerving Van Finietheid." Toegepaste Taalwetenschap in Artikelen 71 (January 1, 2004): 9–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ttwia.71.02jor.
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In early Dutch learner varieties, there is no evidence of finiteness being a functional category. There is no V2nd: no correlation between inflectional morphology and movement. Initially, learners express the illocutive function of finiteness through the use of illocutive markers, with the non-use of an illocutive marker expressing the default illocutive function of assertion. Illocutive markers are functioning as adjuncts with scope over the predicate. Illocutive markers become re-analysed as functional elements.The driving force is the acquisition of the auxiliary verbs that occur with past participles. It leads to a reanalysis of illocutive markers as two separate elements: an auxiliary verb and a scope adverb. The (modal) auxiliary carries illocutive function. Lexical verb-argument structure (including the external argument) occurs within the domain of the auxiliary verb. The predicate as the focus constituent occurs within the domain of a scope adverb. This reanalysis establishes a position for the external argument within the domain of AUX. The acquisition of AUX causes the acquisition of a (hierarchical) structure with a complement as a constituent which represents an underlying verb-argument structure, a predicate as the domain of elements that are in focus, and an external (specifier) position as a landing site for elements with topic function.
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Tenny, Carol L. "Modularity in Thematic versus Aspectual Licensing: Paths and Moved Objects in Motion Verbs." Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 40, no. 2 (June 1995): 201–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s000841310001584x.
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AbstractThis article investigates the nature of argumenthood and adjuncthood, through an examination of the behaviour of the internal arguments of two classes of motion verbs in English. A highly modular view is put forth, in which three separate distinctions influencing argument-like or adjunct- like behaviour must be recognized: aspectual versus thematic licensing, structural versus inherent case assignment, and referentiality versus non-referentiality. Of these three, only referentiality is a graded rather than a binary distinction. The distinction between aspectual and thematic licensing is developed and elucidated. A picture emerges in which aspectual structure may itself be thematically licensed by a verb, and this aspectual structure may have its own arguments, which are then indirectly licensed by the verb. Cognate objects and Romance measure phrases are also discussed in light of these theoretical conclusions.
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NAIGLES, LETITIA R., and NADINE LEHRER. "Language-general and language-specific influences on children's acquisition of argument structure: a comparison of French and English." Journal of Child Language 29, no. 3 (July 22, 2002): 545–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305000902005159.
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This research investigates language-general and language-specific properties of the acquisition of argument structure. Ten French preschoolers enacted forty sentences containing motion verbs; sixteen sentences were ungrammatical in that the syntactic frame was incompatible with the standard argument structure for the verb (e.g. *Le tigre va le lion = *The tiger goes the lion). Previous work (Naigles, Fowler & Helm; Naigles, Gleitman & Gleitman indicated that English-speaking two-year-olds faced with such ungrammatical sentences consistently altered the usual meaning of the verb to fit the syntactic frame (FRAME COMPLIANCE) whereas adults faced with the same sentences altered the syntax to fit the meaning of the verb (VERB COMPLIANCE). The age at which children began to perform Verb Compliantly varied by frame and by verb. The current study finds that the level of Verb Compliance in French five-year-olds largely mirrors that of English-speaking five-year-olds. The sole exception is the intransitive frame with an added prepositional phrase (e.g. *Le tigre amène près de la passerelle = *The tiger brings next to the ramp), which elicits a higher level of Verb Compliance among French kindergarteners than among their English learning peers. This effect may be due to the unambiguous interpretation of French spatial prepositions (i.e. next to has both locative and directional interpretations whereas près de supports only the locative interpretation). These data support the conclusion that the acquisition of argument structure is influenced by both language-general mechanisms (e.g. uniqueness, entrenchment) and language-specific properties (e.g. prepositional ambiguity).
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Ellis, Nick C., Matthew B. O’Donnell, and Ute Römer. "Second language verb-argument constructions are sensitive to form, function, frequency, contingency, and prototypicality." Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 4, no. 4 (December 8, 2014): 405–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/lab.4.4.01ell.
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We used free association tasks to investigate second language (L2) verb-argument constructions (VACs) and the ways in which their access is sensitive to statistical patterns of usage (verb type-token frequency distribution, VAC-verb contingency, verb-VAC semantic prototypicality). 131 German, 131 Spanish, and 131 Czech advanced L2 learners of English generated the first word that came to mind to fill the V slot in 40 sparse VAC frames such as ‘he __ across the …’, ‘it __ of the …’, etc. For each VAC, we compared these results with corpus analyses of verb selection preferences in 100 million words of usage and with the semantic network structure of the verbs in these VACs. For all language groups, multiple regression analyses predicting the frequencies of verb types generated for each VAC show independent contributions of (i) verb frequency in the VAC, (ii) VAC-verb contingency, and (iii) verb prototypicality in terms of centrality within the VAC semantic network. L2 VAC processing involves rich associations, tuned by verb type and token frequencies and their contingencies of usage, which interface syntax, lexis, and semantics.