Unexpected (in)animate argument marking
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Helen de Hoop
Abstract
The present chapter discusses the phenomena of object-fronting and passivization in relation to animacy. Both phenomena can be the outcome of a competition between a general subject-first preference and a topic-first preference in language. We explore how different patterns of unexpected (in)animate marking in object-initial and passive sentences might be expressed in a formal bidirectional OT account of grammar. Patterns in Dutch, Kinyarwanda, and Biak can be explained using the same model, which integrates the speaker’s taking into account the hearer’s perspective in production and the hearer’s taking into account the speaker’s perspective in interpretation. We show that both the speaker’s choice between competing forms and the hearer’s choice between competing interpretations constrain the use of object-fronting and passivization in language
Abstract
The present chapter discusses the phenomena of object-fronting and passivization in relation to animacy. Both phenomena can be the outcome of a competition between a general subject-first preference and a topic-first preference in language. We explore how different patterns of unexpected (in)animate marking in object-initial and passive sentences might be expressed in a formal bidirectional OT account of grammar. Patterns in Dutch, Kinyarwanda, and Biak can be explained using the same model, which integrates the speaker’s taking into account the hearer’s perspective in production and the hearer’s taking into account the speaker’s perspective in interpretation. We show that both the speaker’s choice between competing forms and the hearer’s choice between competing interpretations constrain the use of object-fronting and passivization in language
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- The syntax of argument structure 1
- Too strong argument structures and (un-)prepared repair 13
- Evidence against lexicalist or configurational approaches to structural encoding in sentence production 33
- Case marking affects the processing of animacy with simple verbs, but not particle verbs 69
- Unexpected (in)animate argument marking 105
- Interpretability, aspectual coercion, and event structure in Object-Experiencer verbs: An acceptability study 137
- Discourse and unaccusativity 181
- Index 203
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- The syntax of argument structure 1
- Too strong argument structures and (un-)prepared repair 13
- Evidence against lexicalist or configurational approaches to structural encoding in sentence production 33
- Case marking affects the processing of animacy with simple verbs, but not particle verbs 69
- Unexpected (in)animate argument marking 105
- Interpretability, aspectual coercion, and event structure in Object-Experiencer verbs: An acceptability study 137
- Discourse and unaccusativity 181
- Index 203
