Abstract
The aim of this research is to verify the hypotheses on the asymmetry between source and goal PPs from both a syntactic and a cognitive point of view.Nam’s (2004) syntactic analysis shows that Goal PPs behave like adjuncts while Source PPs are internal arguments. Lakusta and Landau’s (2005) cognitive experimental research reveals the tendency in speakers to express Goal paths over Source paths. Landau (2010) suggests that one of the causes of this asymmetry might be related to the lexicon: are there more attachment verbs than detachment verbs? If so, the more frequent exposure to goal paths would explain the goal bias.For this purpose I have classified approximately 500 Italian transitive verbs of motion, the analysis of which revealed that verbs showing a goal pattern account for the vast majority in the lexicon, but also that goal verbs and source verbs behave differently with respect to such properties as transitive-intransitive pronominal alternation and subject alternation. The former is much more frequent with goal verbs, while the latter is applicable only to goal verbs.Furthermore, the application of diagnostics like topicalization and pro-form confirms the syntactic asymmetry between source and goal PPs.
Highlights
The aim of this paper is the empirical verification of Nam‟s hypothesis (2004) on the asymmetry between source and goal PPs, which was confirmed by the results of the experiments carried out by Lakusta and Landau (2005, 2012)
Lakusta and Landau claim that the prominence of the goal with respect to the source, i.e. the goal bias, at the cognitive level may be related to the possible presence in the lexicon of a higher number of verbs that require goal PPs rather than source PPs
Considering only those verbs that denote either the source path or the goal path, it can be observed that goal verbs account for 310 out of 426, i.e. 72%
Summary
The aim of this paper is the empirical verification of Nam‟s hypothesis (2004) on the asymmetry between source and goal PPs, which was confirmed by the results of the experiments carried out by Lakusta and Landau (2005, 2012). Lakusta and Landau claim that the prominence of the goal with respect to the source, i.e. the goal bias, at the cognitive level may be related to the possible presence in the lexicon of a higher number of verbs that require goal PPs rather than source PPs. The classification and analysis of about 500 Italian transitive verbs of motion allowed me to verify the prominence of goal patterns in the lexicon, as hypothesized in Lakusta and Landau‟s research. Empirical analysis of the data allowed me (a) to numerically weigh the verbs that require the source and/or goal PPs, and (b) to highlight the syntactic properties that distinguish goal and source verbs. Subject alternation is systematically applied only to goal verbs following a certain syntactic pattern
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