Relating BE and Have via transitivity

Evidence from Greek

Bibliographic Data

ID22130366
AuthorsAnna Kampanarou (0009-0008-6681-4660, University of Crete, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume9
Issue1
Publication date2024-02-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlossa a journal of general linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2397-1835 • E-ISSN: 2397-1835
PublisherOpen Library of the Humanities (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.16995/glossa.10202
OpenAlexW4389467191
LanguageEN
References cited62

This paper explores the syntax of HAVE, with a focus on Greek stative (existential and possessive) sentences, and argues against the need to postulate multiple BEs and HAVEs in this context, on the grounds that HAVE, in all its guises, behaves as a transitive verb, whereas BE behaves as an unaccusative. By adopting Myler’s (2016; 2018) proposal, which comprises an analysis based on suppletive allomorphy, I maintain that BE and HAVE are PF-exponents of the same semantically vacuous v-head, i.e., vBE, and the choice between them is determined by transitivity: HAVE realizes vBE when the structure is transitive, whereas BE does so when the structure is intransitive. By relating transitivity to Voice, as per Kratzer (1996), this translates into the assumption that HAVE appears when a transitive Voice head is projected in the structure, whereas BE is merged in the absence of this projection

Combinatorics · Epistemology · Existentialism · Linguistics · Physics · Possessive · Syntax · Transitive relation · Verb · Computer Science · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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