Linking: The Geometry of Argument Structure

di Janet H. Randall (Autore)

Springer-Verlag New York Inc., 2009

Linking – how semantic arguments map to the syntax – is one of the challenges for theories of the syntax-semantics interface. In this new approach, Janet Randall explores the hypothesis that the positions of syntactic arguments are strictly determined by lexical argument geometry. Yielding novel – if sometimes surprising – conclusions, her Isomorphic Linking Hypothesis establishes the linking patterns of a wide range of verbs and, with those results, shows how to reason "backwards" from how a given verb's arguments link to what its lexical representation must be. Along the way, the investigation takes on thorny lexical issues – reformulating the Theta Criterion, revisiting the multiple lexical-entry debate, eliminating "indirect" arguments and redefining unaccusativity. It offers new insights into how arguments are represented, assembles a host of argument/adjunct diagnostics, and re-examines the relation between arguments and predicates. The result of this incisive study is a simple and consistent account of linking, integrated with a radical rethinking of the nature of arguments and argument structure.

• Autore: Janet H. Randall
• Editore: Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
• Collana: Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory
• Anno: 2009
• Rilegatura: Hardback
• Pagine: 329 p.
• Dimensioni: 235 x 155 mm
• EAN: 9781402083075

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