English Verb Classes and Alternations: A Preliminary Investigation

366 Pages·1993·6.02 MB·English

by  Beth Levin

Contents
Preface XV11
Introduction: The Theoretical Perspective 1
The Layout ofthe Book 21
PartOne: Alternations
1 Transitivity Alternations 25
1 1 ObjectofTransitive = SubjectofIntransitive
.
Alternations 25
11 1 Middle Alternation 25
. .
1 12 Causative Alternations 26
. .
112 1 Causative/Inchoative Alternation 27
. . .
1 122 Induced Action Alternation 31
. . .
1 123 OtherInstances ofCausative Alternations 31
. . .
1 13 Substance/Source Alternation 32
. .
12 Unexpressed ObjectAlternations 33
.
12 1 Unspecified Object Alternation 33
. .
122 Understood Body-Part Object Alternation 34
. .
123 Understood Reflexive Object Alternation 35
. .
124 Understood Reciprocal Object Alternation 36
- .
125 PRO-arb ObjectAlternation 37
. .
126 Characteristic Property Alternations 39
- .
126 1 Characteristic Property ofAgent Alternation 39
- . .
1262 Characteristic Property ofInstrument Alternation 39
. . .
127 Way Object Alternation 40
- .
1-2-8 Instructional Imperative 40
J-3 Conative Alternation 41
lA Preposition Drop Alternations 43
1-4.1 Locative Preposition Drop Alternation 43
1-4-2 Mf/j Preposition Drop Alternation 44
viii Contents IX
Contents
2 Alternations Involving Arguments Within the VP 45 37 ContainerSubject Alternation 82
222...32123LDB1oeacntiaevStfepiavrcAeatilyAvt/eeLlrtoneAaarlntdtieaortAninohanteimon&Uon 44455890 3R33....e981fl0exRSiSuvamoewuDrMocifaeaMtthSeeoursinbaijesleySAcStulbtuAejbrlejtnceeatrctnAtioaAltntileostrennrantaitoinon 88884233
. .
232 C/ear Alternation (transitive) 51 4 1 Virtual Reflexive Alternation 84
. .
2.3.3 Wipe Alternation 53 42 ReflexiveofAppearance Alternation 84
2.3.4 Swarm Alternation 53 P.assive 85
2.3.5 Clear Alternation (intransitive) 55 5 1 Verbal Passive 86
,
2.4 Creation and Transformation Alternations 55 5.2 Prepositional Passive 86
2.4.1 Material/Product Alternation (transitive) 56 5,3 Adjectival Passive (transitive verbs) 86
2.4.2 Material/Product Alternation (intransitive) 57 5.4 Adjectival Perfect Participles (intransitive verbs) 87
243 Total Transformation Alternation (transitive) 57 Alternations Involving Postverbal "Subjects" 88
. .
2.4.4 Total Transformation Alternation (intransitive) 58 6.1 TTiere-Insertion 88
25 Reciprocal Alternations 58 62 Locative Inversion 92
. .
25 1 Simple Reciprocal Alternation (transitive) 59 OtherConstructions 95
. .
252 TogefAerReciprocal Alternation (transitive) 61 7 1 Cognate ObjectConstruction 95
. . .
253 Apart Reciprocal Alternation (transitive) 62 72 Cognate Prepositional Phrase Construction 96
. . .
254 Simple Reciprocal Alternation (intransitive) 62 73 Reaction ObjectConstruction 97
. . .
255 Togef/ier Reciprocal Alternation (intransitive) 64 74 X's WayConstruction 99
. . .
256 Apan Reciprocal Alternation (intransitive) 64 75 Resultative Construction 99
. . .
26 Fulfilling Alternation 65 76 Unintentional Interpretation ofObject 101
. l .
27 Image Impression Alternation 66 76 1 Unintentional Interpretation with Reflexive Object 101
. . .
28 With/Against Alternation 67 762 Unintentional Interpretation with Body-Part Object 102
. . .
29 Through/With Alternation 68 77 BoundNonreflexive Anaphoras Prepositional Object 104
. .
2 10 fi/ame Alternation 69 78 Directional Phrases with NondirectedMotion Verbs 105
. .
2 11 .Searc/i Alternations 70 Verbs Requiring Special Diatheses 107
.
2 12 Body-Part PossessorAscension Alternation 71 8 1 Obligatory Passive 107
. .
2 13 Possessor-Attribute Factoring Alternations 72 82 Obligatorily Reflexive Object 107
. .
2.13.1 PossessorObject 73 8.3 Inalienably Possessed Body-PartObject 107
2.13.2 Attribute Object 74 8.4 Expletive It Object 109
2.13.3 Possessorand Attribute Alternation 75 8.5 Obligatory Adverb 109
2.13.4 Possessor Subject(transitive) 76 8.6 Obligatory Negative Polarity Element 109
213.5 Possessor Subject (intransitive) 7"?
2.14. Alternation 78 PartTwo: Verb Classes
3 "Oblique" Subject Alternations 79 Verbs ofPuttin
g 111
3 1 Time Subject Alternation 79 91 PMf Verbs 111
3.2 Natural Force Subject Alternation 74 9.2 Verbs ofPutting in a Spatial Configuration 112
3.3 Instrument Subject Alternation !<<, 9.3 Funnel Verbs 113
3.4 Abstract Cause SubjectAlternation 1 9.4 Verbs ofPutting with a Specified Direction 114
3.5 Locatum Subject Alternation 9.5 Pour Verbs 115
3.6 Location Subject Alternation - 9.6 Coil Verbs 116
.
X Contents Contend XI
97 Sprayllxiad Verbs ] 17 Verbs ofContact by Impact 148
. 18
98 Fi7ZVerbs 119 18.1 Hit Verbs 148
.
99 Swfter Verbs 120 18.2 Swat Verbs 150
.
9 10 Pocto Verbs 121 18.3 SpankVerbs 151
.
10 Verbs ofRemoving 122 18 4 Non-AgentiveVerbs ofContactby Impact 153
10.1 RemoveVerbs 122 Poke Verbs 154
19
10.2 Banish Verbs 123 Verbs ofContact: Touch Verbs 155
20
10.3 Clear Verbs 124 Verbs ofCutting 156
21
10.4 Wipe Verbs 125 21.1 Cut Verbs 156
10.4.1 Manner Subclass 125 21.2 Carve Verbs 157
10.4.2 Instrument Subclass 127 VerbsofCombining and Attaching 159
22
10.5 Verbs ofPossessional Deprivation: Steal Verbs 128 22.1 MixVerbs 159
10.6 Verbs ofPossessional Deprivation: Cheat Verbs 129 22.2 Amalgamate Verbs 160
10.7 PirVerbs 130 22.3 Shake Verbs 161
10.8 DeboneVerbs 130 22.4 Tape Verbs 162
10.9 Afme Verbs 131 22.5 Cling Verbs 164
11 Verbs ofSending and Carrying 132 23 Verbs ofSeparating and Disassembling 164
11.1 Send Verbs 132 23.1 Separate Verbs 165
11.2 .SMe Verbs 133 23.2 SplitVerbs 166
11.3 Bring md Take 134 23.3 Disassemble Verbs 167
11.4 Garry Verbs 135 23.4 Differ Verbs 167
11.5 DriveVerbs 136 24 Verbs ofColoring 168
12 Verbs ofExerting Force: PushlPullVerbs 137 25 ImageCreation Verbs 169
13 Verbs ofChange ofPossession 138 25.1 Verbs ofImage Impression 169
13.1 Give Verbs 138 25.2 .ScrifeWe Verbs 170
13.2 Contribute Verbs 138 25.3 IllustrateVerbs 171
13.3 Verbs ofFuture Having 139 25.4 Transcribe Verbs 171
13.4 Verbs ofProviding 140 26 Verbs ofCreation andTransformation 172
13.4.1 VerbsofFulfilling 140 26.1 Build Verbs 173
13.4.2 Equip Verbs I41 26.2 Grow Verbs 174
13.5 Verbs ofObtaining I41 26.3 Verbs ofPreparing 175
13.5.1 Ger Verbs I41 26.4 Create Verbs 175
13.5.2 O am Verbs I42 26.5 Knead Verbs 176
13.6 Verbs ofExchange 143 26.6 Turn Verbs 177
13.7 fierry Verbs 144 26.7 Performance Verbs 178
27
14 Learn Verbs 144 Engender Verb
28 s 179
15 Holdand KeepVerbs 145 CaZve Verbs
180
29
15.1 Hold Verbs 145 Verbs with Predicative Complements 180
15.2 Keep Verbs 145 29.1 Appoint Verbs 181
16 Verbs ofConcealment 146 29.2 Characterize Verbs 181
17 Verbs ofThrowing 146 29.3 DubVerbs 182
17.1 Throw Verbs 146 29.4 DeclareVerbs 182
17.2 PeltVerbs 147 29.5 Conjecture Verbs 183
xii Contents
Contents
29.6 MasqueradeVerbs 183 Chew Verbs 214
39.2
29.7 Orphan Verbs 184 GobbleVerbs 214
39.3
29.8 Captain Verbs 184 DevourVerbs 215
39.4
30 Verbs ofPerception 185 DineVerbs 215
39.5
30.1 See Verbs 185 39.6 GorgeVerbs 216
30.2 Sight Verbs 186 39.7 VerbsofFeeding 216
30.3 Peer Verbs 187 Verbs Involving the Body 217
30.4 Stimulus Subject Perception Verbs 187 40 40.i Verbs ofBodily Processes 217
31 Psych-Verbs (Verbs ofPsychological State) 188 40.1.1 HiccupVerbs 217
31.1 AmM.se Verbs 189 40.1.2 Breathe Verbs 218
31.2 Admj're Verbs 191 40.1.3 Exhale Verbs 218
31.3 Marve/Verbs 192 40.2 Verbs ofNonverbalExpression 219
40.3 VerbsofGestures/Signs Involving Body Parts 220
31.4 Appeal Verbs 193
32 Verbs ofDesire 194 40.3.1 Wink Verbs 220
32.1 Wanr Verbs 194 40.3.2 Crane Verbs 221
32.2 Lon Verbs 194 40.3.3 Curtsey Verbs 222
33 JudgmentVerbs 195 40.4 SnoozeVerbs 222
34 Verbs ofAssessment 196 40.5 Flinch Verbs 223
35 Verbs ofSearching 197 40.6 VerbsofBody-Intemal States ofExistence 223
35.1 Hunt Verbs 197 40.7 SuffocateVerbs 224
35.2 Search Verbs 198 40.8 Verbs ofBodily StateandDamage to theBody 224
35.3 Stalk Verbs 198 40,8.1 Fain Verbs 224
35.4 InvestigateVerbs 198 40.8.2 TingleVerbs 225
35.5 Rummage Verbs 199 40.8.3 Hurt Verbs 225
35.6 Ferrer Verbs 199 40.8.4 VerbsofChangeofBodily State 226
36 Verbs ofSocial Interaction 200 41 Verbs ofGrooming andBodily Care 227
36.1 Corre o/iJVerbs 200 41.1 Verbs ofCaring fortheWhole Body 227
36.2 Marry Verbs 201 41.1.1 DresjVerbs 227
36.3 Meet Verbs 201 41.1.2 Groom Verbs 228
37 Verbs ofCommunication 202 41.2 VerbsofCaringforaSpecific Body Part 228
37.1 Verbs ofTransferofaMessage 202 41.2.1 Floss Verbs 228
37.2 Tell 203 41.2.2 firairf Verbs 229
37.3 Verbs ofMannerofSpeaking 204 41.3 VerbsofDressing 229
37.4 Verbs ofInstrument ofCommunication 206 41.3.1 Simple Verbs ofDressing 229
37.5 Talk Verbs 207 41.3.2 Verbs ofDressingWell 229
37.6 Chitchat Verbs 208 41.33 Verbs ofBeing Dressed 230
37.7 Say Verbs 209 42 Verbs o.fKilling 230
37.8 Cdwp/ain Verbs 210 42.1 Murder Verbs 230
37.9 Advise Verbs 211 42.2 Poison Verbs 232
43
38 Verbs ofSounds Made by Animals 212 Verbs ofEmission 233
39 Verbs ofIngesting 213 43-1 Verbs ofLightEmission 233
39.1 £ar Verbs 213 43.2 Verbs ofSound Emission 234
xiv Contents XV
Contents
43.3 Verbs ofSmell Emission 236 51.7 /i<xom/wn.y Verbs 270
43.4 Verbs ofSubstance Emission 237 AvoidVerbs 270
44 Destroy Verbs 239 52 Verbs ofLingering and Rushing 271
45 Verbs ofChange ofState 240 53 53.1 VerbsofLingering 271
45.1 fireafc Verbs 241 53.2 VerbsofRushing 271
45.2 Bend Verbs 242 Measure Verbs 272
54
45.3 Cooking Verbs 243 54.1 Register Verbs, 272
45.4 OtherAlternating Verbs ofChange ofState 244 54.2 Cost Verbs 272
45.5 Verbs ofEntity-Specific Change ofState 246 54.3 Fit Verbs 273
45.6 Verbs ofCalibratuble Changes ofState 247 54.4 Price Verbs 273
46 Lodge Verbs 24H 54.5 Bill Verbs 274
47 Verbs ofExistence 249 55 Aspectual Verbs 274
47.1 Exist Verbs 249 55.1 Begin Verbs 274
47.2 Verbs ofEntity-Specific Modes ofBeing 250 55.2 Complete Verbs 275
47.3 Verbs ofModes ofBeing Involving Motion 251 56 Weekend Verbs 275
47.4 Verbs ofSound Existence 252 57 WeatherVerbs 276
47.5 Verbs ofGroup Existence 25? References 277
47.5.1 .SVamj Verbs 253 Verb Index 313
47.5.2 Herd Verbs 254
47.5.3 Bulge Verbs 254 References 277
47.6 Verbs ofSpatial Configuration 255 Verb Index 313
47.7 Meander Verbs 256
47.8 Verbs ofContiguousLocation 257
48 Verbs ofAppearance, Disappearance, andOccurrence 258
48.1 Verbs ofAppearance 258
48.1.1 Appear Verb* 258
48.1.2 Reflexive Verbs ofAppearance 259
48.2 Verbs ofDisappearance 260
48.3 Verbs ofOccurrence 260
49 Verbs ofBody-Internal Motion 261
50 Verbs ofAssuming a Position 26_
51 Verbs ofMotion 263
51.1 Verbs ofInherently Directed Motion 2(11
51.2 Leave Verbs 264
26J
51.3 MannerofMotion Verbs
264
51.3.1 «oH Verbs
265
51.3.2 /?Mn Verbs
51.4 Verbs ofMotion Using aVehicle
51.4.1 VerbsThat Are Vehicle Names
268
51.4.2 Verbs That Are Not Vehicle Names
268
51.5 Wa/fz Verbs
261'
51.6 CAase Verbs
preface
1 he set of resource materials on the English verb lexicon which make
up this book grew out of work begun as part of the cross-linguistic study
of lexical organization and lexical representation undertaken by the Lexi-
con Project of the MIT Center for Cognitive Science, which I was affiliated
with during the years 1983-1987. I thank Ken Hale and Jay Keyser, the co-
directors of the project, for giving me the opportunity to participate in the
stimulating research atmosphere of the project. This book would never have
happened without the Lexicon Project: it started life as a handout on lexi-
cal organization prepared for the project's seminar series. The book contains
expanded and revised versions of earlier lists of verb classes and diathesis
alternations (dated 1984 1985, 1986, and 1989), which have been previously
,
circulated.
Morepeople thanI canhope to acknowledge have contributed to this work
ThelateBillMartinfirstencoura .
gedmetothinkdeeplyabouttheseissues.Boris
Katz JudyKegl,BetsyRitter,JaneSimpson
, andespeciallySueAtkinsdeserve
,
myspecialthanksfortheircontinuingencouragementtogetthematerialinthis
book into a form that could be published I would like to thank Sue Atkins,
enHale MaryLaughren,MalkaRappapo.rtHovav
, andBetsyRitterformany
valuable discussions Roz Fergusson and Jim Mc,Cawley offered extensive
.
Ge ffH1' Commentso
nanearlierdraft- Michael Brent Annette Herskovitz,
,
TalkeMacfarland.andTovaRapoportalsocommentedonportions
of rti
Rapo6 draft" 1 am 8rateful t0 olivia Chang' Li Ya Fei- Tina Nielsen, Tova
toOr1*0"' BetSy Ritterforhelp in comPiling tfr8 book and its precursors;
witijI la hang.JazmineLoiselle, AliceRusnock, and KirstenWinge forhelp
for g e b,b]iography; to David Weir for help with L eX; to Ken Church
en ratln8 the Verb index; 311(1 t0 christine Bartels for her excellentjob
CoPyedit
oB l! manuscript. I am also indebted to the many linguists and
lexic
The J1 rs wlloseworkI havedrawn on in preparing thisbook.
dilation of this book was aided b
y a series of discussions among
Prel
xvin
icon Project during 1985-6 and by two meetings of the
members of the Lex
Lexicon Seminar in the fall of 1985 that were devoted to discussions of verb
ts have also benefited from meetings of the Worki
properties. The conten ng
Group on the Polythcoretical Lexicon in 1987 as well as from the Workshops
,
boththe 1986LinguisticInstituteatCUNY andthe 19 7
ontheLexiconheldat
Linguistic Institute at Stanford University. Introduction:
The OxfordAdvancedLearner's Dictionary in electronic form has been an
The Theoretical Perspective
invaluable tool for filling out specific sets of verbs. A variety of dictionaries
in printed form have also aided this work. They include: The Collins-Robert
English-French Dictionary, The Collins COBUILD English Language Din,,,
nary. The Longman Dictionary ofContemporary English, and The Longman
Lexicon ofContemporaryEnglish.
During the years 1983-1987, this work was supported by a grant from the
System Development Foundation tothe Lexicon Projectofthe MITCenter lor The resource materials on the English verb lexicon presented in this book
Cognitive Science. Since 1989, this work has been supported in part by NSF initial results of an ongoing investigation ofthe syntactic and
represent some
GrantBNS-8919884. semanticpropertiesofEnglishverbs.Thisintroductiongivesanoverviewofthe
I hope that this book serves to stimulate further research into the lexical conceptionoflexicalknowledgethatformsthefoundationforthisinvestigation
organization andlexical representation ofEnglish verbs. andshowshow aresearchprogramdevotedtocompilingthekindsofmaterials
includedherecanassistin increasing such knowledge.
Thisworkisguidedbytheassumptionthatthebehaviorofaverb,particularly
withrespectto the expression and interpretation ofits arguments, is to a large
extentdeterminedby its meaning. Thus verb behaviorcan be used effectively
toprobeforlinguisticallyrelevantpertinentaspectsofverbmeaning.Thisbook
offers an attempt at delimiting and systematizing the facets ofverb behavior
.
Its contents should help pave the way toward the development ofa theory of
lexicalknowledge Ideally,suchatheorymustprovidelinguistically motivated
.
lexicalentriesforverbswhichincorporatearepresentationofverbmeaningand
whichallowthem
eaningsofverbstobeproperlyassociatedwith the syntactic
expressions oftheirarguments
.
TheNatureofL
exical Knowledge
fieldnorT05'Widelykn0WnviewsofthelexiconisthatarticulatedbyBloom-
listofba ): Wr0te
''The lexicon is really an aPPendix ofthe grammar, a
aniculated 1113"1'68'(P' 274)'Bloomfield'sviewconformstoafrequently
deSlderatum foran ideal lexicon-a lexicon that contains the mini-
muniinf
P videao . "neCeSSary andthat therefore, asBloomfieldproposes,hasto
lexicali 0o}!rd0fpreci.se'ytheidios'yncraticinformationassociatedwitheach
tem
lexPiceacltktnoolwejled aS3'wthhiSoIVeie1W1106fktnhoewlelexdicgoenthoaftfearsspaenakinecrodmemploentestpraictetusrweiothf
-
oenf'03 ltems
owled suggests that there is more to lexical knowledge than
idiosyncratic word-s
pecific properties.
Introduction
2 Introduction 3
This characteristic oflexical knowledge is easily illustrated with respectto That is, the verbappearcannotbe used transitively to mean "cause to
argument-taking elements, show especially complex sets of appear.
verbs. Verbs, as intransitive."
in B. Levin (1985b, in prep.) and other works, native /--
properties. As shown The window broke, (inchoative variant)
speakers can make extremely subtlejudgments concerning the occurrence of (7) a. Thelittle boybroke the window, (causative variant)
of possible combinations of arguments and adjuncts in b
verbs with a range .
various syntactic expressions. For instance, speakers ofEnglish know which a A rabbitappearedoutofthemagician's hat
diathesis alternations-alternations in the expressions of arguments, some- b *The magician appearedarabbitoutofhish.at.
of meaning-verbs may participate in. They
times accompanied by changes
xpress their arguments in two Theability to make suchjudgments extends to novel combinations ofargu-
know that verbs such as spray and load may e
differentways, displayingthe so-calledlocativealternation. "Ifenatssesantdhoaudgjhuntycptsi.caFlolyreinxsptraenscsee,dsapse/aokreprrseopfosEitniognliashlpkhnraoswest,hcaatnbseonmefeatcimtivees
(1) a. Sharon sprayed wateron theplants. beexpressedas the firstobjectin the double objectconstruction.
Sharon sprayedthe plants with water.
b
. (9) a. Marthacarvedatoyoutofwood forthebaby.
(2) a. Thefarmerloadedapples into thecart. b Marthacarvedthebabyatoyoutofwood
The farmerloadedthe cart with apples. . .
b
. Yetaspeaker also knows when this option is notavailable Though (10a) is
But the same speakers know that some verbs which are apparently closely .
a near-paraphrase of(9a), speakers ofEnglish know that there is no sentence
ddo not allow both options:fill and covershow one
related to spray and loa (10b) comparable to (9b) where thebenefactive is expressed as an object
possibility, while dumpandpourshow the other. .
(10) a. Marthacarvedsomewoodintoatoy forthebaby
(3) a. *Monicacovered ablanket overthebaby. b. *Marthacarvedthebaby some woodintoatoy .
Monicacovered thebaby with ablanket. .
b
. Englishhasproductivemorphologicalprocesses forderiving new verbs that
(4) ba. *GGiinnaafifilllleeddltehme opintacdheerinwtoiththleempiotcnhaedre.. oareruznedreor-srtealnadteindgtothneoseunves,r1bsa.nTdhsepaedakveenrstooffeElencgtlrioshnihcacvoemnmoudnificfiactuilty in using
. onhasbeen
(5) a. Carlapoured lemonade into thepitcher. aitccompaniednotonly by the widespread use ofthe noun modem but also by
*Carlapouredthe pitcher with lemonade. suseasaverbmeaning 'communicate viamodem' ,
b. .
"I'llmodemhimtomo
(6) a. The farmerdumped apples into the cart. rrow" saidoneofthem urgedby Mr. Krensto
getintouchwithanout , ,
Furtherbm. o*rTeh,espfaeramkeerrsdaugmrepeedinthtehceiarrtjwudigthmaepnptlsesc.oncerning subtle differ- New York Times, May 2-9o,f-1t9ow88n,cpo.l1le)ague.(ArtsandLeisureSection,
Modern
ences in meaning associated withalternate expressions ofa verb's arguments. , then, is taking its place among a set ofverbs that take their names
Fbourt tihnasttasnecnet,entcheey(2kan)onweetdhantotsesnutgegnecset (th2bis). Tsuhgugse(s2tsa)t,hbauttthneotc(a2rtb)i,slofuu"Iji svpeerbaksereEtn"i*inentS 0f0fcothmemluimniictaattiioonns{ocanbtlhee, wpriroec,esrasdoifo,ceretcat.)i. Once again,
This is the much- nabvir ng denominal
be used to describe a cart that is half-full of apples. ( imagi Verbs of this t
effect;seereferencescitedinPartIunderLocaiive usesofno ype are being coined daily' certain
unsasverbs
discussed"holistic/partitive" arenotpossible AsHaleandKeyser(1992)
.
AltAernspateiaokne.)r of English also knows whether a verb may participate m 1 IJ ofSlotht ?"' this work' 1 use theterm zero-relatedratherthan zero-derivedwhen
d in English-diathesis alternati Weasanoun* tWeenthe
othfatvairinvooulsvetraancshitainvigtye ainltearnvaetribo'nsstrfaonusnitivity. So for example, although Usin8ttie "n,Ssimncceeatlthhoouugohh i 'JusesofaParteeiccCuttsslaaarddweeossiirrrdeeittnootrcrw"5moale''n"xinnceeauulttcrraaatlleagboooruuiettstt,hhseeuddcihreacstitohne
ive uses, where the transitive 2?" lated"Indor,e lnStanCeSthedireCtion isclear'lnothers"15 r Also,in
verb break shows transitive and intransit ive," this possibiW lot vationalproc \,ntendt0 anypositionwithrespecttothedebateasto
oknfothwenvaesrbthemceaanussartoivueg/ihnlcyho"acatiuvseeatloter6n/a-etaio-ni-ntriasnnsoitt available for ihL N . ess " thieaddltionofacategory-changingzero-moiphemeor
Intr<HiUctiJ
4 uctio" 5
lotrod
pmoeianntionugt",gaivsepetoakaecrhoufrcEhn,"glaisshinw*oTuhledyncehvuerrchuesdetthheemnoonueny.church as a VCrb 106WBe'5sesee"eweaosuilldy)n, oatltahlolouwghththeemsipdedalkeecrownshtorucintitoernpWrehtsagleasilgyaialsy"efarisgilhyte(cnf".
Speakers ofEnglish also know that certain English verbs manifest what B *Mfind this construction perfectly acceptable (cf. Whalesfrighten easily).
LevinandRapoport(1988)havecalledextendedmeanings(orsenses)andwhat Th sthetwospeakers' differenttreatmentofgailymaybeexplainedbytheir
Apresjan (1973) calls regularpolysemy. This phenomenon is best introduced 1 t assumptions concerning its meaning. Hale and Keyser propose that
with an example. Verbs like whistle and roar, which basically describe th . constructionis availableonly toacertain semanticallydefinedclass
e middle
emissionofasound,canregularly takeoncertain additional senses (see Atki verbs whose meaning involves a notion ofcausing achange ofstate.
ns erbs:
andB. Levin (1991), B. Levin (1991)). Forinstance, they canbe usedas verbs Theypoint out changeofstate verbs such &sfri8hten, cut, split, open, and
ofdirected motion, describing an object moving and simultaneously emitti middles, but that other types of verbs such as see, consider, and
ng Ush have
asound, asin Thebulletwhistledthrough the windowor Thecarroaredup,/J R do not. Only the speaker who attributes the change of state meaning
elieve
driveway. Yet speakers know that they cannot use the apparently comparable to gaily will allow the verb to be used in the middle construction.
"frighten"
*Thedogbarkeddown thestreetbehindthejoggerto say that a dog ran down The speaker who-contrary to fact as it turns out-believes that gaily means
the streetbarkingbehind ajogger. correctly does notallow this option.
"see"
The examples described in this section are representative ofawide range of Thegaily example shows vividly that for speakers ofEnglish, knowing the
phenomena that suggestthata speaker's knowledge ofthe properties ofaverb meaningofaverbcanbeakeytoknowingitsbehavior.Presumably predictions
goes wellbeyondan awareness ofthe simpleexpression ofitsarguments- -the about verb behavior are feasible because particular syntactic pr,operties are
typeoflexicalknowledgetraditionallyrepresentedinsubcategorizationframes. associatedwithverbs ofacertain semantic type. Thegailyexampleandothers
Furthermore,thespeaker'sabilitytomakesubtlejudgments aboutpossibleand like it suggest that general principles of grammar are at work, allowing the
actualverbsandtheirpropertiesmakes itunlikely thatall that aspeakerknows syntacticbehaviorofa verb to be predictedfrom its meaning. Theirexistence
about a verbis indicated in its lexical entry. should explain a speaker's ability to make the judgments discussed in the
previous section.3
VerbMeaning: A Key toVerb Behavior
AMoreComplexExample
What underlies the ability to make suchjudgments? Hale and Keyser (1987)
present a telling example that suggests the following answer: what enables a
Further examination ofthe nature oflexical knowledge confirms that various
speakerto determine the behaviorofa verb is its meaning.
aspectsofthe syntactic behaviorofverbs are tied to theirmeaning. Moreover
HaleandKeyserconsiderthearchaicEnglishverbgaily,awhalingterm,used
verbs that fall into classes according to shared behavior would be ex ,
as in The sailors gallied the whales. A speaker of English who is unfamiliar pected
with this verb might assume that gaily means "see" (The sailors saw the ktinooiTlfrihSha0r3e1d1bmeedaenminognsctoramtePdonweinthts. This point about the nature of lexical
whales), while a second speaker might take gaily to mean "frighten" (/''<. a more extensive example; an investiga-
jsauasdsilugommrspeftnirtoisgnahsbteaonbueotduittsthtsheyenwtmahcaetaliecnsib)n.eghWaovhfiaogtra.iisTlyos,tiritlhlkueisnttgrwatioesstthphieasatp,kooeirnnstt.ahHreeablaeabsaliensdloolKmeth>aeksee tahnedseW0 ?i,tekpEVeaIrgnbCleSlU(bd1ri9ena885k')F,CiHIultma'lehoriaUenad(n1K9d6et7yo)su'ecrGh('u1we9r8hs6isce,hl1,9dH8raa7wl)e,s,aoLnndauLsgeahvuregerhnaIr,esBntu.(dL1i9ee8vs8ion)f,.
lookatthemiddletransitivity alternation.Thesubjectoftheintransitive nudde
utrsaensoitfivaevuesrebocfosrrleicsepoinndTshteobtahkeerobsjleiccetdotfhtehebrteraadnswitiivthe tuhsee;mciodmdlpeaure"t inUnds<1tIreucctoionnnsCt!nudceuno00"tInie aySeVimemP,;ie11s13a1niSa'g"ennte(eCdry11s0t1alhavVaese3sssPheacttiefircetaimsiely)refwerheinleceth.eSeinccohnoda,ttihvee
the same verb. Stale breadslices easily? The speaker who believes that f 31pandtdhiengrepeafd.n,"0'<7S7C"i'tecdry,shlaerlevaseshattered).Seethediscussionofthe,setwoalternationsin
**lion SeeR ""0" e-aCh 0ftheseJudgments g s beyond the scope ofthis intro-
lust2raTtehdeimni(d7d)lewiatlhtetrhneatvioenrbsbhroeualkd.nAoltthboeugcohnbfoutshedarweittrhanthseiticvaituysaatlitveer/niantcihoonsatwivheearel,cirhni-*t'-l" |t.t.t (Ti !;Sae.e97H9a)lefoaarpnpmdaoDrort "d(1B99L1e)v'n(*mdis»cu)sasnidonPoinfktehre(c1h9u8r9ch)feoxraamdpilsecaunssdioEn.Vo.fCthlaerksparnady/Hlo.aHd.
oftheintransitiveuseoftheverbbearsthesamesemanticrelationtotheverbastheobje'-1'' <jgo dedm e8eneral di<icusslonofproductive strategiesforcoining verbsfromnouns.
tdriafnfesritsivferoumset,hteheinrechaoreatdivieffecroennscteruscbtieotnw,etehnetihnetrtawnositcivoensvtaruricatniotnosf.tFhiersct,authseatmiveid/dinlcelKcoWnl-,<u,r n " esaatnivineg/mn"C!!"01a13"1v6e'SadltlesrcnuastsieodniinsdBi-scLuessed(a19t9gr1e)aatnedrlBen.gLtehviinntahnedfRolalpopwaipnogrtseHcotivoanv.
6 Introducti0ll
Introduction
The verbs break, cut, hit, and touch are transitive, taking two argumen
ts MargaretcutBill's arm.
expressed as subject and object, but we will see that they have little else in (15) !ar. MargaretcutBill on the arm.
common.
Janetbroke Bill'sfinger.
(12) a. Margaretcutthebread. (16) a. *Janet brokeBill on thefinger.
b Janetbrokethe vase. b
. .
c Terry touchedthecat. TerrytouchedBill'sshoulder.
d. Carlahitthedoor. (17) a. TerrytouchedBillon the shoulder.
. b
.
Inparticular, these verbsdifferwithrespecttotheirparticipationindiathesis
CarlahitBill's back.
alternations.First,themiddlealternationdifferentiatesamongthesefourverbs (18) a.
b CarlahitBill on theback.
Onlycutandbreak,butnothitandtouch,arefoundinthemiddleconstruction4 .
Thisalternationischaracterizedbyachangeintheexpressionofapossessed
(13) a. The bread cutseasily.
bodypart: eitherthepossessedbodypartmaybeexpressedas thedirectobject
b Crystal vases breakeasily.
. oftheverb, as in the (a) sentences, or the possessor may be expressed as the
c *Cats touch easily.
. objectofthe verb, with the possessed body part expressed in a prepositional
d *Doorframeshiteasily.
. phrase, asinthe(b) sentences.
On the otherhand, cutandhitappearin theconativeconstruction, asshown Each verb shows a distinct pattern of behavior with respect t
o these three
in(14), butbreak and touch donot. alternations, as summarizedin the table
.
(14) a, Margaretcutat thebread. touch hit cut break
b *Janetbroke atthe vase. Conative: No Y
. es Yes No
c *Terry touched at thecat. Body-PartPossessorAscension: Yes Yes Yes No
. Middle: No No Yes Yes
d Carlahit atthe door.
.
Thefourpatterns
Theconativealternationisalsoatransitivityalternation,butunlikethemiddle ofbehaviorobservedherecannotsimplybedismissedbeca
theyarelinkedto fourdifferentverbs. Correspondingtoeacho use
and causative/inchoative alternations, the subject ofthe transitive variant (12) veibsar neofthesefour
and intransitive variant (14) bears the same semantic relation to the verb.l eotherverbsthatshow the samepatternofbehavior.
The variants differ in the expression of the other argument: in the conative (19)
construction, theargumentcorrespondingtotheobjectofthetransitive variant a. BreakVerbs: break, crack, rip, shatter, snap,.
c Tn CUt hack' Saw' scratch- s h.. .
is expressed in aprepositional phrase headedby at. The conative construction c- Verbs: p'at
issetapartbyitsmeaning: thereisnoentailmentthattheactiondenotedbythe , stroke, tickle, touch
. Verbs: bash, hit, kick,pound ,...
Margaret tried tocul tap. whack,..
verb was completed. Thus (14a) means something like " .,u..vi,, lay, wuatR., ...
01 f0Ur Verbclassesbe recognizedthatare definedbythe shared
the bread." beha
Yetanother diathesis alternation-the body-partpossessorascension altt'r' butse"* 0f members with
nation-distinguishes cut, hit, and touch from break. Only break docs no ( SeiQ ?*68 (Flllmore (196r7e)spGecutertsosethleetaablove diathesis alternations,
display this alternation. ctheir innes rShaVe examined each s.etofverbs in (1.9()19c8lo5s)e,lHyaalnedafnodunKdeythseart
4Theusesofhitinthissectioninvolvethesimple"contactthroughthemotionofanlnstrUr, omdmiffoerenc 0 WCeerlt1aianS asPects of meaning. Thus their members have
sneontsneeocefstshairislvyerinbv.oTlhveevaenrybshuibtsiesqnuoetntfomuontdioinnothfethmeiedndtlietyctohnasttriuschtiito.nHoonwtehviesrs,ethnesev,ewrbhwh Assenasfiitrivste5t°SPartlculabrechavisoerrncaamn biceperxopplearitnieeds.iTfhtheesedsiatuthdeiessisparlotepronsaetitohnast
bseactotenrdhsietntsheetbhaatllmoivgehrttbheefdeensccreibTedhiasss"eccoonntdacsteunssiengofanhiitnastlrlouwmsenthteanmdisdedtleinfmorostioomne, safs*- ""SheCslosely afthIldbeomdyif->po'iamnrtgpop11no1e6snsretesslseoovfravnaetsrcbmemenaseniaoinnnignagclto.emrnpaotinents let us look
To ensure thatthe examples in t.his section unambiguously involve the simple sense o cw, -,' touch on. W, hat distin-
exampleshaveanimmovableentityastheobjectoftheverb. 'whichenterintothisalternation frombreak which
, ,