The Lexicon-Syntax Interface
Root Semantics As An Indirect Determinant Of Intransitive Verb Syntax In Cree
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4559440 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Julie Brittain (0000-0001-5792-6849, Memorial University of Newfoundland), Sara Acton |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 475-506 |
| Publication date | 2014-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of American Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7071 • E-ISSN: 1545-7001 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/677912 |
| OpenAlex | W2288361090 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
This paper presents a study of the (Northern East) Cree intransitive verb final (verbalizing suffix) -piyi ‘move’, which occurs in eventive unaccusatives and in two classes of unergative: vehicular motion verbs and verbs of emission. Generally, Algonquian intransitive finals systematically correlate with an external argument, or an internal argument, but not with both. We argue that -piyi is no exception, correlating with an internal (theme) argument. A null verb final, which correlates with an external argument (an internal causer), derives the unergatives, in which cases -piyi is lexicalized into a complex root. Root semantics are an indirect predictor of verb type in that they reflect patterns of legitimate pairing with either -piyi or the null final; e.g., -piyi pairs with root[STATE] to yield an unaccusative, while the null final pairs with the lexicalized root [root[PATH]+piyi] to yield an unergative. This analysis is compatible with a little-v analysis of finals (among others, Ritter and Rosen 2010). The unaccusatives have a spontaneous occurrence reading which, following Davis and Demirdache (2000), we attribute to -piyi suppressing the “causing process” sub-event in a causative representation. Our analysis is thus compatible with the view that some, if not all, unaccusatives are semantically causative (among others, Levin and Rappaport Hovav 1995
Argument (complex analysis · Causative · Lexical item · Lexical Semantics · Linguistics · Root (linguistics · Semantics (computer science · Syntax · Verb · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Mathematics · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |