Introducing Arguments - Couverture rigide

Pylkkanen, Liina

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0262162547 ISBN 13 : 9780262162548

Editeur : The MIT Press, 2008

Synopsis

A compositional theory of verbal argument structure that explores how “noncore” arguments are introduced into argument structures and examines cross-linguistic variation in introducing arguments.

This concise work offers a compositional theory of verbal argument structure in natural languages that focuses on how arguments that are not “core” arguments of the verb (arguments that are not introduced by verbal roots themselves) are introduced into argument structures. Liina Pylkkänen shows that the type of argument structure variation that allows additional noncore arguments is a pervasive property of human language and that most languages have verbs that exhibit this behavior. It would be natural to hypothesize that the grammatical elements that allow for this variation are the same in different languages, but Pylkkänen, citing the differences between the inventories of verbs that allow additional arguments in English and Venda, shows the difficulties in this assumption. Either the noncore arguments are introduced by different elements with different distributions, she argues, or the introducing elements are the same and some other factor is responsible for the distributional difference.

Distinguishing between these two types of explanations and articulating the properties of argument-introducing elements is the essence of Pylkkänen's theory. Investigating the grammatical elements that allow the addition of noncore arguments, Pylkkänen argues that the introduction of additional arguments is largely carried by seven functional heads. Following Chomsky, she claims that these belong to a universal inventory of functional elements from which a particular language must make its selection. Cross-linguistic variation, she argues, has two sources: selection; and the way a language packages the selected elements into syntactic heads.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Liina Pylkkänen is Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Psychology at NYU.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The MIT Press
• Date d'édition: 2008
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0262162547
• ISBN 13: 9780262162548
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 176
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible