Non selected dative arguments in Spanish anticausative constructions
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Olga Fernández-Soriano
Abstract
This paper examines the notion of subject and subjecthood by analysing the properties of a construction found in Spanish, as well as in a variety of genetically quite different languages, in which a non-selected dative argument is added to an anticausative construction and may be interpreted as accidental or unintentional causer of the event. In particular we explore three hypotheses: (i) the addition of a dative argument to a typical anticausative structure requires the projection of a cause predicate in the syntax, in line with the analysis proposed by Schäfer (2008), among others; (ii) the dative argument is introduced by a high applicative phrase (Pylkkänen 2008) and behaves as a subject with respect to certain syntactic properties; in particular, it has properties akin to those of a quirky subject of the type found in languages such as Icelandic or Georgian (Sigurðsson 1996, 2002a, b), and (iii) the subject properties displayed by the noncore dative mostly follow from the fact that it participates in the first (initial) subevent of the predicate, as is the case for external arguments in general (Harley 1995). This explains why the unintentional causer construction cannot be found with a subclass of change of state verbs, namely those expressing internally caused eventualities, which lack a causative predicate, a fact that has either gone unnoticed or remained unexplained in other analyses of the construction.
Abstract
This paper examines the notion of subject and subjecthood by analysing the properties of a construction found in Spanish, as well as in a variety of genetically quite different languages, in which a non-selected dative argument is added to an anticausative construction and may be interpreted as accidental or unintentional causer of the event. In particular we explore three hypotheses: (i) the addition of a dative argument to a typical anticausative structure requires the projection of a cause predicate in the syntax, in line with the analysis proposed by Schäfer (2008), among others; (ii) the dative argument is introduced by a high applicative phrase (Pylkkänen 2008) and behaves as a subject with respect to certain syntactic properties; in particular, it has properties akin to those of a quirky subject of the type found in languages such as Icelandic or Georgian (Sigurðsson 1996, 2002a, b), and (iii) the subject properties displayed by the noncore dative mostly follow from the fact that it participates in the first (initial) subevent of the predicate, as is the case for external arguments in general (Harley 1995). This explains why the unintentional causer construction cannot be found with a subclass of change of state verbs, namely those expressing internally caused eventualities, which lack a causative predicate, a fact that has either gone unnoticed or remained unexplained in other analyses of the construction.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction ix
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Part I. Rise of non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
- Non selected dative arguments in Spanish anticausative constructions 3
- The rise of animacy-based differential subject marking in Dutch 35
- The rise of oblique subjects in Russian 55
- Non-canonical subject marking 73
- The rise of non-canonical subjects and semantic alignments in Hindi 91
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Part II. Historical changes in constructions with non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
- Experiencers and psychological noun predicates 121
- Between Finnic and Indo-European 139
- On the historical expansion of non-canonically marked ‘subjects’ in Spanish 163
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Part III. From non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques to canonical subjects
- Subjects in Scandinavian 187
- The me pudet construction in the history of Latin 203
- Diachrony of experiencer subject marking 231
- Obliqueness, quasi-subjects and transitivity in Baltic and Slavonic 257
- Rise of canonical subjecthood 283
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Synthesis
- The diachronic typology of non-canonical subjects and subject-like obliques 313
- Language index 361
- Subject index 363
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction ix
-
Part I. Rise of non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
- Non selected dative arguments in Spanish anticausative constructions 3
- The rise of animacy-based differential subject marking in Dutch 35
- The rise of oblique subjects in Russian 55
- Non-canonical subject marking 73
- The rise of non-canonical subjects and semantic alignments in Hindi 91
-
Part II. Historical changes in constructions with non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques
- Experiencers and psychological noun predicates 121
- Between Finnic and Indo-European 139
- On the historical expansion of non-canonically marked ‘subjects’ in Spanish 163
-
Part III. From non-canonical subjects or subject-like obliques to canonical subjects
- Subjects in Scandinavian 187
- The me pudet construction in the history of Latin 203
- Diachrony of experiencer subject marking 231
- Obliqueness, quasi-subjects and transitivity in Baltic and Slavonic 257
- Rise of canonical subjecthood 283
-
Synthesis
- The diachronic typology of non-canonical subjects and subject-like obliques 313
- Language index 361
- Subject index 363
