6 When lightness meets lexical aspect. A corpus-based account of English Light Verb Extensions
-
Roberta Mastrofini
Abstract
Since Jespersen’s definition of the concept (1942: 117-118), studies on Lightness have profusely developed in many languages. Recent contributions have focused on the hypothesis that Lightness is not uniquely a property of general verbs or Verb+Noun constructions, but that there are different instances of Light Verb patterns exhibiting different degrees of cohesion between the elements involved. In other words, various verbs can become ‘light’ in specific syntagmatic environments implying an eventive or deverbal nominal element. This suggests the existence of a gradient of lightness, which implies other constructions than the ones officially recognized by the previous literature on the topic. In keeping with this approach, this paper focuses on Light Verb Extensions. Like prototypical Light Verb Constructions, they stem from the combination of a verb and an eventive or deverbal noun; unlike prototypical Light Verb Constructions, they exploit fully lexical verbs that, under certain syntagmatic conditions, are turned into aspectual devices (e.g., to cultivatea virtue, to embrace a concept, to deliver a speech). This contribution presents a corpus-based account of such constructions in English, recognizing different aspectual configurations conveyed by the Light Verb Extension patterns, in which the predicate, devoid of its literal meaning, plays a crucial role in determining them. According to these findings, the criteria used so far to identify Lightness should include the aspectual dimension of the construction, thus confirming the idea that this phenomenon should be dealt with in a broader perspective.
Abstract
Since Jespersen’s definition of the concept (1942: 117-118), studies on Lightness have profusely developed in many languages. Recent contributions have focused on the hypothesis that Lightness is not uniquely a property of general verbs or Verb+Noun constructions, but that there are different instances of Light Verb patterns exhibiting different degrees of cohesion between the elements involved. In other words, various verbs can become ‘light’ in specific syntagmatic environments implying an eventive or deverbal nominal element. This suggests the existence of a gradient of lightness, which implies other constructions than the ones officially recognized by the previous literature on the topic. In keeping with this approach, this paper focuses on Light Verb Extensions. Like prototypical Light Verb Constructions, they stem from the combination of a verb and an eventive or deverbal noun; unlike prototypical Light Verb Constructions, they exploit fully lexical verbs that, under certain syntagmatic conditions, are turned into aspectual devices (e.g., to cultivatea virtue, to embrace a concept, to deliver a speech). This contribution presents a corpus-based account of such constructions in English, recognizing different aspectual configurations conveyed by the Light Verb Extension patterns, in which the predicate, devoid of its literal meaning, plays a crucial role in determining them. According to these findings, the criteria used so far to identify Lightness should include the aspectual dimension of the construction, thus confirming the idea that this phenomenon should be dealt with in a broader perspective.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1: Argument structure sharing
- 1 Valency structure of complex predicates with Light Verbs 19
- 2 Unification and selection in Light Verb Constructions. A study of Norwegian 45
-
Section 2: Event structure sharing
- 3 Persian Light Verbs as event determiners 73
- 4 Light Verb Constructions in Romance languages. An attempt to explain systematic irregularity 99
- 5 How light is ‘give’ as a Light Verb? A case study on the actionality of Latin Light Verb Constructions (with some references to Romance languages) 149
- 6 When lightness meets lexical aspect. A corpus-based account of English Light Verb Extensions 201
-
Section 3: The verb fullness
- 7 Semantic Co-composition in Light Verb Constructions 221
- 8 On the unpredictability of Support Verbs. A distributional study of Spanish tomar 239
- 9 Making a move towards Ancient Greek Light Verb Constructions 257
-
Section 4: The verb emptiness
- 10 Light Verbs and ‘light nouns’ in polysynthetic languages 275
- 11 A diachronic insight into the aspectual meaning in Light Verb Constructions. A case study in Mandarin Chinese 305
- 12 Light Verb Constructions in Latin. A study on (in) memoria and (in) animo habeo 337
- Index 361
- Index of languages 371
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1: Argument structure sharing
- 1 Valency structure of complex predicates with Light Verbs 19
- 2 Unification and selection in Light Verb Constructions. A study of Norwegian 45
-
Section 2: Event structure sharing
- 3 Persian Light Verbs as event determiners 73
- 4 Light Verb Constructions in Romance languages. An attempt to explain systematic irregularity 99
- 5 How light is ‘give’ as a Light Verb? A case study on the actionality of Latin Light Verb Constructions (with some references to Romance languages) 149
- 6 When lightness meets lexical aspect. A corpus-based account of English Light Verb Extensions 201
-
Section 3: The verb fullness
- 7 Semantic Co-composition in Light Verb Constructions 221
- 8 On the unpredictability of Support Verbs. A distributional study of Spanish tomar 239
- 9 Making a move towards Ancient Greek Light Verb Constructions 257
-
Section 4: The verb emptiness
- 10 Light Verbs and ‘light nouns’ in polysynthetic languages 275
- 11 A diachronic insight into the aspectual meaning in Light Verb Constructions. A case study in Mandarin Chinese 305
- 12 Light Verb Constructions in Latin. A study on (in) memoria and (in) animo habeo 337
- Index 361
- Index of languages 371
