Projection of Arguments: Lexical and Compositional Factors

by Miriam Butt, Wilhelm Geuder, Wilhem Geuder

Overview

It is becoming increasingly clear that the standard approach to argument linking in terms of 'thematic roles', which are determined by the lexical meaning of verbs, has some serious shortcomings. This volume sets out to explore alternatives to a rigid model of lexical projection. It brings together a set of papers from different backgrounds that converge on the general hypothesis that the many semantic factors which influence the projection of arguments should be attributed to compositional processes rather than to the fixed contents of lexical entries. Proposals for a reassessment of the lexicon-syntax interface are included, as well as topics addressing questions of argument hierarchies and adicity of predicates, and the syntax and semantics of argument alternations in a set of very diverse languages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575861111
Publisher:	Center for the Study of Language and Inf
Publication date:	06/01/1998
Series:	Center for the Study of Language and Information - Lecture Notes Series , #83
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Miriam Butt is professor for general and computational linguistics at the University of Konstanz.

Table of Contents

Event structure in argument linking; Deconstructing the lexicon; Building verb meanings; Delimiting events in syntax; Strong and weak projection: Lexical reflexives and reciprocals; Voice and transitivity as functional projections in Yaqui; Noun incorporating verbs in West Greenlandic; Partitive case and aspect; Scrambling and the PF interface.