Aspect and argument realization: A study on antecedentless null objects in Greek
نویسندگان
چکیده
The aim of this study is to investigate the interaction between viewpoint aspect and argument realization. More specifically, we examine the correlation of +/ perfective verb forms in Greek and null objects with indefinite, non-specific interpretation. It is argued that although null objects are possible with both perfective and imperfective verbs, imperfective verbs favour object omission more than perfectives. We claim that this is due to two reasons: first, that there is a difference in the syntactic representation of overt direct objects with perfective and imperfective verbs, which is associated with the notion of economy in their respective derivations, i.e. Merge as opposed to Merge + Move; secondly, that perfective verbs show an interpretive difference at the LF interface depending on the overt versus null nature of the direct object, whereas imperfectives do not. The difference is related to the semantic notion of telicity. This prediction has been tested in an off-line sentence-completion task with two groups of native speakers of Greek, an adult and a child group. The data revealed that native speakers of Greek preferred to use overt DP objects with perfective verbs more than with imperfectives. This finding is interpreted as showing that Aspect is a functional feature with an effect on argument realization. # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
منابع مشابه
Locative Constructions in English Interlanguage: A Study of the Acquisition of Argument Realization in English by Iranian EFL Learners
Locative constructions, as an instance of double object constructions with various cognitive-linguistic concepts, have been successful in attracting the linguists. This paper tried to evaluate the acquisition of English locative constructions by Persian native speakers in the absence of negative evidence, focusing on the influence of L1 and participants’ proficiency level in the course of acqui...
متن کاملArgument Realization of Chinese Result and Phase Complements
This paper discusses result complements and phase complements in Chinese, both of which are postverbal elements. Despite their surface similarity, they are different with respect to argument realization. While the result complements allow complicated argument realization (in terms of semantic host, verbal transitivity, and subcategorization of objects), the phase complements function as lexical...
متن کاملClitics and Object Drop in Modern Greek
In this paper, I argue that Greek shows evidence of having phonetically null indefinite “special” object pronominals (meaning null, clitic-like indefinite pronominals). This claim is motivated by the similarity of a number of constructions involving indefinites to constructions involving cliticized definites. As I will show, it provides a maximally simple account of Greek indefinite object drop...
متن کاملArgument Realization in Dutch
The treatment of argument realization is rather straightforward for a language like English, but for a language with relatively free word order, such as Dutch, it is a complex matter. It is not surprising then that the devices which are commonly used to deal with it show a high degree of computational complexity. They typically include movement, as in transformational grammar, or the dissociati...
متن کاملA TAXICAB VERSION OF A TRIANGLE' S APOLLONIUS CIRCLE
One of the most famous problems of classical geometry is the Apollonius' problem asks construction of a circle which is tangent to three given objects. These objects are usually taken as points, lines, and circles. This well known problem was posed by Apollonius of Perga ( about 262 - 190 B.C.) who was a Greek mathematician known as the great geometer of ancient times after Euclid and Archimede...
متن کامل