Abstract
AbstractThis paper explores the formal expression of two Basque dative argument types in combination with psych nouns and adjectives, in intransitive and transitive clauses: (i) those that express the experiencer, and (ii) those that express the stimulus of the psychological state denoted by the psych noun and adjective. In the intransitive structure involving a dative experiencer (DatExpIS), the stimulus is in the absolutive case, and the intransitive copulaizan‘be’ shows both dative and absolutive agreement. This construction basically corresponds to those built upon thepiaceretype of psychological verbs typified in (Belletti, Adriana & Luigi Rizzi. 1988. Psych-verbs andθ-theory.Natural Language and Linguistic Theory6. 291–352) three-way classification of Italian psych verbs. In the intransitive structure involving a dative stimulus (DatStimIS), the experiencer is marked by absolutive case, and the same intransitive copula shows both absolutive and dative agreement (with the latter corresponding to the dative stimulus and not to the experiencer). We show that the behavior of the dative argument in the two constructions is just the opposite of each other regarding a number of morphosyntactic tests, including agreement, constituency, hierarchy and selection. Additionally, we explore two parallel transitive constructions that involve either a dative experiencer and an ergative stimulus (DatExpTS) or a dative stimulus and an ergative experiencer (DatStimTS), which employ the transitive copula *edun‘have’. Considering these configurations, we propose an extended and more fine-grained typology of psych predicates.
Highlights
Most studies of predicative psych expressions focus on verbs; studies of psych nouns and adjectives are rare. Belletti and Rizzi (1988) proposed a three-way classification of psych verbs which has been widely used in the literature
In the DatStimIS the dative stimulus does not alternate with an ergative stimulus; dative agreement can be dropped, the dative forms a constituent with the psych noun and is preceded and c-commanded by the absolutive experiencer, and lastly, the dative marking can alternate with some postpositions, depending on the psych noun
Two issues must be highlighted here: first, the dative stimulus and the psych noun behave as a single constituent with respect to dislocation with baizik, in the second interpretation; second, the transitive structure involving a dative stimulus can drop the dative agreement under certain circumstances as we have seen in cleft sentences and with baizik dislocation
Summary
Most studies of predicative psych expressions focus on verbs; studies of psych nouns and adjectives are rare. Belletti and Rizzi (1988) proposed a three-way classification of psych verbs which has been widely used in the literature. (3b) shows the same pattern attested with Class III verbs (piacere ‘please’): dative experiencer and absolutive stimulus, along with their corresponding dative and absolutive agreement in the intransitive copula. This example shows the noun or adjective atsegin ‘pleasure/pleasant’ instead of the verb gustatu ‘please’ (exemplified above in [2c]). We analyze the syntactic behavior of different predicative configurations involving psych nouns/adjectives in Basque and propose a classification in the light of Belletti and Rizzi’s typology of psych verbs. The structures in (8a–b) are similar to each other in two respects Both involve two arguments, i.e., the experiencer and the stimulus of the psychological state denoted by the psych noun/adjective.
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