Els datius del llatí amb verbs prefixats i més enllà: una aproximació des de la teoria dels aplicatius

Tracto de la sintaxi i la semàntica dels SPs en datiu que presenten una interpretació espacial (de Fons), tot concentrant-me en aquells que depenen de verbs prefixats, en llatí arcaic i clàssic. Avaluo i descarto els dos principals enfocaments anteriors: aquell en què el datiu expressa un argument del preverb (el seu Fons) i aquell en què correspon a un datiu benefactiu o malefactiu. Proposo una anàlisi en què el datiu és introduït per un nucli aplicatiu situat per sota del nucli esdevenimental. En el cas dels predicats encapçalats per un verb prefixat, assumeixo que el preverb s’origina dins un SP que conté un nom abstracte de semàntica relacional. Com que és dins de l’abast del datiu, aquest nom pot ser interpretat com posseït inalienablement pel seu referent, d’on emergeix la inferència que el datiu identifica el Fons de moviment. Una predicció reeixida és que el datiu espacial no és legitimat per verbs de manera de moviment no prefixats, atès que no codifiquen una localització resultant.I discuss the syntax and semantics of dative DPs with a spatial (Ground) interpretation, focusing on those dependent on prefixed verbs, in Early and Classical Latin. I assess and discard the two main previous approaches: the one in which the dative realizes an argument of the preverb (its Ground) and the one in which it corresponds to a benefactive/malefactive dative. I propose an analysis whereby the dative is introduced by an applicative head below the eventive head. In the case of predicates headed by a prefixed verb, I assume that the preverb originates in an embedded PP that involves a null nominal of relational semantics. Being under the scope of the dative, the nominal can be interpreted as inalienably possessed by its referent, whence the inference that the dative identifies the Ground of motion. A felicitous prediction is that the spatial dative should not be licensed by unprefixed manner-of-motion verbs, since they do not encode a resulting location

Anna Pineda i Cirera, «Les fronteres de la (in)transitivitat. Estudi dels aplicatius en llengües romàniques i basc», Barcelona, Institut Privat d?Estudis Món Juïc, 2016, 447 pp.

Ressenya sobre el llibre d'Anna Pineda i Cirera, Les fronteres de la (in)transitivitat. Estudi dels aplicatius en llengües romàniques i basc, Barcelona, Institut Privat d?Estudis Món Juïc, 2016, 447 pp. ISBN: 978-84-945343-3-1

Location and locatum verbs revisited: Evidence from aspect and quantification

In this paper we claim that location and locatum verbs are grammatically different, contrary to some recent analyses (Mateu 2001; 2008; Harley 2005). While aspectual tests are known to distinguish both classes, we adduce new evidence from degree quantification tests pointing in the same direction. In particular, location verbs seem to be change-of-state verbs, and locatum verbs behave rather like degree achievements and unergative verbs of variable telicity. We claim that these differences must be accounted for in the syntactic representation of locative verbs. While location verbs involve an abstract bounded path, articulated through the combination of a Path preposition and a Place preposition, locatum verbs involve an abstract predicative preposition that allows for degree quantification of the root and contextually determined (a)telicity

Latin datives with prefixed verbs and beyond : a view from the theory of applicatives

I discuss the syntax and semantics of dative DPs with a spatial (Ground) interpretation, focusing on those dependent on prefixed verbs, in Early and Classical Latin. I assess and discard the two main previous approaches: the one in which the dative realizes an argument of the preverb (its Ground) and the one in which it corresponds to a benefactive/malefactive dative. I propose an analysis whereby the dative is introduced by an applicative head below the eventive head. In the case of predicates headed by a prefixed verb, I assume that the preverb originates in an embedded PP that involves a null nominal of relational semantics. Being under the scope of the dative, the nominal can be interpreted as inalienably possessed by its referent, whence the inference that the dative identifies the Ground of motion. A felicitous prediction is that the spatial dative should not be licensed by unprefixed manner-of-motion verbs, since they do not encode a resulting location.Tracto de la sintaxi i la semàntica dels SPs en datiu que presenten una interpretació espacial (de Fons), tot concentrant-me en aquells que depenen de verbs prefixats, en llatí arcaic i clàssic. Avaluo i descarto els dos principals enfocaments anteriors: aquell en què el datiu expressa un argument del preverb (el seu Fons) i aquell en què correspon a un datiu benefactiu o malefactiu. Proposo una anàlisi en què el datiu és introduït per un nucli aplicatiu situat per sota del nucli esdevenimental. En el cas dels predicats encapçalats per un verb prefixat, assumeixo que el preverb s'origina dins un SP que conté un nom abstracte de semàntica relacional. Com que és dins de l'abast del datiu, aquest nom pot ser interpretat com posseït inalienablement pel seu referent, d'on emergeix la inferència que el datiu identifica el Fons de moviment. Una predicció reeixida és que el datiu espacial no és legitimat per verbs de manera de moviment no prefixats, atès que no codifiquen una localització resultant

Revisiting -ej(ar) verbs in Catalan: Argument and event structure

We explore the properties of the Catalan verbalizing suffix -ej(ar), centering on intransitive verbs. After presenting the rich variety of outputs that this suffix allows, we focus on two generalizations. The first one has to do with the consistent eventive nature of verbs derived with this suffix, even from bases that count as individual-level predicates, like colour adjectives or proper names. Importantly, their eventivity is orthogonal to their dynamic/non-dynamic status. The second one is the robust unergative status of intransitive -ej(ar) vebs. We show that previous work on -ej(ar) has failed to capture these two properties. Adopting a Ramchandian, nanosyntactic perspective, we propose that this suffix is the spellout of the subeventive structure of a caused process, i.e., the heads Init and Proc. The (non-)dynamic interpretation of the verbs is claimed to emerge from interactions among the contents of the roots involved in the predicate, at the conceptual, non-grammatical level. We finally extend the proposed analysis to account for the behaviour of transitive -ej(ar) verbs

"Isogloss" : a new journal for linguistic variation in Romance and Iberian languages

These pages introduce Isogloss, a journal devoted to the study of the variation of Romance and Iberian languages

On Spanish Dvandva and its restrictions

As noted by Bauer, real dvandva compounds –that is, coordinative compounds that properly express the aggregation of two different entities, not the intersection of properties in one entity– are extremely rare in English or Spanish. This article explores the empirical domain of dvandva compounding in Spanish, and notes that they are productive when not used as heads within their phrases. We propose that the explanation for this is that Spanish can only productively build dvandva compounds using flat structures without internal hierarchy. This causes the compound to look externally for a head noun that defines the interpretation of the relation established between the two members of the dvandva. The proposal also explains why proper names is preferred in dvandva compounding, given that they do not denote properties

Argument Structure and the Syntax-Morphology Interface. A Case Study in Latin and other Languages

[eng] In this dissertation I put forth a syntactic theory of argument structure and the syntaxmorphology interface and I apply it mainly to Early and Classical Latin, although comparison with other languages and discussion of the facts in these languages is conceded a considerable weight. Drawing on Mateu 2002f., Borer 2005b and Marantz 1995f., I argue for a view of argument structure where a basic distinction is drawn between the elements carrying encyclopaedic content, the roots, and the syntactic configuration built around functional heads. Argument structure properties exclusively depend on the latter. Furthermore, the syntactic configuration provides the structural semantics of the linguistic expression. I endorse a theory of the syntaxmorphology interface like the one proposed in the Distributed Morphology framework: morphology is, by default, syntax, although some specific PF operations can disrupt the basic syntax-morphology isomorphism —an isomorphism which, I argue, is inherent to the syntax-semantics interface. Crucially, cross-linguistic variation shall be defended to depend exclusively on that lack of isomorphism between syntax and morphology. In particular, it is triggered ultimately by languagespecific morphophonological properties of functional heads. The empirical focus is set on the domain of events expressing a transition. I consider Talmy’s (2000) theory of the cross-linguistic expression of events of change, where a basic divide is drawn between the languages in which the transition can be encoded by a non-verbal element —satellite-framed languages— and the languages in which the transition must be encoded by the verb —verb-framed languages. I couch Talmy’s theory of transition events within a syntactic theory of argument structure, and I explore a wide range of constructions in Latin —either presenting new data or giving a new perspective on data from the Latin linguistics tradition— to show that Latin pertains to the class of satellite-framed languages. Following an idea in Mateu 2002:160 and Mateu & Rigau 2002, I propose that the s-/v-framed distinction is explainable in purely morphophonological terms. In particular, I make use of the theory of PF operations developed by Embick & Noyer (1999, 2001) within the Distributed Morphology framework, together with Hale & Keyser’s (2002:60f.) and Harley’s (2004) theory of conflation, to account for the distinction. Thus, in v-framed languages the eventive v head lowers, at PF, to the head encoding transition —Path— and fuses with it, yielding a unique locus for phonological realisation. On the other hand, in s-framed languages this Fusion operation does not take place, so v and Path are free to be phonologically realised independently from each other. Finally, I propose a refinement of Talmy’s typology within the class of s-framed languages. First, there are strong s-framed languages, like the Germanic languages, where v and Path are not required to form one word, and, thus, allow constructions like complex adjectival resultative constructions. Second, there are weak s-framed languages, like Latin, where v and Path must form one word (if both are realised independently from each other) and disallow, hence, constructions like adjectival resultative constructions. This distinction is accounted for in terms of a v-to-Path (PF) Lowering operation for weak s-framed languages, which creates a complex head. A three-way, gradual typology emerges encompassing strong s-framed languages (no v-to-Path Lowering and no Path-v Fusion), weak s-framed languages (v-to-Path Lowering, no Path-v Fusion) and v-framed languages (v-to-Path Lowering and Path-v Fusion).[cat] En aquesta tesi defenso una teoria de l’estructura argumental basada en la distinció entre les arrels, elements de contingut enciclopèdic, i les configuracions sintàctiques construïdes sobre les base dels morfemes funcionals, a les quals van lligades les propietats de l’estructura argumental i la semàntica estructural. Alhora advoco per una teoria de la interfície sintaxi-morfologia per defecte isomòrfica; la possible manca d’isomorfisme, de la qual depèn la variació interlingüística, es deu a l’existència de certes operacions morfofonològiques provocades per propietats dels morfemes funcionals. Aplico aquesta teoria a dades fonamentalment del llatí arcaic i clàssic, concentrantment en la divisió tipològica proposada per Talmy entre llengües d’emmarcament en el satèl•lit i llengües d’emmarcament verbal: en les primeres l’element que expressa un canvi d’estat o lloc és típicament no verbal mentre que en les segones és sempre un verb. Demostro, a través de l’anàlisi de diferents construccions, que el llatí pertany al primer grup, però també que tant aquesta llengua com l’eslau es distintingeixen de les altres llengües d’aquest tipus pel fet que no admeten construccions resultatives complexes basades en SAs. Relaciono aquest fet amb un altre: que aquestes llengües tampoc no admeten resultatives basades en SPs si el verb no està prefixat. Concloc que en aquestes llengües, que anomeno llengües d’emmarcament en el satèl•lit febles, hi ha un requeriment morfològic pel qual l’element que expressa el resultat de l’esdeveniment i el verb, per bé que són dos morfs diferents, han de formar un sol mot fonològic; aquesta característica impedeix la generació de resultatives basades en SAs o SPs. El requeriment esmentat no es dóna en les llengües germàniques o en finoúgric, llengües d’emmarcament en el satèl•lit fortes. Explico aquesta escissió proposant que en les llengües de tipus feble hi ha una operació morfofonològica, el Descens (Lowering: Embick & Noyer 2001), que forma un node complex a partir del node v i del node Path, codificador de canvi. En les llengües d’emmarcament en el verb hi opera Descens però també Fusió (Fusion: Embick & Noyer 2001), formant un sol node a partir del node complex Path+v, que és representat, doncs, per un sol morf

Spanish morphology and the architecture of grammar

This chapter deals the nature of morphology and its position within the architecture of grammar: syntax and phonology. While this issue is by now a widely studied one, it examines how it is illuminated by evidence furnished from word-related phenomena particular to Spanish, like stem alternations or the position of the head in compounds. The chapter presents the major theories of morphology and classifies according to whether they commit to the idea of morphology as a grammatical component independent of syntax. It then examines two phenomena showcasing the tension between syntactically vs morphologically oriented theories and between morphological vs phonological approaches. Traditional studies in Spanish morphology are, either explicitly or implicitly, of the Autonomous-Morphology type. For instance, Alemany Bolufer’s pioneering treaty on derivation and compounding just takes it for granted that the units and processes leading to the creation of new lexemes are to be described in isolation, as a system in itself

Approaching the puzzle of the adjective

I show a way to solve Borer’s (2013) “puzzle of the adjective”: adjectives behave like derived words regarding some morphological phenomena and like roots regarding others. My key overarching assumption is that adjectives are in fact non-primitive, comprising an adposition and a nominal. Other assumptions, framed within a syntactic approach to morphology, include: a universal recursive hierarchy of lexical categories; the idea that categorizers are simple lexical items relating a span of the categorial hierarchy to an exponent; the assumption that lexically and morphologically conditioned allomorphy is sensitive to stretches of the syntactic representation, rather than to exponents; and a rather flexible lexicalization procedure, one syntactic representation being mappable to different combinations of lexical items