John Benjamins Publishing Company
The binding hierarchy and infinitival complementation in English and in Polish
Abstract
The present chapter investigates different types of English infinitive taking predicates and their Polish-language equivalents with a view to accounting for the semantic mechanisms motivating the distribution of the infinitival complement in these two languages. The study takes as its point of reference Talmy Givon’s theory of ‘binding hierarchy’; according to which, there is a systematic correlation between the semantic properties of complement-taking verbs and the syntactic structure of their complements. The chapter takes a detailed look at how the binding hierarchy is exploited by both the English infinitive taking predicates and their Polish equivalents, and goes on to show that the latter are more sensitive to the nature of the relationship between the subject and the object referent of the infinitive taking predicates.
Abstract
The present chapter investigates different types of English infinitive taking predicates and their Polish-language equivalents with a view to accounting for the semantic mechanisms motivating the distribution of the infinitival complement in these two languages. The study takes as its point of reference Talmy Givon’s theory of ‘binding hierarchy’; according to which, there is a systematic correlation between the semantic properties of complement-taking verbs and the syntactic structure of their complements. The chapter takes a detailed look at how the binding hierarchy is exploited by both the English infinitive taking predicates and their Polish equivalents, and goes on to show that the latter are more sensitive to the nature of the relationship between the subject and the object referent of the infinitive taking predicates.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Theoretical and methodological issues
- Toward an integrated view of structure, processing, and discourse 23
- Looking into introspection 55
- Virtual lexicogrammar 75
-
Part II: The semantics and pragmatics of morphosyntactic constructions
- From the meaning of the concrete noun to its grammatical property and back 95
- What? You and me get together? The place of the Incredulity Response Construction in the lexicon-syntax continuum 121
- The binding hierarchy and infinitival complementation in English and in Polish 143
- The conceptual structure of reflexivity in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , Manuscript E 161
-
Part III: Figuration and lexicogrammatical structure
- Lexical and grammatical dimensions of metaphor – a Cognitive Grammar perspective 175
- The interplay of metaphor and metonymy in English noun+noun compounds 193
- Towards an experientially-based classification of motion situations 211
- Space and time in medium-mediated expressions of distance 229
-
Part IV: Morphological and phonological structure
- Headedness of coordinate compounds in Polish and English 243
- Word-specific phonology 261
- Name index 277
- Subject index 279
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Theoretical and methodological issues
- Toward an integrated view of structure, processing, and discourse 23
- Looking into introspection 55
- Virtual lexicogrammar 75
-
Part II: The semantics and pragmatics of morphosyntactic constructions
- From the meaning of the concrete noun to its grammatical property and back 95
- What? You and me get together? The place of the Incredulity Response Construction in the lexicon-syntax continuum 121
- The binding hierarchy and infinitival complementation in English and in Polish 143
- The conceptual structure of reflexivity in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , Manuscript E 161
-
Part III: Figuration and lexicogrammatical structure
- Lexical and grammatical dimensions of metaphor – a Cognitive Grammar perspective 175
- The interplay of metaphor and metonymy in English noun+noun compounds 193
- Towards an experientially-based classification of motion situations 211
- Space and time in medium-mediated expressions of distance 229
-
Part IV: Morphological and phonological structure
- Headedness of coordinate compounds in Polish and English 243
- Word-specific phonology 261
- Name index 277
- Subject index 279
