Argument Structure: typological perspective - BMA-ANGD-A2...

Preview:

Citation preview

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Argument Structure: typological perspectiveBMA-ANGD-A2 Linguistic Theory

Irina Burukina

irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu

Part I

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 1 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Overview

The lectures aim to provide an overview of various syntactic phenomena re-lated to argument structure and argument structure transformations from atypological perspective.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 2 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Today we will talk about

1. IntroductionArgument structureGrammatical functionsNominative vs. ergative languagesChanges in Lexicon vs. in SyntaxVoice

2. Demotion of argumentsPassiveAntipassive I, II

3. Reflexive

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 3 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

We will not talk about

Non-verbal predicatesAll existing approaches to particular Voice transformations

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 4 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Introduction

Argument structure. Argument vs. Predicate

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 5 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Argument structure

Predicates and arguments: one-place, two-place, three-place predicates.Arguments denote participants. They receive / are assigned thematic roles:theme, patient, agent, experiencer, instrument, etc.Example:

run <Agent>injure <Agent, Theme>drop <Theme, Location>drop <Agent, Theme, Location>

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 6 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Argument structure

Sub-categorization of verbs:intransitive (unaccusative vs. unergative), transitive, ditransitive.

run <Agent> ← ITVinjure <Agent, Theme> ← TVdrop <Theme, Location> ← TVdrop <Agent, Theme, Location> ← DTV

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 7 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Argument structure

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 8 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Introduction

Grammatical functions

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 9 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Grammatical functions

Thematic roles vs. grammatical functions:subject > direct object > indirect object > oblique(← Relational Hierarchy)

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 10 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Grammatical functions

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 11 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Grammatical functions

In English:Subject – structurally higher, controls agreement, nominative (assigned by T).Direct object – structurally lower, accusative (assigned by v).

(1) a. She likes them.b. *Her likes they.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 12 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Grammatical functions

In English:Subject – structurally higher, controls agreement, nominative (assigned by T).Direct object – structurally lower, accusative (assigned by v).

(2) a. They like each other. ← Subject binds Objectb. *Each other like them. ← Object cannot bind Subjectc. Ii want [ PROi to like them].← PRO occupies the Subject position

d. *Ii want [ they to like PROi.← PRO cannot occupy the Object position

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 13 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Introduction

Nominative vs. Ergative

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 14 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Nominative vs. Ergative

If there are two nominal phrases in a clause, it would be good to indicate whichone is the subject (structurally higher, more prominent) and which one is theobject (structurally lower, less prominent) → We can mark one of them (andleave the second one unmarked, default, for instance).First option – to mark the Object← Nominative-Accusative languages

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 15 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Nominative vs. Ergative

Second option – to mark the Subject← Ergative-Absolutive languages

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 16 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Nominative vs. Ergative

Hunzib (Nakh-Daghestanian; eastern Caucasus):

(3) a. kidgirl

y-ut’-ur.cl2-sleep-pst

‘The girl slept.’b. oždi-l

boy-ergkidgirl

hehe-r.hit-pst

‘The boy hit the girl.’

Source for case: ergative – inherent, by v; absolutive – structural, by T or v.[Aldridge 2004; Legate 2008]

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 17 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Nominative vs. Ergative

Note: We can mark the nominals themselves (Case marking alignment) or wecan add special agreement markers to the main verb that correspond to subject/ object (verbal person marking alignment).Kaqchikel (Mayan, spoken in Guatemala):

(4) a. (Röj)1pl

y-at-q-oyojicmp-abs.2sg-erg.1pl-call

(rat)

‘We call you.’b. (Rat)

2sgy-oj-aw-oyojicmp-abs.1pl-erg.2sg-call

(röj)1pl

‘You call us.’

(5) y-oj-okicmp-abs.1pl-enter‘We enter.’

(6) y-at-okicmp-abs.2sg-enter‘You enter.’

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 18 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Nominative vs. Ergative

Case marking alignment – nominative (blue, 52) vs. ergative (red, 32) – accord-ing to WALS (190 languages in total).

Link: https://wals.info/feature/98A#2/25.5/148.9

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 19 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Introduction

Changes in Lexicon vs. in Syntax

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 20 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Changes in Lexicon vs. in Syntax

Reinhart and Siloni (2005):Arity operations – operations that affect the arity (valency) of a predicate (sup-press the syntactic realization of one of the thematic roles of the verb). Arityoperations are universal, but the level at which they apply is a parametric choice.The lex-syn parameter:Universal Grammar allows thematic arity operations to apply in the lexicon orin the syntax.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 21 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Changes in Lexicon vs. in Syntax

Some hints:A lexical setting allows ’changed’ nominalizations while a syntacticsetting seems to disallow them.In syntax languages, a change is a productive operation; In lexiconlanguages, the change is limited.Syntactic changes can be less restricted (apply to a broader range ofarguments).

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 22 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Introduction

Voice

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 23 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Voice

Originally, Voice – particular alternations in the assignments of grammaticalfunctions to the verb’s arguments.Voice (1) – change in the grammatical functions of the arguments.Voice (2) – valence alternation (decrease or increase of the number of arguments;see Levin and Rappaport 1995, Haspelmath and Müller-Bardey 2005, Reinhartand Siloni 2005, a.o.)

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 24 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Voice

In English: active Voice vs. passive Voice

(7) a. Mary wrote this book.← active

b. This book was written by Mary.← passive

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 25 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Voice

VoiceP (Kratzer 1996) / vP (Chomsky 1995; Marantz 1997) in the structure →Often interpreted as identical; a single projection for verbalizing and introducingthe external argument.

VoiceP/vP

Voice′/v′

VP

Johnsee

Voice0/v0

Mary

Harley (2005): vP verbalizes, VoiceP introduces the external argument.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 26 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

What can we do with arguments?

1 Reduce the number of arguments:Demotion of argumentspassive, antipassiveReflexiveDeletion of argumentsmiddle, antipassive

2 Increase the number of argumentscausative, applicative

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 27 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Demotion of arguments

Passive

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 28 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive

Passive – (1) the external argument is demoted, (2) an internal argument ispromoted.

(8) a. Mary wrote this book.b. This book was written (by Mary).

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 29 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive

The external argument is not deleted completely!

(9) a. This book was written (by Mary).b. This book was written to impress everyone.c. This book was written drunk.

(10) a. The ship was sunk with a torpedo.b. *The ship sank with a torpedo.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 30 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive

Any thematic role of the external argument:

(11) a. The porcupine cage was welded by Elmer. (agent)b. Elmer was moved by the porcupine’s reaction. (cause)c. The porcupine crate was received by Elmer’s firm. (goal/recipient)d. Elmer was seen by everyone who entered. (experiencer)

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 31 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive: (a) structural representationJaeggli (1986), Baker (1988), Baker, Johnson, Roberts (1989):

TP

T′

vP

PP

Maryby

vP

v′

VP

tisee

v0

-en

T0

Johni

Problems: incorporation of an external argument, theta-criterion (Bruening(2013) for an update).

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 32 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive: (a) structural representation

Problems with the external argument being an adjunct (Collins 2018) – binding:

(12) a. The packages were sent by the children to themselves.b. *The packages were sent for the children to themselves.

Collins 2018, structure:

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 33 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive in ergative languages

Passive in ergative languages – Labrador Inuit (Smith 1982):

(13) a. Anguti-upman-erg

annakwoman.abs

taku-janga.see-3sg.subj:3sg.obj.prs

‘The man sees the woman.’b. Annak

woman.abs(anguti-mut)man-dat

taku-jau-juk.see-pass-3subj.prs

‘The woman is seen (by the man).’

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 34 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive in the world’s languages

WALS: 373 languages, + passive (red, 162), no passive (white, 211)

Link: https://wals.info/feature/107A#2/16.6/148.9

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 35 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive: puzzles

Impersonal Passive – German (Steinbach 2002):

(14) Esit

wirdaux

hierhere

getanzt.danced

‘People are dancing here.’Literally: ‘There is dancing here.’

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 36 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Passive: puzzles

In some languages it is possible to passivize intransitive verbs (Bolinger 1977,Bresnan 1982, Alsina 2009).

(15) a. The bed was slept in by George Washington.b. George Washington slept in the bed.c. The bed has been thoroughly rolled around on.d. Someone has rolled around on the bed.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 37 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Demotion of arguments

Antipassive I, II

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 38 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive I

Antipassive – an internal argument is demoted. See Polinsky (2017) for anoverview.Conative constructions in English:

(16) a. He ate the meat.b. He shot the bear (#but he missed)c. He ate at the meat.d. He shot at the bear (but he missed)

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 39 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive I

Antipassive in other nominative languages – Russian:

(17) a. Mal’čikboy.nom

brosalthrew

kamni.stones.acc

‘The boy threw stones.’b. Mal’čik

boy.nombrosal-sjathrew-SJA

kamnjami.stones.inst

Literally: ‘The boy threw with stones.’

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 40 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive I

Antipassive is better recognized in ergative languages.An antipassivized predicate becomes intransitive → the ERG marker often dis-appears.Active:External argument = Subject, ERGInternal argument = Object, ABSAntipassive I:External argument = Subject, ABSInternal argument = case-less bare nominal phrase or an oblique phrase.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 41 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive I

Antipassive in Kaqchikel (Mayan):

(18) a. Ridet

alaboniman.pl

x-Ø-ki-tïkcmp-abs.3sg-erg.3pl-plant

ridet

ützgood

ixim.corn

← Active

‘The men planted good corn.’b. Ri

detalaboniman.pl

x-e-tik-oncmp-abs.3pl-plant-ap

(ixim).corn

‘The men planted (corn).’c. Röj

wex-e-qa-tz’ëtcmp-abs.3pl-erg.1pl-see

ri oxi tz’i.det three dog

We saw three dogs.’d. Röj

wex-oj-tz’et-oncmp-abs.1pl-see-ap

r-chingen.3sg-of

ridet

oxithree

tz’i.dog

‘We saw three dogs.’Literally: ‘We saw at three dogs.’

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 42 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive I: (a) structural representation

VoiceP

Voice′

VP

PP

IntAP0

V0

VoiceAP

ExtA

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 43 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive II

In some languages (for instance, Inuit (Eskimo-Aleut)), demotion of an internalargument is connected to Aktionsart.Active:External argument = Subject, ERGInternal argument = Object, ABSAktionsart (for affecting verbs): TelicAntipassive II:External argument = Subject, ERGInternal argument = an oblique phrase.Aktionsart (for affecting verbs): Atelic

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 44 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive II

Warlpiri (Pama–Nyungan; Australia) (Polinsky 2017):

(19) a. njuntu-lu2sg-erg

npa-tju2sg-1sg

pantu-nuspear-pst

ngatju.1sg.abs

‘you speared me’successfully; complete event with a result

b. njuntu-lu2sg-erg

npa-tju-la2sg-1sg-ap

pantu-nuspear-pst

ngatju-ku1sg-dat

‘you speared at me’you tried; incomplete event without a result

This is somewhat similar to English! Recall that in Kaqchikel there was nocorrelation between antipassive and aktionsart.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 45 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Antipassive II: analyses

The trend: Different object-licensing positionsSpreng (2012); Alexiadou (1999), a.o. – ‘extra projection’ analyses.The functional head v/Asp [-Telic] selects the verbal root and licenses eitherinherent case or accusative case on the internal object.

*The tree from Polinsky (2017).Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 46 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Reflexive

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 47 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Reflexive Voice

Reflexivity – internal / external arguments have identical reference; one parti-cipant receives two thematic roles.English vs. Romance languages: English reflexives – independent DPs, Spanish/ French reflexives – clitics.Spanish:

(20) a. I see not myself in the mirror.b. #Yo no me veo en el espejo.

Only: ‘I do not see myself in the mirror.’c. I see myself and my friend.d. *Yo veo me y (a) mi amigo.e. I see a snake near myself.f. *Yo veo una serpiente cerca de me.

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 48 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Reflexive Voice

The passive thematic role is not deleted.Spanish:

(21) Yo me veo a mi mismo.‘I see myself.’

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 49 / 50

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

...

.

Reflexive Voice

Labelle (2008)VoiceP

Voice′

VP

variableV0

VoiceREFL

ExtA

Irina Burukina (irine-bu@caesar.elte.hu)Argument Structure: typological perspective Part I 50 / 50

Recommended