The costs of zero-derived causativity in English
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Lisa Levinson
Abstract
This paper investigates the processing of lexical causative verbs in English as a means to provide insight into long-standing debates in this domain and to explore methods for comparison of words which are phonologicallyidentical but vary at other levels of representation. Verbs such as melt can be used in both transitive and intransitive contexts, which have been argued to vary not only in the number of thematic arguments, but also in semantic, morphological, and syntactic representation. Hypothesizing that the transitive variants contain additional causativity, we predicted that they would induce greater processing cost that could be attributed to greater lexical semantic complexity. In order to test this prediction, we included in each study pairs of activity verbs which alternate in transitivity but not causativity. Two self-paced reading studies confirmed our prediction, demonstrating an interaction such that transitive verbs in the causative condition took significantly longer to process than intransitive verbs, a pattern that was not reflected in the activity condition. A further magnetoencephalography study tested for neural activity associated with different levels of linguistic processing and provides insight into the nature of the behavioral delay. The behavioral findings suggest that the transitive variants in the lexical causative alternation are more complex than the intransitives at some level of representation, despite their phonological identity. The MEG study provides a profile which is suggestive of a link with lexical or morphological complexity.
Abstract
This paper investigates the processing of lexical causative verbs in English as a means to provide insight into long-standing debates in this domain and to explore methods for comparison of words which are phonologicallyidentical but vary at other levels of representation. Verbs such as melt can be used in both transitive and intransitive contexts, which have been argued to vary not only in the number of thematic arguments, but also in semantic, morphological, and syntactic representation. Hypothesizing that the transitive variants contain additional causativity, we predicted that they would induce greater processing cost that could be attributed to greater lexical semantic complexity. In order to test this prediction, we included in each study pairs of activity verbs which alternate in transitivity but not causativity. Two self-paced reading studies confirmed our prediction, demonstrating an interaction such that transitive verbs in the causative condition took significantly longer to process than intransitive verbs, a pattern that was not reflected in the activity condition. A further magnetoencephalography study tested for neural activity associated with different levels of linguistic processing and provides insight into the nature of the behavioral delay. The behavioral findings suggest that the transitive variants in the lexical causative alternation are more complex than the intransitives at some level of representation, despite their phonological identity. The MEG study provides a profile which is suggestive of a link with lexical or morphological complexity.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- About the Authors ix
- How are words related? 1
- Paradigms at the interface of a lexeme’s syntax and semantics with its inflectional morphology 27
- A postsyntactic morphome cookbook 59
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Discussion 1
- Syncretism in paradigm function morphology and distributed morphology 95
- Phase domains at PF 121
- The costs of zero-derived causativity in English 163
- Spans and words 201
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Discussion 2
- Building words 223
- Emergent morphology 237
- Morphology as an adaptive discriminative system 271
- Readjustment: Rejected? 303
- Towards a Restricted Realization Theory 343
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Discussion 3
- We do not need structuralist morphemes, but we do need constituent structure 387
- Inner and Outer morphology in Greek adjectival participles 431
- Re-evaluating exocentricity in word-formation 461
- Affix ordering in Optimal Construction Morphology 479
- On the interplay of facts and theory 513
-
Discussion 4
- Editors’ note 537
- Index 541
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- About the Authors ix
- How are words related? 1
- Paradigms at the interface of a lexeme’s syntax and semantics with its inflectional morphology 27
- A postsyntactic morphome cookbook 59
-
Discussion 1
- Syncretism in paradigm function morphology and distributed morphology 95
- Phase domains at PF 121
- The costs of zero-derived causativity in English 163
- Spans and words 201
-
Discussion 2
- Building words 223
- Emergent morphology 237
- Morphology as an adaptive discriminative system 271
- Readjustment: Rejected? 303
- Towards a Restricted Realization Theory 343
-
Discussion 3
- We do not need structuralist morphemes, but we do need constituent structure 387
- Inner and Outer morphology in Greek adjectival participles 431
- Re-evaluating exocentricity in word-formation 461
- Affix ordering in Optimal Construction Morphology 479
- On the interplay of facts and theory 513
-
Discussion 4
- Editors’ note 537
- Index 541
