Dative Constructions Research Articles

Asymmetry of English dative constructions and the end-weight principle.

Asymmetry of English dative constructions and the end-weight principle.

Ditransitive predicates and dative arguments in Maltese

This paper is concerned with the syntactic expression of three argument (ditransitive) predicates in Maltese. We provide the first detailed description of the ditransitive constructions found in Maltese, which have been largely ignored in the substantial literature on ditransitive predicates, and show that the primary means of expression for these predicates uses a canonical dative construction. We argue that the canonical dative construction (with ditransitive predicates) is distinct from both a double object construction and a prepositional oblique construction in terms of the mapping of arguments to surface grammatical functions. We provide an analysis of Maltese ditransitives in the Lexical Mapping Theory of Lexical Functional Grammar.

Demarcating Emai dative constructions

This paper investigates the formal and functional character of a dative relation and two additional structural relations in Emai, an Edoid language of West Benue Congo stock (Bendor-Samuel 1989, Williamson and Blench 2000). Each relation is grammatically expressed by a common morphophoneme. Postverbal particle li/ni marks Emai dative constituents. In addition, li/ni codes a limited range of subordinate clause types within complex sentences, and within noun phrases it designates a subset of modifying constituents. To bridge the common formal marking across these structural relations, we postulate their identification of a semantic ground type (within a figure-ground complex) characterized by spatial collectivity and temporal continuity. Our overall conclusion thus pertains to the function of perspective taking in grammar and its formal marking (Talmy 2000), with special emphasis placed on the dative relation.

The Role of Frequency in Korean Learners’ Acquisition of English Dative Construction

This study draws on recent corpus-based information to investigate the influence of frequency on Korean ESL learners' acquisition of English...

Ditransitieve constructies in het Nederlands: semasiologische en onomasiologische kwesties

This paper presents a construction-based exploration of a number of formal and semantic issues surrounding the Dutch double object and prepositional dative constructions. The first part of the paper deals with the formal demarcation of these constructions vis-à-vis other three-place argument structure constructions. The second part discusses diachronic shifts and synchronic variation in the constructional semantics of the double object pattern, the third part briefly looks into the semantic relation between the double object construction and the prepositional dative. The overall aim of the paper is to give a general impression of the way such issues are dealt with in construction grammar.

Comparing the effect of skewed and balanced input on English as a foreign language learners’ comprehension of the double-object dative construction

ABSTRACTAccording to usage-based approaches to acquisition, the detection of a construction may be facilitated when input contains numerous exemplars with a shared lexical item, which is referred to as skewed input. First language studies have shown that skewed input is more beneficial for the acquisition of novel constructions than balanced input, in which a small set of lexical verbs occurs an equal number of times. However, a second language (L2) study of datives found no advantage for skewed input compared to balanced input. The present study compared the effectiveness of skewed and balanced input at facilitating the comprehension of the double-object dative construction in L2 English. Over a 2-week period, Thai English as foreign language learners (N = 78) completed comprehension tests and a treatment activity that provided either skewed first, skewed random, or balanced input. The results indicated that balanced input was most effective at promoting comprehension of double-object datives. The implications are discussed in terms of the benefits of different types of input for L2 learners.

Avoiding dative overgeneralisation errors: semantics, statistics or both?

How do children eventually come to avoid the production of overgeneralisation errors, in particular, those involving the dative (e.g., *I said her “no”)? The present study addressed this question by obtaining from adults and children (5–6, 9–10 years) judgements of well-formed and over-general datives with 301 different verbs (44 for children). A significant effect of pre-emption—whereby the use of a verb in the prepositional-object (PO)-dative construction constitutes evidence that double-object (DO)-dative uses are not permitted—was observed for every age group. A significant effect of entrenchment—whereby the use of a verb in any construction constitutes evidence that unattested dative uses are not permitted—was also observed for every age group, with both predictors also accounting for developmental change between ages 5–6 and 9–10 years. Adults demonstrated knowledge of a morphophonological constraint that prohibits Latinate verbs from appearing in the DO-dative construction (e.g., *I suggested her the trip). Verbs’ semantic properties (supplied by independent adult raters) explained additional variance for all groups and developmentally, with the relative influence of narrow- vs broad-range semantic properties increasing with age. We conclude by outlining an account of the formation and restriction of argument-structure generalisations designed to accommodate these findings.

On the Differences between the Double Object Construction and the Dative Construction

On the Differences between the Double Object Construction and the Dative Construction

On the syntax of ditransitive sentences in Slovenian

In this paper we discuss Slovenian ditransitive sentences with respect to the two possible word orders of the objects found with neutral intonation, DAT≫ACC and ACC≫DAT. We follow the idea in the Gracanin-Yuksek (2006) paper on Croatian that these two word orders instantiate different structures. In Slovenian, the DAT≫ACC order has an applicative structure (either high or low), while the ACC≫DAT is a prepositional dative construction. The applicative analysis provides a novel argument for this type of analysis. Other supporting arguments examined are scope properties, binding of possessives, the possibility of the causative reading, non-contrastive focus and heavy NP shift, and properties of idioms.

The roles of verb semantics, entrenchment, and morphophonology in the retreat from dative argument-structure overgeneralization errors

Children (aged five-to-six and nine-to-ten years) and adults rated the acceptability of well-formed sentences and argument-structure overgeneralization errors involving the prepositional-object and double-object dative constructions (e.g. Marge pulled the box to Homer /* Marge pulled Homer the box ). In support of the entrenchment hypothesis, a negative correlation was observed between verb frequency and the acceptability of errors, across all age groups. Adults additionally displayed sensitivity to narrow-range semantic constraints on the alternation, rejecting double-object dative uses of novel verbs consistent with prepositional-dative-only classes and vice versa. Adults also provided evidence for the psychological validity of a proposed morphophonological constraint prohibiting Latinate verbs from appearing in the double-object dative. These findings are interpreted in the light of a recent account of argument-structure acquisition, under which children retreat from error by incrementally learning the semantic, phonological, and pragmatic properties associated with particular verbs and particular construction slots.

The Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian Adnominal Possessive Dative at the Syntax-Pragmatics Interface

In Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian, the adnominal possessive dative (APD) construction is used alongside the nominal adjectival construction to express possession. APD usage is double-edged – i.e., there are both issues of sociolinguistics/perceptual dialectology involved as well as more formal syntactic- pragmatic ones. My respondents consistently labeled APD usage as “archaic,” “old-fashioned,” “characteristic of the uneducated,” or “country-talk”. However, judging by very similar acceptance levels of APDs in particular contexts in all dialects, it appears that semantic role of the possessor and the level of contextual effects and processing load involved in interpreting possessive constructions weigh heavily on their acceptance. Therefore, I offer a model that attempts to capture APD usage in terms of a set of hierarchical relationships between the “possessor” and the “possessed”.

Beyond external possession: genitive and dative with locational nouns in Latvian

The present article deals with the dative external possessor construction in Latvian. Attention is drawn to the widespread occurrence of this construction, extending to constructions with relational nouns practically functioning as adpositions. The carrying-over of the external possessor construction to what would otherwise be described as adpositional phrases creates certain problems for syntactic description. Emphasis is, however, on the semantic aspects. The features commonly associated with the external possessor construction, such as animacy, sentiency and affectedness, play no role here. It is suggested that the differences between the constructions with genitive and dative in spatial expressions with relational nouns are connected with the figure-ground configuration, the constructions with the dative serving to mark the shift of saliency from the figure (located object) to the ground (reference object). This, it is argued, is not an accidental extension of the external possessor construction to a domain where is was not originally applicable, but reflects the general principles underlying the external possessor construction. This can be formulated as the shifting of cognitive or discourse saliency from the figure/possessum to the ground/possessor in a locative/possessive structure.

Dėl senųjų raštų posesyvinių konstrukcijų su veiksmažodžiu <em>priklausyti</em>

ON THE POSSESSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS WITH THE VERB priklausyti ‘TO BELONG’ IN OLD LITHUANIAN WRITINGS Summary The paper discusses the possessive constructions with the verb priklausyti ‘to belong’ in Old Lithuanian writings. Possessive dative constructions with the verb priklausyti compete not with analogical adessive, but with allative constructions. This confirms the view that the neutralisation of allative and adessive constructions took place in the 16th–17th c. The alternation of possessive dative constructions with the preposition prieg encountered in old records is a related phenomenon. The analysis of possessive constructions indicates that in Lithuanian written records of the 16th–17th c. not only the adessive positional construction prieg + dative was used, but also the construction prieg + genitive correlating with the allative case was still used with verbs.

Dėl vieno posesyvumo raiškos atvejo senuosiuose raštuose

ON ONE CASE OF THE EXPRESSION OF POSSESSIVITY IN OLD LITHUA­NIAN WRITINGSSummaryThe paper discusses the expression of possessivity by means of the construction ‘the verb to be + Adessive’. This construction is semantically synonymous with a similar Dative construction and they both express the relation of possession.Because postpositions are etymologically and semantically related to prepositions, the discussed Adessive construction correlates with the construction ‘the verb to be + preposition prie(g) + Dative’.Most of the constructions under discussion have been found in Daukša‘s ‘Postilė’. The fact that Daukša uses the Adessive case interchangeably with a prepositional construction in the same situations to express the same meaning can be explained by the influence of the original construction and the requirements of style.In modern Lithuanian the investigated form of the expression of possession has been substituted for by other means of expression, most frequently by a construction with the verb have. The disap­pearance of the construction ‘Adessive + to be’ is another proof of the evolution of the expression of possession in Lithuanian from ‘E-languages’ towards ‘H-languages’.

A Phase Extension Approach to Double Object Constructions – Evidence from Modern Greek*

Abstract. This article examines A‐movement (a)symmetries in the double object construction in Modern Greek. Two types of double object constructions are attested in this language, the “dative construction” and the “double accusative construction”. These constructions, which are analysed as low applicatives, differ with regard to (i) the Case marking of the Goal, (ii) A‐movement properties of Themes and (iii) formation of adjectival passives with Goal externalisation. The article shows that (i)–(iii) are interrelated phenomena in Greek and that they can be accounted for by exploiting recent findings on phases, namely phase extension whereby a phase expands as a result of movement of the phase head. The phase extension approach to double object constructions illustrates that head movement interacts with locality as a narrow syntactic operation and that locality‐violating passives can be licensed without phase EPP‐features or multiple Specifiers. The article also dwells on the controversial issue concerning the quirky Subject status of fronted dative Goals in Greek and shows that the phase extension approach, in which dative clitics are analysed as phonetic realizations of applicative heads, supports the quirky Subject status of dative Goals.

I love me some Jiminy Glick: The semantic contribution of 'some' in personal dative constructions

This paper examines the semantics of the I Love Me Some {X} variant of the personal dative construction. Contrary to previous analyses (Horn 2008, 2010), I argue that the sub-construction manifests characteristic personal dative semantics, and that its use of ‘some’ is semantically motivated. When blended with the constructional semantics and with the semantics of ‘love’ (in its ‘desire’ sub-sense), ‘some’ invites a construal of the direct object as a consumable commodity for which the subject experiences a habitual craving.

Constructional Preemption by Contextual Mismatch: A Corpus-Linguistic Investigation

Abstract The seeming absence of negative evidence in the input that children receive during language acquisition has long been regarded as a serious problem for non-nativist linguistic theories. Among the solutions that have been suggested for this problem, preemption by competing structures is doubtless the most intensively researched and widely accepted. However, while preemption works well in the domain of morphology, it cannot apply categorically in the domain of syntax, as this would preclude the existence of semantically overlapping constructions, such as the ditransitive and the prepositional dative, which can be used alternatively with many, but not all, verbs of literal or metaphorical transfer. This paper investigates one specific version of preemption briefly entertained by Pinker (Language learnability and language development, Harvard University Pressm, 1984), which would account both for the existence of semantically overlapping constructions and for the fact that these constructions may preempt each other in the case of individual verbs. Typically, such pairs of grammatical constructions differ in their information-structural restrictions and speakers tend to choose the construction that best fits a given discourse context; when speakers use a construction even though there is an alternative that fits the discourse context better, children may take this as evidence that the alternative is not available for the specific verb in question. Two corpus studies are presented, comparing the information-structural profile of prepositional dative constructions containing verbs that may alternate between the dative and the ditransitive with the information structural profile of verbs that are restricted to the prepositional dative. For Pinker's preemptive mechanism to be feasible, there should be a clear and systematic difference in the information-structural profile of these two classes of verbs. However, no such difference can be found in actual usage.

Revisiting the alignment typology of ditransitive constructions in Chinese dialects

With data from over a thousand regional varieties of Chinese, the paper presents a comprehensive survey of ditransitive constructions in Chinese dialects and their alignment types, focusing in particular on delving in system-internal and external factors correlating with the observed typological distinctions. It starts with questioning the validity of one of Hashimoto’s (1976) well-known parameters for North-South typological classification of Chinese – i.e., the double object construction (DOC) takes the form of V-OR-OT in Northern Chinese and V-OT-OR in Southern Chinese, the latter also known as the ‘Inverted DOC’ (IDOC), – based on the fact that two distinct groups of Southern Chinese, i.e., Min and Southwestern Mandarin spoken in Southwestern China, tally unexpectedly with Northern Chinese and only allow the form of V-OR-OT. It is subsequently found that the distinction is strongly correlated with the typology of the generalpurpose verb of giving (the verb ‘to give’). All dialects with DOC possess an underived ditransitive verb ‘to give’, whereas those with IDOC in general lack such as verb, using instead the combination of a monotransitive handling verb and an allative preposition, i.e., the dative construction in the form of ‘take OT to OR’, to express the ‘give’-type ditransitive event. This finding naturally leads to the following conclusions: (1) it is the loss of the verb ‘to give’ that triggers the loss of DOC in the latter group of dialects, which consequently renders the dative construction as the only ‘give’-type ditransitive construction in such dialects; (2) the IDOC is in nature an indirective construction (dative construction) with merely the dative marker left out, and the driving force of the omission is nothing but a high usage frequency of the indirective construction. It is further observed that the English-like dative alternation between the DOC and the dative construction existing in Chinese for thousands of years since Archaic Chinese is only preserved in a small fraction of its modern varieties. The majority of Chinese dialects have undergone a typological shift from the mixed type to either the DOC-type (predominantly Northern Chinese) or the indirectivetype (predominantly Southern Chinese), motivated by the systerm-external factor (Altaization of Northern Chinese in the former case) and the systerm-internal factor (loss of the verb ‘to give’ in the latter case) respectively

The syntax of Southern American English personal datives: An anti-locality account

Southern American English licenses personal dative constructions (Horn 2008), also known as coreferential dative constructions (Al-Zahre and Boneh 2010). The sentences in (1) are a few examples; they contain nonsubcategorized pronominal arguments that are obligatorily coreferential with the subject. These unselected pronouns are dative case-marked in languages like Hebrew and Arabic— thus the name personal dative—but they are not overtly dative in Southern American English.

Coreferential Dative Constructions in Syrian Arabic and Modern Hebrew

AbstractIn this paper we will provide a description of what we term here the Coreferential Dative Construction. The languages under consideration are Syrian Arabic, which has never been studied before from this respect, and Modern Hebrew. We will show that this construction, related to other constructions containing non-selected datives, expresses the speaker's stance or emotional attitude towards the described eventuality by seeing it as having weak relevance. We will also show that the most important grammatical difference between the two languages is that in Syrian Arabic the presence of the Coreferential Dative obligatorily triggers a special type of modification in the VP: it must be modified by an attenuative vague measure. The comparative approach will help to shed new light on previous analyses of Modern Hebrew data.