Difference between revisions of "Verbconstructions cross-linguistically - Introduction"

Revision as of 18:16, 7 June 2008 (view source) Lars Hellan (Talk | contribs) ← Older edit		Revision as of 19:47, 7 June 2008 (view source) Lars Hellan (Talk | contribs) Newer edit →
Line 565:		Line 565:
	Ola stiller som forsvarer		Ola stiller som forsvarer
	<Phrase>2036</Phrase>		<Phrase>2036</Phrase>
		+
		+	;v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scAdj
		+
		+	ROLE: thSit
		+
		+	SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY
		+
		+	gutten virker syk
		+	<Phrase>2039</Phrase>
		+
		+	;v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scN
		+
		+	ROLE: thSit
		+
		+	SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY
		+
		+	gutten synes en leder
		+	<Phrase>2040</Phrase>
		+
		+	;v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scPP
		+
		+	ROLE: thSit
		+
		+	SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY
		+
		+	gutten virker i orden
		+	<Phrase>2041</Phrase>
		+
		+	;v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scPredprtcl
		+
		+	ROLE: thSit
		+
		+	SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY
		+
		+	gutten virker som en feiging
		+	<Phrase>2042</Phrase>
		+
		+	;v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scInf
		+
		+	ROLE: thSit
		+
		+	SIT-TYPE: EXHIBACT
		+
		+	han synes å komme
		+	<Phrase>2043</Phrase>
		+
		+	;v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scBareinf
		+
		+	ROLE: thSit
		+
		+	SIT-TYPE: EXHIBACT
		+
		+	han synes komme
		+	<Phrase>2044</Phrase>
		+	;
		+
		+
		+
	;		;

---

Revision as of 19:47, 7 June 2008

Presented here is an initiative for constructing an environment enabling the enumeration of verb constructions cross-linguistically. The aims are:

• For each language, that the enumeration be complete and transparent;
• Across languages, that the enumerations be comparable.

The environment includes a labeling system which, for any verb construction of a given language, provides a template for that construction type displaying its argument structure and other properties, in a fashion as transparent as possible. The template is constructed from a universally established inventory of labeling primitives. The initiative has started with, on the one hand, a rather extensive inventory of Verb Constructions in Norwegian (based on the TROLL 1989 work, NorKompLeks 1996, and Norsource 2007), and on the other, a comparative survey of closely related languages of the Volta Basin Area (supported by The Legon-Trondheim project on Ghanaian languages). Thus both scenarios mentioned above are being instantiated. The characterization of a construction type relates to at least the following parameters, when applicable:

• diathesis/argument operations (such as passive, causativisation, applicative formation),
• syntactic valency,
• semantic participants,
• particular patterns of agreement, including coreference patterns (such as 'equi' and 'raising' patterns, argument sharing, secondary predication), tense/aspect agreement, and subject and object marking,
• 'full' vs 'expletive' elements. NOT included is modification and syntactic processes not particular to the formation or modification of argument structure.

The basic structural parts of a Template are referred to as slots. In the slot specification, the following conventions are observed:

• Slots are interconnected by '-' (hyphen).
• Distinct items inside a slot are interconnected by '_' (underline).
• An item label containing neither ‘-‘ nor ‘_’ is an uninterrupted string of letters. If it acts as a complex label, the internal composition is indicated by alternation between small and capital letters (however, no labels are distinguished in terms of CAP vs. not).

Constructions with a Verb as head have a Template structure with maximum five slots:

• Slot 1: POS of the head, and diathesis information (e.g.: 'V_pas' for passive diathesis; 'V' alone if the construction is active).
• Slot 2: Valency: transitivity specification - intr, tr, ditr, ... (see list below) (if the construction is passive, the valence given is that of its corresponding active form).
• Slot 3: Dependent Specification: comments on syntactic and referential properties of specific arguments – see list below.
• Slot 4: Participant Roles.
• Slot 5: Situation Type: a label for the situation type expressed by the construction, written in CAPS

Slots 1 and 2 are obligatorily filled, the others not. A slot not specified is not displayed; however, the labels defined for the various slots are distinct, hence no specification can be misread with regard to which slot it fits into. Likewise, no labels are distinguished in terms of CAP vs. not.

The following template exemplifies the notation (with an English example sentence):

(1) v-tr-ag_affincrem-COMPLETED_MONODEVMNT

the boy eats the cake

The template reads as:

• Slot 1: The head is V;
• Slot 2: the syntactic frame is transitive;
• Slot 4: the thematic roles expressed are 'agent' and 'incrementally affected';
• Slot 5: the situation type is (partially characterized as) 'completed monotonic development'.

Nothing here occupies Slot 3. (Since neither 'ag_affincrem' nor 'COMPLETED_MONODEVMNT' is a defined slot 3-specification, there is no ambiguity as to which slot is here empty.)

The following template has specification for the first three slots (from Norwegian, with gloss and translation):

(2) v-trScpr-scObNrgCse_scAdj

This template reads as:

• Slot 1: The head is V;
• Slot 2: the syntactic frame is transitive with a secondary ('small clause') predicate;
• Slot 3: the secondary predicate is predicated of the object, which is a 'non-argument', i.e., does not have a semantic argument relation to the verb, and expresses the result of a causation; moreover, the secondary predicate is headed by an adjective.

If a construction has a verbal complement, or is a series of verbs, where there is reason to comment on each verbal domain, the construction is entered as a sequence of two (or more) v-constructions, where each has the argument frame instantiated by the verb in question. The v-constructions are separated by double hyphen. After the first slot, which indicates the kind of construction, there is a slot with information on how constituents from the different v-constructions interrelate. The following is an example of a Serial Verb Construction in Akan, where 'sv' indicates this type:

3) sv-objIDsu_aspID--v-tr-ag_ejct--v-tr-th_endpt-CONTACTEJECTION

This template reads as:

• Slot 1: The construction is an SVC;
• Slot 2: The object of the first clause is (referentially) identical to the subject of the second clause, and aspect (PST) is identical across the clauses;
• Slot 3: The v-constructions: the first v-construction has a transitive verb, and its participant roles are 'agent and ejected'; the second v-construction also has a transitive verb, with the participant roles 'theme' and 'endpoint' (notice that in each of these frames, there is no slot 3-specification, but both have slot 4-specification);
• Slot 4: The whole construction expresses the situation-type 'CONTACTEJECTION', that is, 'ejection with the ejected obtaining contact with an expressed entity'.

v-intrImpers

SIT-TYPE: PHENOM

det regner

v-intrImpersPrtcl

SIT-TYPE: PHENOM_TELIC

det klarner opp

v-intrImpersObl

ROLE: loc

SIT-TYPE: SEMELFACTIVE

det kvekker i Ola

det sprekker i glasset

ROLE: loc

SIT-TYPE: ACTIVITY

det synger i fjellene

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: agmover

SIT-TYPE: MOTION

det springer en mann

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: agmover

SIT-TYPE: ENDPNTMOTION

det springer en mann hit

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: thmover

SIT-TYPE: MOTION

det ruller en ball

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: thmover

SIT-TYPE: ENDPNTMOTION

det ruller en ball hit

v-intrPresentationalLoc

ROLE: ag_loc

SIT-TYPE: POSTURE_LOC

det sitter en mann i stolen

det sitter en mann her

v-trPresentational

ROLE: ben_th

SIT-TYPE: PENDINGSTATE

det venter ham en ulykke

det tilkommer ham hundre kroner

v-intr

ROLE: ag

SIT-TYPE: ACTIVITY / SEMELFACTIVE

gutten hopper

v-intrPrtcl

ROLE: ag

SIT-TYPE: SUSTAINEDACTIVITY

Ola driver på

ROLE: th

SIT-TYPE: SUSTAINEDACTIVITY

regnet varer ved

v-intrPrtcl

ROLE: ag

SIT-TYPE: COMPLETEDACTIVITY

Ola stopper opp

ROLE: th

SIT-TYPE: COMPLETEDACTIVITY

regnet holder opp

v-intr

ROLE: agsens

SIT-TYPE: SENSING_PROTR

gutten lytter

v-intr

ROLE: th

SIT-TYPE: PROCESS

isen smelter

v-intr

ROLE: exp

SIT-TYPE: EXPERIENCING_PROTR

gutten fryser

v-intrDir

ROLE: agmover

SIT-TYPE: MOTION

gutten løper

v-intrDir

ROLE: thmover

SIT-TYPE: MOTION

ballen ruller

v-intrDir

ROLE: orientedobj

SIT-TYPE: PUREORIENTATION

pilen peker mot nord

v-intrDir

ROLE: orientedobj

SIT-TYPE: PATHCONSTELLATION

veien går mot nord

v-intrDir

ROLE: orientedobj

SIT-TYPE: LOCOMODEVELOPMENT

turen går mot nord

v-intr-suDECL

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: NONHABITUAL

at han sover hender

v-intr-suYN

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: ASSESS

hvorvidt han kommer beror

v-intr-suWH

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: ASSESS

??hvem som kommer beror

v-intr-suAbsinf

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: ASSESS

å motta penger for politiske verv stinker

v-intrObl

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: ABOUTNESS_ACTIVITY

jeg snakker om Ola

v-intrObl

ROLE: ag_loc

SIT-TYPE: LOCATION

hun bor i Finnmark

ROLE: th_loc

SIT-TYPE: LOCATION

Hamningberg ligger i Finnmark

v-intrObl

ROLE: ag_affincrem

SIT-TYPE: NONCOMPLETED_MONODEVMNT

hun spiser av eplet

v-intrObl

ROLE: ag_thincrem

SIT-TYPE: NONCOMPLETED_MONODEVMNT

hun leser i boken

v-intrObl

ROLE: ag_activated

SIT-TYPE: ACTIVATION

Ola rører på statuen

v-intrObl-oblRefl

ROLE: ag_activated

SIT-TYPE: ACTIVATION

Ola leer på seg

v-intrObl-oblPRTOFsubj

ROLE: exp_locth

SIT-TYPE: PARTWHOLE_EXPERIENCING

jeg fryser på ryggen

v-intrImplicobjObl

ROLE: ag_th_csdloc

SIT-TYPE: RENDERING_IN_POSITION

han sølte på duken

han kledde på gutten

v-intrImplicobjObl-oblRefl

ROLE: ag_th_csdloc

SIT-TYPE: RENDERING_IN_POSITION

han sølte på seg

han kledde på seg

v-intrObl-oblDECL

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: ABOUTNESS_ACTIVITY

de snakker om at det er for sent

v-intrObl-oblYN

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: PROPOSITIONALATTITUDE_ACTIVITY

de lurer på hvorvidt det er for sent

v-intrObl-oblWH

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: PROPOSITIONALATTITUDE_ACTIVITY

de lurer på hvem som kommer

v-intrObl-oblEqSuInf

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: PROPOSITIONALATTITUDE_ACTIVITY

han håper på å komme

v-intrObl-oblEqSuInf

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: HABITUAL

Ola driver med å skrive

Ola does writing

v-intrPrtclObl-oblEqSuInf

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: ACTIVITY

Ola driver på med å skrive

v-intrObl-oblAbsinf

ROLE: ag_topic

SIT-TYPE: ABOUTNESS_ACTIVITY

de snakker om å reise til Mars

v-intrOblRais-suNrg_oblRaisInf

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBACT

han later til å komme

v-intrPrtclOblRais-suNrg_oblRaisInf

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBACT

han ser ut til å komme

v-intrAdv

ROLE:

SIT-TYPE:

han fungerer godt

v-epistmodal

ROLE:

SIT-TYPE:

han kan komme

v-modaldir

ROLE:

SIT-TYPE:

han må ut

'he must out' (= 'he has to go out')

v-perf

ROLE:

SIT-TYPE:

han har kommet

v-intrScpr-scLght_scAdj

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EPISODIC_PROPTY

huset står tomt

eiendommen ligger brakk

v-intrScpr-scLght_scPredprtcl

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EPISODIC_PROPTY

gutten fremstår som mistenkt

Ola stiller som forsvarer

v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scAdj

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY

gutten virker syk

v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scN

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY

gutten synes en leder

v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scPP

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY

gutten virker i orden

v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scPredprtcl

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBPROPTY

gutten virker som en feiging

v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scInf

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBACT

han synes å komme

v-intrScpr-scSuNrg_scBareinf

ROLE: thSit

SIT-TYPE: EXHIBACT

han synes komme