Primary Predication Research Articles

Structures of depictive and resultative constructions in Chinese

In this paper I firstly argue that secondary predicates are complement of v, and v is overtly realized by Merge or Move in secondary predication in Chinese. The former option derives the de-construction, whereas the latter option derives the V-V construction. Secondly, I argue that resultatives are hosted by complement vPs, whereas depictives are hosted by adjunct vPs. This complement-adjunct asymmetry accounts for a series of syntactic properties of secondary predication in Chinese: the position of a secondary predicate with respect to the verb of the primary predicate, the co-occurrence patterns of secondary predicates, the hierarchy of depictives, the control and ECM properties of resultative constructions, and the locality constraint on the integration of secondary predicates into the structure of primary predication. Thirdly, I argue that the surface position of de is derived by a PF operation which attaches de to the right of the leftmost verbal lexical head of the construction. Finally, I argue that in the V-V resultative construction, the assumed successive head-raising may account for the possible subject-oriented reading of the resultative predicate, and that the head raising out of the lower vP accounts for the possible non-specific reading of the subject of the resultative predicate.

What secondary predicates in Russian tell us about the link between tense, aspect and case

In this paper I show that the different case marking possibilities on predicate adjectives in depictive secondary predicates in Russian constitute the uninterpretable counterpart of the interpretable tense and aspect features of the adjective. Case agreement entails that the predicate adjective is non-eventive, i.e., it occurs when the event time of the secondary predicate is identical to the event time of the primary predicate. The instrumental case, however, entails that the secondary predicate is eventive: some change of state or transition occurred prior to or during the event time of the primary predicate. I claim that case agreement occurs in conjoined tense phrases in Russian, while the instrumental case occurs in adjoined aspectual phrases. In English, secondary predication is sensitive both to the structural location of its antecedent and to the event structure of the primary predicate. I suggest that depictives with subject antecedents in English are true adjunction structures, while those with direct object antecedents occur in a conjoined aspectual phrase. This hypothesis finds support in the different movement and semantic constraints in conjunction versus adjunction phrases in both English and Russian.

Quelle syntaxe pour l'apposition ? Les types d'appariement des appositions frontales et la continuité référentielle

Franck Neveu - Quelle syntaxe pour l'apposition ? Les types d'appariement des appositions frontales et la continuité référentielle This paper studies the means used by front appositions to connect with primary predication and the part of anchoring point of the detached segment in referential continuity. We develop the assumption, that in the appositive system, whatever the order and the kind of the components, the detachment and the second predication lead blocking of any referential mechanism of the segment thougt to be apposed, whose function is to predicate the properties of the support. This describing detached term forms with its controller a referential cell and its place must be described as an icon index of the interpretation field of the controller [+/- accessibility]. continuity. We develop the assumption, that in the appositive system, whatever the order and the kind of the components, the detachment and the second predication lead blocking of any referential mechanism of the segment thougt to be apposed, whose function is to predicate the properties of the support. This describing detached term forms with its controller a referential cell and its place must be described as an icon index of the interpretation field of the controller [+/- accessibility].

Semántica aspectual y predicación secundaria

Semántica aspectual y predicación secundaria

Verb prefixation in Russian as lexical subordination

We argue that a large class of Russian prefixed verbs has essentially the same semantic structure as resultative constructions in English of the type paint the door green. We analyze both phenomena as instances of lexical subordination : although it is syntactically a secondary predicator, green expresses the primary (core ) semantic predication, while paint is a secondary subordinated semantic predicate. The expression therefore means cause to become green by painting. In the Russian vyteret' stol (wipe down the table, literally out-wipe table), the prefix vy- is semantically primary and the verb stem is subordinated. By virtue of this shared semantic structure, Russian prefixation can only access internal arguments (objects, or subjects of unaccusatives) and Russian prefixed verbs may support fake or unselected object constructions, akin to English resultatives such as drink the pub dry or sing oneself hoarse. From pisat' (write) we have ispisat' rucku (out-write pen, to run out of ink (of a pen)), in which the direct object pen is not selected by pisat' (write). Since these unselected objects are arguments of the prefixed verb complex, we conclude (with Goldberg 1995, against Levin and Rappaport Hovav 1995) that unselected objects in English resultatives are also arguments (of the construction). We extend our analysis to the steal/rob alternation and offering an explanation of why in some languages, verbs of manner of motion (e.g. run) behave like unergative verbs while the same verbs with directional complements/adjuncts (e.g. run into the room) behave like unaccusative verbs. We discuss the repercussions for the interpretation of notions such as complex predicate and construction

Secondary resultative predicates in Italian

English exhibits PP, AP and NP resultative secondary predicates (SPs). Italian freely exhibits PP resultatives and, less commonly, AP resultatives. This difference follows from two facts. First, resultatives, being arguments of the V except in constructions involving ‘fake’ objects (see section 4), may appear only in positions that non-predicative arguments of the V of their same category can appear in (a correlation stated in (155) below). Since English allows PP, AP and NP non-predicative arguments in the position immediately following the direct object, all three categories can also appear as resultatives in the same position. But since Italian allows only the first two types of non-predicative arguments in this position, only PP and AP resultatives can appear there. Second, Italian sentences with AP resultatives are subject to a rule of semantic interpretation by which the primary predicate must be interpreted as focusing on the endpoint of the activity it denotes (as stated in (110) below). English sentences with AP resultatives are only slightly sensitive to this interpretation rule. As a result, AP resultatives are appropriate in fewer situations in Italian. That AP resultatives are sensitive to this rule of interpretation is consistent with the fact that AP arguments of verb that appear in post-object position are marked in a number of ways.

Modal verbs in Catalan

In this paper it is argued that Catalan sequences of a (semi)-modal verb and an infinitive, which are traditionally known as RESTRUCTURING CONSTRUCTIONS, should be analyzed as base-generated monosentential complexes. It is claimed that in such complexes the infinitive verb, not the modal or the semi-modal, is the primary predicate determining the argument structure of the sentence and its basic syntactic configuration. Modals with the epistemic reading are analyzed as constituents of INFL, whereas root modals and semi-modals are analyzed as VP adjuncts. Evidence for this analysis is provided by a number of independent phenomena, including the distribution of en/ne cliticization of the subject, locality conditions on argument chain formation, interpretation of adjacent modals, restrictions on infinitive and gerund markers, interpretation of plural null pronominals, the distribution of auxiliaries, and clitic climbing.