Randall Linking

The Geometry of Argument Structure
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4020-8308-2
Verlag: Springer Netherland
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 74, 326 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory

Linking – how semantic arguments map to the syntax – is one of the challenges for theories of the syntax-semantics interface. In this new approach, Janet Randall explores the hypothesis that the positions of syntactic arguments are strictly determined by lexical argument geometry. Yielding novel – if sometimes surprising – conclusions, her Isomorphic Linking Hypothesis establishes the linking patterns of a wide range of verbs and, with those results, shows how to reason "backwards" from how a given verb's arguments link to what its lexical representation must be. Along the way, the investigation takes on thorny lexical issues – reformulating the Theta Criterion, revisiting the multiple lexical-entry debate, eliminating "indirect" arguments and redefining unaccusativity. It offers new insights into how arguments are represented, assembles a host of argument/adjunct diagnostics, and re-examines the relation between arguments and predicates. The result of this incisive study is a simple and consistent account of linking, integrated with a radical rethinking of the nature of arguments and argument structure.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Randall, Janet H.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

A Geometric Theory of Linking.- Conceptual Structure.- Eliminating the Direct/Indirect Internal Argument Distinction.- Explaining Linking Regularities.- Syntactically Unexpressed Arguments, Incorporation, and Adjuncts.- The Linking of Resultative Verbs: Clausal Fusion.- The Prohibition Against Double Fusion.- More Linking Results Across the Lexicon.- Causative Verbs with PLACE Arguments.- Unaccusatives: A Cluster of Verb Classes.- Complex Causative Verbs.- Other Verb Classes, Other Issues, and Conclusions.