Problèmes de linguistique générale
About: This article is published in Language.The article was published on 1968-03-01. It has received 1838 citations till now.
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TL;DR: It is argued that the thematic licensing of causer arguments is not a strictly lexical property but depends on the event configuration within the verbal phrase, and the need to dissociate the verbal layers introducing causative-resultative event structure from those layers introducing external arguments syntactically.
Abstract: . This article argues that the thematic licensing of causer arguments is not a strictly lexical property but depends on the event configuration within the verbal phrase. The central observation leading to this conclusion is that three morphosyntactically different types of causer-DPs are subject to the same licensing condition: they are licit only in the context of a bi-eventive, resultative event structure. This licensing constellation is not only provided by lexically bi-eventive verbs, but also by overt syntactic composition of a mono-eventive verb with a secondary result predicate where the mono-eventive verb does not license causers on its own. The latter constellation argues against coding causer-roles in a verb’s lexical entry. Instead, it argues for an account that assumes event decomposition of lexically resultative verbs and some version of a configurational θ-theory. Concentrating on existing syntactic versions of such an account, it is shown that they need to be updated to cover the set of data presented in this paper. A central claim put forward is the need to dissociate the verbal layers introducing causative-resultative event structure (which acts as thematic licenser of causers) from those layers introducing external arguments syntactically (formal licensers). Concerning the latter, it is shown that causers, although thematically external arguments, are not necessarily introduced by a Voice projection on top of the verbal predicate.
57 citations
57 citations
TL;DR: This paper assessed the referential value of pronouns on a discursive and dialogical basis by studying the givenness and newness of referents in the children's utterances and the links with the interlocutor's discourse.
57 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a corpus of 70 minutes of enregistrement of recits non-lus en classe de l'etude contribue en outre a mieux cerner les representations that les locuteurs ordinaires ont of ces phenomenes and a miesux connaitre leur perceptibilite.
Abstract: Ce travail de recherche porte sur les phenomenes dits > en francais oral non lu, que nous preferons appeler >, a savoir : le euh, l'allongement final significatif, la repetition et l'autocorrection immediate. Une importance particuliere est accordee a la combinatoire de ces marques entre elles et avec la pauses silencieuse. L'etude montre que lespauses silencieuses subsequentes a un euh ou a un allongement marquant le travail de formulation formulation en cours, ainsi que les pauses silencieuses inserees entre les deux termes d'une repetition, forment une classe a part : nous les avons appelees > car elles font partie de la marque qui les precede et elles ne contribuent pas a la hierarchisation et a la demarcation des constituants. Chaque marque, faisant l'objet d'un chapitre, est caracterisee par sa duree et celle de la pause subsequente, par ses combinaisons avec une autre marque et ses occurrences a l'interieur de sites mixtes d'accumulation de marques, par ses contextes lexicaux et sa distribution (intono)syntaxique. Les configurations les plus frequentes comme les plus rares sont repertoriees. L'analyse prend appui sur les etudes precedentes, encore rares de ces marques en francais; elle tente de verifier, nuancer et enrichir certaines hypotheses deja formulees, a partir d'un corpus de 70 minutes d'enregistrement de recits non lus en classe de l'etude contribue en outre a mieux cerner les representations que les locuteurs ordinaires ont de ces phenomenes et a mieux connaitre leur perceptibilite. Deux methodes ont ete employees dans ce sens : la premiere est l'analyse directe a travers un test de perception et la seconde est l'analyse indirecte a travers l'observation de l'utilisation des marques d' > par des auteurs dramatiques et par des acteurs visant un public tres large
55 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the epistemic use of a quasi-modal should be developed out of a wide-scope deontic construction, in which the modal was used with deontics meaning, but with propositional scope.
Abstract: Discussions of modality (e.g. Bybee, Perkins & Pagliuca, 1994; Coates, 1983; Lyons, 1977; Palmer, 1986; Traugott, 1989) typically center around two issues: deonticity vs. epistemicity, and degree of subjectivity. Using diachronic evidence from the quasi-modal ought to, this paper argues for the need to recognize a third, crosscutting these two: narrow vs. wide scope. We argue that the epistemic use of ought to developed out of a wide-scope deontic construction, in which the modal was used with deontic meaning, but with propositional scope (contra Bybee, 1988). Rather than attributing an obligation to the subject (i.e. having narrow scope), the modal in this construction makes an assertion about the proposition as a whole, like an epistemic. However, such ought to constructions are found some four hundred years before the first epistemic examples, and thus can be shown to be distinct from epistemic uses (contra Gamon, 1994).
54 citations