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Chapter 5. Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena with explicit and implicit subject arguments

Their use and occurrence in the light of data
  • Enikő Németh T.
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The Evidential Basis of Linguistic Argumentation
This chapter is in the book The Evidential Basis of Linguistic Argumentation

Abstract

The present chapter has two main aims. First, it attempts to provide a novel account for the occurrence of Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena with subject arguments. The problem which the present chapter wants to resolve is that there is an inconsistency between the previous explanations of the behaviour of verbs of natural phenomena with and without an explicit subject and the data. The previous approaches have considered the Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena subjectless, although data from various direct sources (such as written corpora, intuition, introspection, and spoken discourses) testify to occurrences of verbs of natural phenomena with explicit subjects. To eliminate this inconsistency, the chapter argues for a new, unified approach, according to which Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena have subject arguments in their lexical-semantic representations which can (or even should) be lexically unrealised in some contexts, while in others they can be explicitly expressed and contextual, grammatical as well as lexical-semantic factors together license the implicit or explicit occurrence of subject arguments. Second, applying Kertész & Rákosi’s (this volume, 2012) p-model, the chapter aims to reflect on a metalinguistic level on how the proposed explanation has been reached in the course of the research as well as how the new account can resolve the above mentioned problem.

Abstract

The present chapter has two main aims. First, it attempts to provide a novel account for the occurrence of Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena with subject arguments. The problem which the present chapter wants to resolve is that there is an inconsistency between the previous explanations of the behaviour of verbs of natural phenomena with and without an explicit subject and the data. The previous approaches have considered the Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena subjectless, although data from various direct sources (such as written corpora, intuition, introspection, and spoken discourses) testify to occurrences of verbs of natural phenomena with explicit subjects. To eliminate this inconsistency, the chapter argues for a new, unified approach, according to which Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena have subject arguments in their lexical-semantic representations which can (or even should) be lexically unrealised in some contexts, while in others they can be explicitly expressed and contextual, grammatical as well as lexical-semantic factors together license the implicit or explicit occurrence of subject arguments. Second, applying Kertész & Rákosi’s (this volume, 2012) p-model, the chapter aims to reflect on a metalinguistic level on how the proposed explanation has been reached in the course of the research as well as how the new account can resolve the above mentioned problem.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: The methodological framework
  5. Chapter 2. The p-model of data and evidence in linguistics 15
  6. Part II: Object-theoretical applications
  7. Chapter 3. The plausibility of approaches to syntactic alternation of Hungarian verbs 51
  8. Chapter 4. Methods and argumentation in historical linguistics 71
  9. Chapter 5. Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena with explicit and implicit subject arguments 103
  10. Chapter 6. The development of a taxonomy of verbal disagreements in the light of the p-model 133
  11. Chapter 7. A case of disagreement 179
  12. Chapter 8. A plausibility-based model of shifted indexicals 199
  13. Part III: Metatheoretical applications
  14. Chapter 9. Thought experiments and real experiments as converging data sources in pragmatics 221
  15. Chapter 10. Data and the resolution of inconsistency in Optimality Theory 271
  16. Chapter 11. Conclusions 309
  17. Author index 315
  18. Subject index 317
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.153.05nem

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: The methodological framework
  5. Chapter 2. The p-model of data and evidence in linguistics 15
  6. Part II: Object-theoretical applications
  7. Chapter 3. The plausibility of approaches to syntactic alternation of Hungarian verbs 51
  8. Chapter 4. Methods and argumentation in historical linguistics 71
  9. Chapter 5. Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena with explicit and implicit subject arguments 103
  10. Chapter 6. The development of a taxonomy of verbal disagreements in the light of the p-model 133
  11. Chapter 7. A case of disagreement 179
  12. Chapter 8. A plausibility-based model of shifted indexicals 199
  13. Part III: Metatheoretical applications
  14. Chapter 9. Thought experiments and real experiments as converging data sources in pragmatics 221
  15. Chapter 10. Data and the resolution of inconsistency in Optimality Theory 271
  16. Chapter 11. Conclusions 309
  17. Author index 315
  18. Subject index 317
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