18/11/2020

Last week….

Concepts of modern linguistics • Lexical verbs

LECTURE 7  denote events

 have an event structure
LEXICAL VERBS (II)
 have selection features: select arguments
(c-selection & s-selection)

Task Today

a. A child was smiling on a bench.  Lexical verbs:

b. Bob carved the turkey. thematic roles
c. The army destroyed the city. a closer look at one-argument verbs
d. Bob sent his parents a nice letter.

Verbs and theta-roles Theta-roles

John cut the bread. `  A V has a lexical conceptual structure/event

the semantic structure and it assigns a number of theta-roles
function of (ɵ-roles/thematic roles) depending on this event
Agent Patient an argument structure

the inventory of theta-roles is a limited one

Verbs assign theta-roles to their arguments

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Theta-roles Theta-roles

John broke the glass.

Agent = the initiator or doer of the action
The flowers bloomed.
Patient = an entity which undergoes a change of
state

Linguistics frightens some students.

The ball rolled down the slope.
 Experiencer (‘experience’ is a core part of the
 Theme (= an entity which undergoes a change of
meaning of the predicate)
location/is the object of experience)

Theta-roles Theta-roles
 The combination of thematic relations that may be
John fixed his guests a drink.
associated with a verb = theta grid
 Beneficiary /Recipient (= the entity for whose
benefit the action takes place)
e.g.
cut < Agent, Patient>
John sent Mary a letter
give <Agent, Theme, Recipient>
 Recipient
run < Agent>

Hagi kicked the ball to Popescu.

Goal

Task Task
12

 run • The detective interrogates the politician.

 smile • Hagi kicked the ball.
 dance • Hagi loves football.
 break
• The old man was snoring.
 kick
• The sky cleared.
 eat
• They ate chocolate.
 send
• Bob sent his sister a letter.
 cook
• Bob sent a letter to his sister.

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Theta-roles A closer look at one argument verbs

= the theta-criterion a. The boys ran to the station.

Each argument is assigned one and only one theta- b. A lot of snow melted on the streets.
role. c. The stone rolled down the hill.
Each theta-role is assigned to one and only one
argument. the boys : Agent
a lot of snow : Patient
the stone: Theme

Task A closer look at one argument verbs

The child ran to the fence.  one argument Vs: Agent

The child fell down. Unergatives
The stone rolled down the hill.
The flowers withered in the garden. run, dance, cry, swim, talk, walk ….
John laughed.

A closer look at one argument verbs A closer look at one argument verbs

a. The children were dancing in the park.

b. She was crying.  predicates describing willed or volitional acts
c. The man swam to the shore.
(Perlmutter 1978)
d. They were talking in a loud voice.
e. He hammered on the table.
f. She knocked on his door.
g. A few people were jogging in the park.

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A closer look at one argument verbs
a. They whispered to one another.
b. She grumbled herself calm.
c. He shouted his voice hoarse.
 manner-of-speaking verbs
A closer look at one argument verbs
a. We sneezed a lot with hay fever.
b. The baby burped.
c. She was weeping with joy at the ceremony.
verbs denoting involuntary bodily processes
A closer look at one argument verbs
one arguments verbs: the role of “non-
Agent” ( Patient/Theme) = unaccusatives
stumble, fall, be, appear, wither….
18/11/2020
A closer look at one argument verbs
a. A dog was barking in the distance.
b. Pigs oink.
c. Elephants trumpet.
verbs describing sounds made by animals
Task
Both my parents were ill at the time and Miss Lawlor
moved in to look after us all. My parents moved round
the flat cautiously as if not too sure of their ability to
do so. My father was the more affected and took
several days off from the bank where he worked as an
investment analyst. It was in this atmosphere that a
telephone call came from Brusssels. It was from a
woman who spoke with a pronounced accent. My
father frowned . On the morning of the third day, a
telegram arrived. My mother brightened. She was
weeping with joy. She ran to the telephone and rang up
Dolly.
A closer look at one argument verbs
a. The child stumbled over a fallen tree.
b. The stone was rolling down the hill.
c. The yolk oozes out.
d. The leaves reddened in the forest.
e. The flowers withered in the garden.
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A closer look at one argument verbs A closer look at one argument verbs

a. There was a book on the table.

b. There appeared a ship in the harbour.
c. An accident occurred on Main St.
 verbs of existence and appearance
/happening
a. The meeting began at 5.00.
b. The conversation continued late into the might.
c. The conversation suddenly ceased when she
entered the room.
 aspectual predicates

A closer look at one argument verbs A closer look at one argument verbs

a. The organization cannot survive unless we make
some changes.
b. The hearing will last for two weeks.
c. She remained in bed for three weeks.
 duratives
a. A cluster of stars glowed above us.
b. The bells were clanging.
c. The sun was shining.
 verbs denoting “non-voluntary emission
of stimuli that impinge on the senses”
(Perlmutter 1978:162 -163)

Task A closer look at one argument verbs

 He sighed. Such memories were what kept

psychiatrists in business. Yet, without a past, the
present remained undefined. He looked out of the
window. In the garden, Bob was still grumbling to
o this distinction is reflected in different syntactic
himself. The magnolia had withered and the leaves of
the oak tree had reddened. Rain drops were
behaviour
dripping from the branches which were swaying in
the cold wind. Suddenly, the gate clinked open and a o across languages
tall man appeared into the garden. Bob smiled and
said something. He was trembling. On his way to the
gate, he stumbled over a bucket which was standing
in the middle of the alley.

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A closer look at one argument verbs A closer look at one argument verbs

e.g. Romanian  English

(1) fallen leaves, recently arrived letter, rusted pipes
(1) copil căzut, frunze uscate, cărţi apărute (2) *talked child, *run man, *coughed patient

(2) *copil rîs, * politicieni alergaţi , *om vorbit

 The past participle of unaccusatives can be used
as a noun modifier (active meaning)
 The past participle of unergatives cannot
• German
(1) * der gewonnene Außenseiter
the won-PART outsider
(2) der gefallene Teller // der angekommene Gast
the fall-PART plate // the arrive-PART guest

A closer look at one argument verbs A closer look at one argument verbs

 Auxiliary selection

 Italian
French
(1) Il est tombé. = unaccusative (1) Giovanni e arrivato.
he is fallen Giovanni is arrived

(2) Il a mangé. = unergative (2) Giovanni ha telefonato.

he has eaten Giovanni has phoned

A closer look at one-argument verbs Summing up

German One-argument verbs fall into two classes:

(i) Unaccusatives
(1) Ein Außenseiter hat/ *ist gewonnen. (have) (ii) Unergatives
an outsider has/ is won

(2) Ein Außenseiter *hat/ ist weggegangen (be) they have different syntactic behaviour
an outsider has/is left the distinction is found across languages

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Summing up Summing up
• lexical verbs have a categorial feature: V
 lexical verbs have an event structure
 In English, verbs
 they select arguments  subcategories of V
 inflect for tense/agreement/aspect :
 one argument verbs: unaccusatives vs. unergatives
-s, -ing, -(e)d, -(e) n
 they c-select their arguments
can be preceded by a modal verb
 they s-select their arguments
can be preceded by auxiliary verbs: be, have, do
 they assign theta-roles
derivational suffixes: -ate, -en, -ify, -ize

• Are there languages without verbs?

NO - the category “verb” is assumed to be universal

Summing up and … looking ahead

 Lexical verbs vs. modal verbs and auxiliaries

 Only lexical verbs have an event structure