Unaccusativity

Unaccusativity
Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
Total Pages : 356
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0262620944
ISBN-13 : 9780262620949
Rating : 4/5 (949 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Unaccusativity by : Beth Levin

Download or read book Unaccusativity written by Beth Levin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1994-12-07 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Besides providing extensive support for David Perlmutter's hypothesis that unaccusativity is syntactically represented but semantically determined, this monograph contributes significantly to the development of a theory of lexical semantic representation and to the elucidation of the mapping from lexical semantics to syntax. Unaccusativity is an extended investigation into a set of linguistic phenomena that have received much attention over the last fifteen years. Besides providing extensive support for David Perlmutter's hypothesis that unaccusativity is syntactically represented but semantically determined, this monograph contributes significantly to the development of a theory of lexical semantic representation and to the elucidation of the mapping from lexical semantics to syntax. Perlmutter's Unaccusative Hypothesis proposes that there are two classes of intransitive verbs - unergatives and unaccusatives - each associated with a distinct syntactic configuration. Unaccusativity begins by isolating the semantic factors that determine whether a verb will be unaccusative or unergative through a careful examination of the behavior of intransitive verbs from a range of semantic classes in diverse syntactic constructions. Notable are the extensive discussions of verbs of motion, verbs of emission, and various types of verbs of change of state. The authors then introduce rules that determine the syntactic expression of the arguments of the verbs investigated and examine the interactions among them. The proper treatment of verbs that systematically show multiple meanings - and hence variable classification as unaccusative or unergative - is also considered. In the final chapter, the authors argue that the distribution of locative inversion, a purported unaccusative diagnostic, is determined instead by discourse considerations. Linguistic Inquiry Monograph No. 26


Unaccusativity Related Books

Unaccusativity
Language: en
Pages: 356
Authors: Beth Levin
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 1994-12-07 - Publisher: MIT Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Besides providing extensive support for David Perlmutter's hypothesis that unaccusativity is syntactically represented but semantically determined, this monogra
The Unaccusativity Puzzle
Language: en
Pages: 388
Authors: Artemis Alexiadou
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2004 - Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The phenomenon of unaccusativity is a central focus for the study of the complex properties of verb classes. This book combines contemporary approaches to the s
Unaccusativity and the Double Object Construction in Sumerian
Language: en
Pages: 234
Authors: J. Cale Johnson
Categories: Sumerian language
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010 - Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Sumerian, probably the earliest attested language in human history, has no known cognates. Accordingly, many features of Sumerian grammar are still under discus
Morphology 2000
Language: en
Pages: 344
Authors: Sabrina Bendjaballah
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2002 - Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume focuses on two main topics: comparative morphology (i.e. cross-linguistic analysis, including typology, dialectology and diachrony) and psycholingui
Die Slavischen Sprachen / The Slavic Languages. Halbband 1
Language: en
Pages: 1195
Authors: Sebastian Kempgen
Categories: Foreign Language Study
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009 - Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This series of HANDBOOKS OF LINGUISTICS AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCE is designed to illuminate a field which not only includes general linguistics and the study of