Constraining argument structure in nominalizations: The case of English -er
نویسنده
چکیده
The article contributes to the typology of structural factors constraining argument realization in nominalizations, focussing on English –er-nominals. It first reappraises the conclusions of earlier studies on when –er-nominals can express arguments. Derivations disallowing argument linking are treated as semantically and structurally parallel to nominal compounds, and their argument-structural behaviour is attributed to a generalization that base-generated complex heads prohibit realization of arguments of the nonhead outside the complex head, with principled exceptions. In argument-realizing –er-nominals, some speakers allow the full range of argument structures permitted by head movement analyses, while less liberal idiolects require a (lexicalist-inspired but syntactically implemented) analysis where –er is an Agent-realizing affix that selects V°, forcing arguments of V to merge above affixation as arguments of nouns, which is only possible for PP and of-insertion arguments.
منابع مشابه
Parsing Arguments of Nominalizations in English and Chinese
In this paper, we use a machine learning framework for semantic argument parsing, and apply it to the task of parsing arguments of eventive nominalizations in the FrameNet database. We create a baseline system using a subset of features introduced by Gildea and Jurafsky (2002), which are directly applicable to nominal predicates. We then investigate new features which are designed to capture th...
متن کاملOn the syntax of episodic vs . dispositional -
In this paper, we are concerned with the semantic and morphosyntactic properties of -er nominalizations in English. Our main contribution to the theoretical discussion on these nominals is that we should distinguish between two groups of -er nominals: those that obey the external argument generalization, irrespectively of whether they are eventive or not, and whether they have complements or no...
متن کاملNominalizaciones deverbales: denotación y estructura argumental
Spanish deverbal nominalizations are linguistic constructions characterized by presenting properties of common nouns but also by inheriting the argument structure of the verbs from which they derive. This duality aroused considerable interest in deverbal nominalizations in Linguistics. On the one hand, they can denote both the state or the result of the action expressed by the corresponding bas...
متن کاملA Comparative Analysis of Institutional Identities in a Corpus of English and Persian News Interviews
Institutional identity as a concept in CDA is a field of study that deals with the identities that individuals in institutions obtain, one that merits deep research attention. News interviews as institutional instances can be analyzed based on the impersonal structures because interviewees see themselves as part of the institution and they may not take responsibility when they encounter problem...
متن کامل