The Curious Case of Ditransitive Pity, or the Productivity of an Unproductive Pattern

Abstract

Abstract This article starts out from the observation that, in present-day English, pity is occasionally used in the ditransitive [Subj V Obj1 Obj2] argument structure pattern, although the verb denotes an emotional state and can hardly be construed as encoding an event by means of which a transfer of possession is potentially brought about. Since the English ditransitive construction is undergoing a semantic specialization process, one hypothesis that comes directly to mind is that the sporadic uses of ditransitive pity are a relic from a formerly more well-entrenched use. Data from the CLMET 3.1 corpus and from COHA suggest that this scenario is unlikely, though. Instead, it will be argued that ditransitive pity – as well as uses with other emotion verbs such as rue and resent – are low-level extensions starting from the verb-specific [Subj envy Obj1 Obj2] pattern, which is thus less unproductive as has been assumed in the existing literature.