Ergative Verbs Research Articles

A Study on the Contrast of Korean-Chinese Ergative Verbs Based on Typology

A Study on the Contrast of Korean-Chinese Ergative Verbs Based on Typology

Embodiment and gestural realization of ergative verbs.

In this study, we examined the gestural embodiment of active, passive, and active-form/passive-sense voices of ergative verbs in English. We analyzed gestures produced by presenters talking about a variety of subjects in a set of videos. We used several Chi-square tests to find out what type of gesture (representational, beat, and pointing gestures) co-occurred more frequently with active, passive, and active-form/passive-sense voices of ergative verbs. The results showed that representational gestures occurred more frequently with active than passive and active-form/passive-sense voices of ergative verbs. Furthermore, representational gestures occurred more frequently with active voices of ergative verbs having human subjects than non-human subjects. This was also the case with active-form/passive-sense sentences. Based on these results, it is suggested that form of a sentence is an influential factor in the process of embodying the situation that is described by that sentence. Active voice of an English ergative verb is more likely to be accompanied by representational gestures and is embodied more strongly than passive and active-form/passive-sense voices of that verb.

Lability and the rigidification of word order: evidence from Early Middle English

AbstractThis article analyzes quantitatively the effect of five linguistic features on the position of the object in Early Middle English. Four of them have long been explored in the literature: object type, object length, clause type and type of verbal cluster (±auxiliary). The fifth feature, lability, has so far been given less attention. Lability is the possibility that a given verb alternates between an unaccusative and transitive frame without morphological coding. This makes lability an instance of morphological syncretism. This study tests the hypothesis that, for disambiguation purposes, labile transitive verbs show a more consistent word order (VO in this case) than non-labile transitives. If confirmed, the hypothesis would point to a non-trivial connection between the increase of labile verbs and the move towards a fixed word order in Early Middle English. Such a connection has gone unnoticed in the existing literature, which, as far as the influence of morphological syncretism on word order is concerned, has focused almost exclusively on the effect of the loss of case marking. A total of 961 transitive clauses with labile and non-labile verbs were tagged for the above-mentioned five variables. Their effect on the choice between VO and OV is measured using statistical analysis. The conclusion is that verb lability is a significant predictor of VO in the period under scrutiny, with labile verbs thus spearheading the shift towards a stable word order pattern (VO) in English. The correlation between verb lability and word order rigidification demonstrated for Early Middle English in this article may be relevant for studies on word order from multiple perspectives: language-specific, typological, synchronic and diachronic.

The Lexicogrammatical Profile of Non-agentive Deverbal -er Nominals: A Usage-based Approach

In this paper we analyse the lexicogrammatical profile of 30 non-agentive deverbal -er nominalisations, showing that the different semantic types that middle structures instantiate in Heyvaert’s (2003) usage-based classification (i.e., facility-, quality-, feasibility-, destinyand result-oriented) can be systematically found among the non-agentive -er nominals in our corpus. Following Lemmens (1998) and Heyvaert (2001, 2003), we believe that a detailed analysis of the type of base verbs used in deverbal -er formations is necessary to provide a more accurate classification on a lexicogrammatical basis. A basic distinction is thus made between -er nominals that profile patientive participants and -er nominals that designate circumstantial participants. Patientive nominalisations include Goal-profiling derivations based on transitive verbs, such as Freerider or scratcher, as well as Medium-profiling formations derived from ergative verbs, such as best-seller, top-seller and broiler, where the profiled entities can be said to co-participate in the process. Circumstantial nominalisations (mostly derived from intransitive verbs) include Location-profiling formations, like two-seater or bed-sitter, and Instrumental-profiling formations, such as baby jumper or tourer. We have conducted a qualitative corpus-based analysis in order to examine the lexico-semantic and lexico-paradigmatic profile of 30 deverbal -er nominalisations in present-day English. Using the Concordance section of Sketch Engine in the enTenTen20 corpus, we have been able to retrieve a total of 2,847 contextualised examples, including agentive and non-agentive instantiations.

PROSES PEMBENTUKAN DERIVASI DAN INFLEKSI PADA RUBRIK EDUKASI KOMPAS.COM

The word formation process is inseparable from the morphological process of affixation. The formation of verb word classes can be derived from verb, noun, adjective, and adverb word classes. This phenomenon causes morphological symptoms of derivation and inflection. Derivation is the process of forming new words that cause changes in lexical identity, while inflection does not change lexical identity. This study aims to obtain a description of the process of forming derivation words and forming inflected words on Kompas.com. Research using qualitative methods. The data and data sources used are online news Kompas.com, the January 2022 edition of the education rubric. The analysis technique used in analyzing the data uses the distribution method with the direct element division technique. The results of this study found words that experienced derivation and inflection with various kinds of forming affixes. Derivative and inflected affixes in Kompas.com consist of prefixes, suffixes, confixes and combinations of affixes. Initial prefixes or affixes are in the form of meN-, di-, ke-, ber-, ter, se-, and peN-; suffixes or final affixes consist of -an, -i, and -kan; confix affixes have forms of ke-an, penN-an, per-an, and beran; as well as combinations of affixes consisting of the forms of memper-/-kan, meN- -i, di-/-i, meN-/-kan, di-/-kan, diper-/-kan, and diper-/-i. The phenomenon of the affix meN- is an affix that forms an active verb, while the affix di- forms a passive verb. Also found ter- and ke-an affixes which are affixes forming anti-passive ergative verbs. Based on the productivity aspect, inflection is more productive than derivation.

Some Aspects of Ergativity in English and Arabic

The present study is a contrastive analysis of the notion of Ergativity in English1 and Arabic2. It attempts to discuss this phenomenon to find out the points of similarity and difference between the two languages in this particular linguistic area. It offers an explanation and a detailed description of the term and illustrates the various types and forms of verbs that can be handled under the headings ergative verbs and non-ergative verbs showing how the former differ from the latter. Additionally, it investigates the verbs which are used both transitively and intransitively in the two languages. All these types of verbs will be identified, classified, and analyzed according to the Quirk grammar - the approach to grammatical description pioneered by Randolph Quirk and his associates, and published in a series of reference grammars during the 1970s and 1980s, notably A Grammar of Contemporary English (1972) and its successor A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language in1985. Reference, will, however, be made, wherever necessary, to the principles, techniques and terminology of other models of grammar. The method is, thus, more or less, eclectic. As far as ergativity in Arabic is concerned, the study adopts the model of grammatical description and classification pioneered by traditional Arab grammarians such as Siibawayhi, Ibn ‘Aqiil, and Mubarrid, and by modern Arab grammarians like Ghalaayiinii, ‘Udhaymah, and ‘Abbaas Hasan, among others. The conclusion part offers the main findings of the study.

The Method of Causative-to-Unaccusative Entailment for Identifying English Ergative Verbs Based on the Criteria

Extensive research has been conducted on ergative verbs both domestically and internationally. However, there is still ongoing debate concerning the classification and criteria for ergative verbs. This paper subscribes to the notion that unergative verbs are a subset of unaccusative verbs, and aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on their classification and criteria. Additionally, this paper discusses the method of causative-to-unaccusative entailment for identifying ergative verbs based on these criteria.

‘매매하다’류 동사들의 역사적 변천과정과 ‘賣’와 ‘買’의 본질적 속성 연구

This thesis is about the diachronic evolution of the verbs of “buy and sell”. There was “mai(卖)”、“mai(买)”、“gou(购)”、“xiao(销)”、“shou(售)”、“yu(鬻)”、“fan(贩)”。“mai(卖)” and “mai(买)” mianly used the dominant word for the concept of “buy and sell” among them from ancient times till modern times。This thisis focused on the research for verbs of “buy and sell” had semantic features, and found out the reason why there was no the historical replacement of “mai(卖)” and “mai(买)” with the any word in this semantic field.BR It also described the formation of various compound words, and how monosyllabic verb is developed various compound words. In addition, it showed the formation of verbs of “buy and sell” and “qu(取)”、“jin(进)”、“chu(出)”、“gei(给)” and the reason why the verbs for the concept of “buy and sell” frequently collocate with it.BR Finally, Recently, more and more attention had paid to typology. from the typology of view, it showed the reason why “mai(卖)” to be an ergative verb among “mai(卖)” and “mai(买)”.

An Analysis on Overpassivization in the Process of Acquiring Ergative Verbs and Their Syntax

Ergative verb serves as a special sentence type in English. The understanding of its syntactic structure will lay a foundation for better English acquisition. Overpassivization is an important phenomenon of adjectival verbs and their syntactic acquisition. Through empirical analysis and understanding of the causes of this phenomenon, it is of great practical significance to take effective measures to give corresponding solutions to it. This paper summarizes the characteristics of ergative verbs, and gives further analysis on the phenomenon of overpassivization and its causes in syntactic acquisition, so as to provide a feasible reference for the correct application of ergative verbs in English acquisition.

‘팔다’류 동사의 역사적 고찰과 그 특징

This paper is about the diachronic evolution of the verbs of “sell”. There was “mai(卖)”、“fan(贩)”、“yu(鬻)”、“xiao(销)”、“shou(售)”. “mai(卖)” have been the dominant word for the concept of “sell” among them from ancient times till modern times. This paper focused on the research for verbs of “sell” has semantic features, and found out the reason why there was no the historical replacement of “mai(卖)” with the other word in this semantic field. It also described the formation of various compound words, and how monosyllabic verb is developed various compound words. In addition, it showed the formation of verbs of “sell” and “chu(出)”、“gei(给)” and the reason why the verbs for the concept of “sell” frequently collocate with it. Finally, Recently, more and more attention has been paid to typology. from the typology of view, it showed the reason why “mai(卖)” to be an ergative verb.

‘파다’류 동사들의 특징과 역사적 변천과정

This paper is about the diachronic evolution of the verbs of “dig”. There was “wa(挖)”、“jue(掘)”、“zao(凿)”、“wan(剜)”、“jue(抉)”. “jue(掘)” mainly used among them from ancient times to Ming Dynasty. “Wa(挖)” had turned into the dominant word for the concept of “dig” from Qing Dynasty till modern times. This paper focused on the research for the usage of members in the semantic field from ancient times to Qing Dynasty and analysis of the historical replacement of “jue(掘)” with “wa(挖)” as well as its causes.BR It also described the formation of compound words composed of synonyms, and how monosyllabic verb is developed a compounded words composed of synonyms. In addition, it showed the formation of verbs of “dig” and “chu(出)”、“qu(取)”、“cheng(成)” and the reason why the verbs for the concept of “dig” frequently collocate with it.BR Finally, from the typology of view, it showed the reason why the verbs of “dig” to be an ergative verb. The author studied verbs of “dig” has three semantic features, and found out the reason why the verb of “dig”, which has second semantic feature, can convert to ergative verb.

Double causatives, lability and elusive agent in Mehweb

Abstract In this paper, I consider double causatives in Mehweb, a one village language spoken in Daghestan, Russia, and belonging to the Dargwa branch of East Caucasian. The capability of stacking two causative suffixes seems to be lexically restricted, and mapping onto verbal meanings that are typically P-labile in the languages of the family. Interestingly, the verbs allowing double causatives are not morphosyntactically labile in Mehweb, which is generally poor in labile verbs as compared to sister languages. I conclude that the ability to form double causatives is not a consequence of the morphosyntactic property of being labile; rather, both morphosyntactic properties follow from the same component of the lexical semantics of these verbs and ultimately from the properties of the situational concepts they convey. As a tentative functional explanation I suggest that the relevant property is the weakened status of the agentive participant.

ВСИЧКО Е НАРЕД С ГЛАГОЛА (ИНОВАЦИОННИТЕ ПРОЦЕСИ ТРАНЗИТИВАЦИЯ И ДЕРЕФЛЕКТИВАЦИЯ С ЦЕЛ ПРИПИСВАНЕ НА КАУЗАТИВНОСТ) / EVERYTHING IS FINE WITH THE VERB (INNOVATION PROCESSES OF TRANSITIVIZATION AND DEREFLEXIVIZATION AS A MEANS OF ATTRIBUTING CAUSATIVITY)

The paper presents a summary of the observations on the tranisitivization and dereflexivization of Bulgarian verbs as a means of attributing causativity. The majority of the newly formed verbs that we analyze are causative while others may, under certain conditions and in particular sentences, exemplify the causative rule. The lability of morphological identification regarding the transitivity – intransitivity distinction is the reason to examine the excerpted verbs as being either A- or Р-labile. The following tendency can be observed: P-lability has to do with causativity, while A-labile verbs are not-causative. In such cases the subject does not undergo changes neither in their intransitive nor in their transitive use. With P-labile verbs, the subject of the intransitive verb becomes the object of the transitive verb. There are some ambiva-lent verbs, such as minavam (pass), premina (pass over), svetna (light up), spomagam (facilitate), stigna (reach), treniram (train). Although the second group contains 40 causatives and the third group has 3 verbs, the lability procedure is not applicable because of the difference between the reflexive with the se- (се) marker and the transitive verb, i.e. the mismatch in form also means non-lability. The examples in the third group can also be viewed as the absolute use of the transitive verb meaning. The changes in the verbs indicate a change in the way contemporary Bulgarians think – the causative verbs serve as an expression of an active position, while the interplay between transitive and intransitive and/or reflexive and non-reflexive verbs has mostly pragmatic purposes, such as achieving a certain communicative effect, attractiveness, informality. Keywords: labile verbs, A-lability, P-lability, the lexico-grammatical category of transitivity ‒ intransitivity, causativity, Bulgarian language

Lability in Old English Verbs: Chronological and Textual Distribution

Abstract Present-Day English has an unusually high number of labile verbs, such as melt or burn, both cross-linguistically and with respect to genetically related languages. Comparison among early Germanic languages has allowed researchers to detect an incipient favouring of labile coding already in Old English, where it is more frequent than in any other language of this group (Hermodsson 1952) and replaces causative coding in a considerable proportion of former causative verb pairs (van Gelderen 2011; García García 2020). This article attempts to map the chronological and textual distribution of labile verbs between the seventh and the eleventh centuries CE in order to explore how lability develops throughout the Old English period. Old English labile verbs coming from Germanic causative oppositions are the sample on which we base our study. The choice ensures that the verbs in question were originally not labile and underwent a process of labilization in (pre-)Old English. Some of the questions addressed in the study are: Can a tendency towards labilization in Old English be confirmed by internal evidence, as it arguably can by external comparison with other Germanic languages? Can an increase in lability be detected in English before French influence was effective? Does it show any restrictions by genre or individual text?

Bribri media tantum verbs and the rise of labile syntax

AbstractIn this article, we first show that the Bribri (Chibchan) middle voice suffix -rderives passive voice from active transitive and agentive intransitive verbs, as well as anticausative verbs from nominal and adjectival roots. Second, we focus on five media tantum verbs, i.e., forms that synchronically carry the -rsuffix and have no counterpart without -r. Unlike most other verbs, these five forms are labile, i.e., they can occur in syntactically intransitive and transitive constructions with no (supra-)segmental change. After describing the valence patterns in which Bribri media tantum labile (MTL) verbs occur, we investigate whether: (i) their non-absolutive arguments behave like ergative phrases; and whether (ii) MTL verb forms in two-argument constructions behave like active voice transitive verb stems. Third, we outline a hitherto unnoticed diachronic path for the rise of lability in a small subgroup of Bribri media tantum verbs.

TO THE QUESTION OF THE CORRELATION OF LABILITY AND CAUSATIVE IN THE AVAR LANGUAGE

The article establishes that one or another form of a labile verb can be transitive or intransitive, even when it implements the same semantics. Historically, the opposition transitivity ~ intransitivity was preceded by opposition on the basis of static ~ dynamic, which led to the emergence of two syntactic constructions – the absolutive and the ergative. Opposition on the basis of static ~ dynamic determines the specificity of the entire grammatical structure of the Avar language, including the formation of the causative. The specificity of the formation of the causative by labile verbs in the Avar language is that only a form repre-senting the semantics of an action is capable of expressing direct or intentional causation, and a form repre-senting the semantics of a state expresses only an unintentional causation.

영어 능격 동사의 내부상: 행위자성의 관점에서

English inner aspect is divided into accomplishments, achievements, activities, and states(Vendler 1967). Pustejovsky(1991) proposes to integrate accomplishments and achievements into transition, arguing the difference between the two verb types is agentivity. However, it is inappropriate to apply his argument to general accomplishments and achievements in that the verb cited as an example in his proposal is an English ergative verb which is used as both a intransitive verb and a transitive verb. In addition, since the proposal is mainly focused on a semantic event structure, it is difficult to represent inner aspect from a minimalist point of view. Also, Pustejovsky(1991)’s proposal does not correspond the inner aspect interpretation domain suggested by MacDonald(2008). The purpose of this paper is to explain the inner aspect of English ergative verbs with a Probe-Goal feature checking mechanism proposed in Chomsky(1998) from a minimalist point of view.

Isoglosses and language change: Evidence of the rise and loss of isoglosses from a comparison of early Greek and early English

AbstractWe analyze the rise and loss of isoglosses in two Indo-European languages, early Greek and early English, which, however, show considerable distance between their structures in many other domains. We follow Keidan’s approach (2013), that has drawn the attention on the fact that the study of isoglosses (i.e., linguistic features common to two or more languages) is connected with common innovations of particular languages after the split into sub-groups of Indo-European: this type of approach aims at collecting isoglosses that appear across the branches of Indo-European. We examine the rise of the isogloss of labile verbs and the loss of the isogloss of the two classes of aspectual verbs in early Greek and early English. Our study shows that the rise of labile verbs in both languages is related to the innovative use of intransitives in causative constructions. On the other hand, the innovations in voice morphology follow different directions in Greek and English and are unrelated to the rise of labile verbs. In contrast to labile verbs, which are still predominant for causative-anticausative constructions in both languages, the two classes of aspectual verbs are lost in the later stages of Greek but are predominant even in Present-day English. Again, a “prerequisite” change for the isogloss can be easily located in a structural ambiguity that is relevant for aspectual verbs in early Greek and early English. However, another independent development, the changes in verbal complementation (the development of infinitival and participial complements) in Greek and English, determined the loss of this isogloss.

语言学理论视野下的汉韩动词分类体系对比研究综述

Since the 21st century, with the broadening of research region and the emergence of new linguistic theories, the classification of Chinese-Korean verbs in academic circle is no longer limited to the perspective of classification under traditional grammar rules. There has been research on the classification of verbs from new perspectives such as light verb theory, typology linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and the research results show that new subcategories such as light verbs, unaccusativeverbs and unergative verbs, absolutive verbs and ergative verbs have been applied. The Chinese-Korean internal structure of the verb systems have changed as well, showing the trend that the subcategories become more differentiated, but the internal structure is more concise and has stronger explanatory power. After comparing the new and the old classification systems of Chinese-Korean verbs and summarizing the classification and subcategories of verbs in Chinese and Korean, it can be seen that the Chinese-Korean linguistic circle attach great importance to the application of new theories when studying the subcategories of verbs; but the Chinese academic circle seem to be one step ahead in the application of the new theory to constructing the macroscopic study of verb system; and the research on the classification system of verbs in Korean still needs improvement.

Transivity and Intransivity in Albanian Language

In this paper we study the transitive and intransitive verbs in Albanian. The transitory view shows that the action of the transmitter passes over the transient or the target, that is, an action from the transient passes to the transient, then this shows that the traditional concept of transient has a semantic basis. According to the possibility or inability to get a straight line in sentences, verbs are divided into two large groups: transitive and intransitive. A transitive verb is a verb that receives one or more objects, while an intransitive verb is a verb that does not receive objects. (object). Verbs that need two arguments, the subject and a direct object are called mono-transitive verbs, while verbs that take two objects (arguments), a direct and indirect objects are called intransitive verbs. The syntactically transitive verb class includes a larger set of verbs in Albanian. The purpose of this research is to describe and analyze transitive and intransitive verbs in Albanian language. This research on transitive and intransitive is based on these hypotheses: The concept of transitivity in the Albanian language is applicable; As far as the Albanian language is concerned, we think that among other things productivity in transitive alternatives has to do with another feature that is the use of clinical objects; Apart from the structure of the argument, the verb also has the semantic structure. We will use the descriptive, analytical, and statistical approach in dealing with this paper. As a corpus for this paper, we have two types of texts, a literary and a non-literary respectively the daily press and a literary work. The research questions are; does the belonging of a verb in the transitive or intransitive group depend on its lexical meaning in the context in which it is used? In what classes of verbs do we classify ergative verbs in Albanian language?