Events as grammatical objects: the converging perspectives of lexical semantics and syntax

✍ Scribed by Carol Tenny; James Pustejovsky

• Publisher: CSLI Publications
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 522
• Series: CSLI lecture notes; 100
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Research in lexical semantics, logical semantics, and syntax has demonstrated a growing recognition that the grammars of natural languages structure and refer to events in particular ways. This convergence on events as grammatical objects across these disciplines is the motivation for this volume, which brings together researchers from the areas of lexical semantics, logical semantics, and syntax specifically to address the topic of event structure. Lexical semantics and logical semantics are two enterprises that use different tools and address different questions. The focus on events in the work of lexical and logical semanticists has brought the two approaches closer together, since lexical semanticists must look outward from the verb to the sentence in order to characterize the effects of a verb's event structure; and logical semanticists have had to look inward from the sentence to the verb to represent semantic facts that depend on particular types of verbs. Meanwhile syntacticians have discovered a growing body of phenomena in which the semantics of events can be seen to interact with syntactic structures, and have had to turn to semanticists for representations of the properties associated with events. The mapping between syntax and event structure has also emerged as an important area of research. Despite the different tools, approaches, and questions with which lexical semantics, logical semantics, and syntax are concerned, there is now enough convergence on events that productive dialogue between these areas can advance our understanding of event structure in grammar. This volume specifically focuses on topics relating to events in grammar, where the work of lexical semanticists, logical semanticists, and syntacticians intersect.

✦ Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Cover
Halftitle
Title
Copyright
Contents
Contributors
Preface
Part I: Morpho-semantic composition of event structure
1 A history of events in linguistic theory (Tenny & Pustejovsky)
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The aspectual structure of verb meanings
1.3 Predicate decomposition and event reification
Open research questions
1.4 Mapping to syntax
Transitivity alternations
Linking
1.4.1 Phrase structure
1.5 Stage-level and individual-level predicates
Part I. Morpho-semantic composition of event structure
Part II. How phrase structure encodes events
Part III. Event structure and the syntax and semantics of adverbs
Part IV: On event and state arguments
Bibliography
2 The quantization puzzle (Filip)
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Slavic aspect and the quantized-cumulative distinction
2.2.1 The quantized-cumulative distinction
2.2.2 The quantization puzzle
2.3 Previous related proposals
2.4 The semantics of prefixes with a vague measure function
2.5 Prefixes are not markers of perfectivity
2.6 The semantics of perfective and imperfective aspect
2.7 Concluding remarks
Bibliography
Appendix
3 On lexical verb meanings: Evidence from Salish (Davis & Demirdache)
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Morpho-syntactic unaccusativity in Stʼátʼimcets
3.2.1 Stʼátʼimcets
3.2.2 Roots in Stʼátʼimcets are syntactically unaccusative
3.2.3 Deriving transitive predicates
3.2.4 Deriving unergative predicates
3.2.5 ‘Control’ roots
3.3 Unaccusatives in Stʼátʼimcets are semantically causative
3.3.1 Argument #1. Instrumental adjuncts
3.3.2 Argument #2. Lexical verb meanings: [verb+instrument] schema
3.3.3 Argument #3. Lexical reflexives
3.3.4 Argument #4. ‘Out of control’
3.3.4.1 The predictable distribution of out of control (OOC) readings
3.3.4.2 ‘Out of control’ applies freely to unaccusatives
3.3.4.3 Deriving the sudden/spontaneous occurrence reading of OOC
3.3.4.4 Verbs of (dis)appearance in Stʼátʼimcets
3.3.4.5 Conclusion
3.4 The role of (in)transitivizing morphology
3.4.1 Event foregrounding
3.4.2 Crosslinguistic variation in the morphological encoding of transitivity alternations
3.4.3 Unergatives
3.5 The scope of the causative analysis of unaccusatives
3.5.1 Chierchia, G. (1989) and Pustejovsky (1995)
3.5.2 Levin and Rappaport Hovav (1995)
3.5.2.1 Verbs of existence and appearance
3.5.2.2 Verbs describing internally caused events
3.5.2.3 ‘Agentive’ transitive predicates
3.5.2.4 Fluctuation in the causative-unaccusative alternation
3.5.2.5 Fluctuation in the behaviour of ‘agentive’ transitives
3.5.3 Reinhart (1997)
3.6 Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix: Key to Stʼátʼimcets (van Eijk) orthography
Part II: How phrase structure encodes events
4 Event structure in syntax (Travis)
4.1 The articulation of VP
4.1.1 VP-internal subjects
4.1.2 VP shells
4.1.3 Lexical semantics in syntax
4.1.4 Event structure and phrase structure
4.2 When morphology helps syntax
4.2.1 L-syntax in WMP
4.2.2 Iteration of causatives
4.2.3 S-syntax causatives vs. L-syntax causatives
4.2.3.1 Semantic idiosyncracies
4.2.3.2 Phonological idiosyncracies
4.2.3.3 Lexical idiosyncracies
4.2.3.4 S-syntactic causatives
4.3 When syntax helps morphology
4.4 When semantics helps syntax and morphology
4.5 Further articulation of VP: syntax, morphology, and semantics
4.5.1 Syntax of derived object patterns
4.5.2 Morphological position of aspect
4.5.3 Semantic correlations of syntax and morphology
4.6 Where syntax and morphology help semantics
4.6.1 The atelicity of Malagasy
4.6.2 Telic affixes in Malagasy
4.6.3 Extra cause
4.6.4 Achievements in Malagasy
4.6.5 Cause in Spec,Asp
4.7 Limits of interactions
Bibliography
5 Event structure and ergativity (Ritter & Rosen)
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Event structure and aspectual classification of events
5.2.1 Arguments as constituents in event structure
5.2.2 Phrase structure as event structure
5.3 An event-based language typology
5.3.1 The syntax of events
5.4 D-languages
5.4.1 English
5.4.2 Finnish
5.4.3 The Chinese ba construction: Evidence for FP-delim
5.4.4 Haitian Creole
5.4.5 Summary
5.5 I-languages
5.5.1 Icelandic
5.5.2 Irish and Japanese
5.6 Ergative splits
5.6.1 NP split languages
5.6.1.1 Lakhota and Central Pomo
5.6.1.2 Dyirbal
5.6.1.3 The syntax of NP splits
5.6.2 Animacy hierarchies and obligatory passivization
5.6.3 The paradox of tense/aspect ergative splits
5.6.3.1 The D-language properties of Hindi
5.7 Conclusion
Bibliography
6 Event semantics in the lexicon-syntax interface: Verb frame alternations in Dutch and their acquisition (van Hout)
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Telic/atelic event-type shifting and verb frame alternations
6.2.1 Telic/atelic event-type shifting with two-argument verbs
6.2.2 Telic/atelic event-type shifting with one-argument verbs
6.2.3 Telicity and (underlying) direct objects
6.3 Lexicon-syntax interface as event feature checking
6.3.1 Telicity and the semantics of the direct object
6.3.2 Telicity and object case
6.3.3 Telicity checking in the lexicon-syntax interface
6.4 Arguments without θ-roles
6.4.1 Problems of traditional argument linking approaches
6.4.2 Interpretive principles replace θ-roles
6.5 Learning the event semantics of the telic/atelic alternation in Dutch
6.5.1 Acquisition questions
6.5.2 Experimental set-up: Subjects, materials, procedure and predictions
6.5.3 Results
6.5.4 Interpretation of the results
6.6 Conclusions
6.7 Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Part III: Event structure and the syntax and semantics of adverbs
7 Core events and adverbial modification (Tenny)
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Adverb taxonomy and syntax/semantics correspondences
7.3 Core events, measure, and three verb classese
7.3.1 Core events in the lexical semantic literature
7.3.2 Measure in the semantic literature
7.3.3 Diagnosing verbs with core events
7.3.4 Diagnosing verbs with a measure or path
7.3.5 Diagnosing verbs without core events: verbs of contact, psych verbs, and perception verbs
7.3.6 Three verb classes
7.4 Measure adverbs: Modifying the endstate
7.4.1 The measure reading
7.4.2 The measure reading and the three verb classes
7.4.3 A ‘messing-around’ reading
7.4.4 The syntactic distribution of measure adverbs
7.5 The restitutive reading: Taking scope over the endstate
7.5.1 The restitutive reading
7.5.2 The restitutive reading and the three verb classes
7.5.3 The syntactic distribution of the restitutive adverbs
7.6 False ambiguity: Vagueness masquerading as scope over the endstate
7.6.1 The almost reading
7.6.2 The almost reading and the three verb classes
7.6.3 The syntactic distribution of almost and nearly
7.7 Adverbs and semantic zones
7.7.1 Semantic zones and functional projections
7.7.2 The upper semantic zones
7.7.3 The lower semantic zones
7.7.4 Where do almost and nearly go?
7.7.5 A big picture
7.8 Summary
Bibliography
8 Manners and events (Ernst)
8.1 Introduction
8.1.1 Overview
8.1.2 Some semantic properties of manner modification
8.1.3 New desiderata
8.1.4 Organization
8.2 Clausal vs. manner readings
8.2.1 The clausal/manner contrast
8.2.2 Fact/event objects
8.2.3 Representations for clausal and manner readings: Agent-oriented adverbs
8.2.4 Other types of adverbs
8.2.5 Events and specified events
8.2.6 Summary and conclusion
8.3 The role of selection
8.3.1 Characterizing selection
8.3.2 Selection and the distinction between pure manner adverbs and adverb with both manner and clausal readings
8.3.3 Further examples: Modals and exocomparatives
8.3.4 Selection and the clausal/manner distinction
8.3.5 Summary
8.4 Some implications
8.5 Summary and conclusion
Bibliography
9 Some effects of manner adverbials on meaning (Wickboldt)
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Temporal and causal inferences
9.3 Diagnostics for determining temporal and causal meanings
9.3.1 Ever-modification
9.3.2 Cleft focus
9.3.3 Prosody
9.4 Conditions on causal, temporal, and ambiguous meanings
9.5 Telicity and adverbials
9.5.1 Suspending telicity
9.5.2 Causal dependency
9.6 Focus and adverbials
9.7 Conclusions
Bibliography
Part IV: On event and state arguments
10 How to tell events apart: Light verbs, SE-reflexives and Dutch verbal morphology (ter Meulen)
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Coreference to events and thematic roles
10.3 Coreference and reflexivization
10.4 Adverbial modification and auxiliary selection
10.5 Conclusions
Bibliography
11 Anti neo-Davidsonianism: Against a Davidsonian semantics for state sentences (Katz)
11.1 Introduction
11.2 “Classical” vs. “neo-” Davidsonianism
11.2.1 Nominalization and underlying events/states
11.2.1.1 Types of nominalizations and the fact/event ambiguity
11.2.1.2 Ing_of nominalization and “higher order” verbs
11.2.1.3 Nominalization and direct predication
11.2.2 Complements of perception verbs
11.2.2.1 Why stative complements are different
11.2.3 Some preliminary conclusions
11.3 A classical Davidsonian account
11.3.1 Adverbial classes and “stative” verbs
11.3.2 A troublesome contrast explained
11.4 Conclusion
Bibliography
12 On stativity and causation (Pylkkänen)
12.1 Introduction
12.2 The data: Finnish psych predicates
12.3 Stativity
Test 1: Accusative object case
Test 2: The progressive
Test 3: Habitual interpretation in the present tense
12.4 The stage individual-level distinction
Test 1: Temporal and locative adverbs
Test 2: Bare plurals
Test 3: Always
Test 4: Episodic contrasts
Some further evidence
12.5 The bistativity of the causative
12.6 Differences between stative and non-stative psych causatives
12.7 Conclusion
Bibliography
13 Events and the semantics of opposition (Pustejovsky)
13.1 Persistence and change
13.1.1 Introduction
13.1.2 The individuation of events
13.1.3 Modes of opposition
13.2 Event persistence structure
13.2.1 The principle of property inertia
13.2.2 Adjectives as events
13.2.3 Computing event persistence structure
13.2.4 Examples of event persistence structure
13.3 Persistence and stage-level nominals
13.4 Conclusion
Bibliography
14 Some remarks on linguistic uses of the notion of “event” (Partee)
14.1 The rise of the popularity of ‘the event argument’ among linguists: Some historical notes
14.2 Events and properties of events. Analogies with entities and worlds
14.3 Recursive modification of expressions denoting properties of events
14.4 Grammatical evidence for discrete layers of aspectual structure
14.5 Meanings as properties of expressions or meanings as representations
Bibliography
Backmatter
Subject Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Z
Name Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
V
W
Y
Z
Back cover