Ditransitives and the English System of Degree of Control
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Nancy Stern
Abstract
The English System of Degree of Control (Diver, 1984) is a Columbia School hypothesis that posits invariant meanings for word order signals in what are traditionally called transitive and ditransitive sentences. In this paper, the Control System is shown to account for speakers’ choices between two constructions that seem, on introspection, to be equivalent: push the wall and give the wall a push. The Control meanings do not only describe a set of uses. Instead, by distinguishing between the linguistic system, on the one hand, and its use, on the other, the meanings of the Control System provide an explanation for the distribution of forms and the choices that speakers make in order to meet their communicative goals.
Abstract
The English System of Degree of Control (Diver, 1984) is a Columbia School hypothesis that posits invariant meanings for word order signals in what are traditionally called transitive and ditransitive sentences. In this paper, the Control System is shown to account for speakers’ choices between two constructions that seem, on introspection, to be equivalent: push the wall and give the wall a push. The Control meanings do not only describe a set of uses. Instead, by distinguishing between the linguistic system, on the one hand, and its use, on the other, the meanings of the Control System provide an explanation for the distribution of forms and the choices that speakers make in order to meet their communicative goals.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- First principles in linguistic inquiry 1
- Categories of grammar and categories of speech 7
- Letter from Ricardo Otheguy to Shana Poplack 35
- Variable grammars 45
- Discovering structure 67
- The justification of grammatical categories 91
- Spooky grammatical effects 133
- Ditransitives and the English System of Degree of Control 157
- LatinUs* and linguistics 189
- Reviving the unicorn 209
- Bilingual acquisition 245
- An incomplete disquisition against ‘incomplete acquisition’ 269
- Index 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- First principles in linguistic inquiry 1
- Categories of grammar and categories of speech 7
- Letter from Ricardo Otheguy to Shana Poplack 35
- Variable grammars 45
- Discovering structure 67
- The justification of grammatical categories 91
- Spooky grammatical effects 133
- Ditransitives and the English System of Degree of Control 157
- LatinUs* and linguistics 189
- Reviving the unicorn 209
- Bilingual acquisition 245
- An incomplete disquisition against ‘incomplete acquisition’ 269
- Index 291
