Correlation of grammatical and semantic parameters in portuguese change-of-state verbs

Abstract

Verbs denoting change of state are a semantic-syntactic universal as they share common patterns in languages of different types. One of such patterns is their ability to take part in causative-inchoative alternation when one and the same situation codified by certain language units can be seen both from the viewpoint of the actor vs recipient (transitive model) and from the viewpoint of the recipient only, provided that the recipient is the only agent in the verb’s structure (inchoative model), unlike in passive constructions. In causative-inchoative alternation situations these verbs choose one of the three alternation types: a) suppletive (matar – morrer), b) anticausative, when the inchoative meaning is codified morphologically with the help of the pronominal particle se (espantar – espantar-se) and c) labile, when the inchoative meaning is optionally marked by se without any change in grammaticality or semantics. The present paper argues that the choice of pronominal or non-pronominal form of the verb in the inchoative meaning with an inanimate subject (A janela (se) quebrou) depends on the parameter of animate / inanimate subject in the corresponding transitive construction and, to a certain extent, on the graduality inherent to the verb’s semantics (the acceptability of quantification). It is also shown that Brasilian Portuguese reveals the tendency to realize the labile type of alternation when the subject of the inchoative verb is inanimate; in Old Portuguese, on the contrary, the anticausative type (marked by se) was more frequent.