Light verbs and the syntax of aspect in Yiddish

Abstract

The stem construction in Yiddish is a type of light verb construction in which a light verb (heading an LVP) takes an Asp(ect)P complement, which in turn takes a VP complement (cf. Travis 1992). The AspP is headed by an aspectual operator, yielding a “diminutivized event” interpretation. A puzzling fact about the stem construction is that the verbal elements seem to reflect an OV order, while Yiddish is in other respects a VO language. This OV-like ordering is a consequence of incorporation. A second, more restricted, type of light verb construction in Yiddish is also discussed, in which the thematic element is an indefinite NP complement. Here there is no AspP; the light verb takes a VP complement which is headed by a null verb which itself takes the predicate nominal as its complement. In both constructions, the light verb semantically selects for a complement which denotes some sort of diminutivized event; the differing distribution of the verbal and nominal forms of the light verb construction results from semantic differences between the Asp operator and the indefinite determiner.