unaccusatives in english

Unaccusativity in English

Organization

Intransitive verbs: a homogeneous class?

Unaccusativity diagnostics in English

On there-sentences

Introduction

Mono-argumental intransitives

Unaccusativity diagnostics in

English

There sentences

(1)

a. eat an apple/see him: direct object

b. rely on John: prepositional object

c. wait for the train: prepositional object

d. fall down __ : no object

Introduction



The traditional approach:

Verbs which are Accusative case

assigners: Vt

Verbs which cannot assign Accusative

case: Vi

Introduction



(2)

a. John is running.

b. John is sleeping.

c. They danced yesterday.

d. She didnt fall down.

Introduction



(2)

a. John is running.

b. John is sleeping.

c. They danced yesterday.

d. She didnt fall down.

one-argument verbs

Introduction



(3) a. They rely on you.

b. *They rely.

(4) a. You can depend on me.

b. *You can depend.

two-argument verbs

a DP = external argument

a PP = indirect internal argument

Intransitive verbs:

(i) with one argument/mono-argumental/monadic

(ii) with two arguments

Today:

Intransitives with one argument

Introduction



Introduction



Are mono-argumental intransitives all alike?

Organization

(i) How it all began:

Perlmuttter (1978)

two types of mono-argumental intransitives

.

(5)

a. The boys ran to the station.

b. A lot of snow melted on the streets.

c. The stone rolled down the hill.

the boys : Agent

a lot of snow : Patient

the snow: Theme

Introduction



Introduction



TASK 1: Identify the semantic role of the argument:

The stone fell down the road.

The child ran to the fence.

The child stumbled down a stone. He fell down.

The flowers withered in the garden.

John left the country.

Introduction



some mono-argumental intransitives assign

the role of Agent to their argument, others

assign the role of non-Agent

= a semantic difference

Introduction



Perlmutter (1978) :

Vi: [+agentivity]

Vi: [-agentivity]

There are two sub-classes of one-argument verbs

Introduction



The class the verb belongs to is semantically

predictable [agentivity vs. non-agentivity]

The two classes evince different syntactic

properties

The difference is semantically predictable and syntactically encoded

Introduction



A. Unaccusatives [non-agentivity]

fall, wither, stumble, appear, exist, be, etc.

A. Unergatives [agentivity]

run, dance, work, talk, walk, etc.

Introduction



no external causer unergative

e.g. cough, sneeze, hiccough, belch, burp

Introduction



Unaccusatives

non-agentivity

theta-role =Patient/Theme

The stone rolled down the hill.

Unergatives

agentivity

theta-role = Agent

The children rolled their way across the field.

Introduction



Semantically predictable?

Task 2: unaccusative or unergative?

He hammered on the table.

We sneezed a lot with hay fever.

The yolk oozes out.

The bells were clanging.

A cluster of stars glowed above us.

They ran to the store.

He grumbled himself calm.

Task 2

He hammered on the table. (unergative)

We sneezed a lot with hay fever. (unergative)

The yolk oozes out. (unaccusative)

The bells were clanging. (unaccusative)

A cluster of stars glowed above us.

(unaccusative)

They ran to the store. (unergative)

He grumbled himself calm. (unergative)

Introduction



So far.

unaccusatives [- agentive] : e.g. fall down

unergatives [ + agentive]: e.g. dance

Introduction



One more semantic difference:

unaccusatives: mainly telic events

(6) a. *The ship arrived for 10 hours.

b. The flowers withered in 2 days.

c. The lake froze halfway.

unergatives: mainly atelic events

(7) a. They danced for 10 hours.

b. *They danced in 10 hours.

c. *They danced halfway.

Introduction



and syntactically encoded?

< prototypical subject: Agent

the argument of unergatives: subject-like properties

< prototypical object: Patient/Theme

the argument of unaccusatives: object-like properties

different underlying structure

Introduction



Unaccusatives

[ _ V DP ]

__ roll the stone

__ fall the child

Unergatives

[DP V _ ]

The child ran __

The man laughed __

Introduction



Unaccusatives:

VP 3 Spec V - 3 V

DP

fall

.

the child

Introduction


Unacusativity diagnostics in English

Unaccusatives:

VP 3 Spec V - 3 V

DP

fall

Unergatives

VP 3 Spec V DP 3 V _

laughed

the child

the child

Introduction



unaccusatives have a D-Structure internal argument

unergatives have a D-Structure external argument

Introduction



BUT:

(8) a. ___fell the child .

b. The child fell.

vs.

(9) I ate the apple.

Introduction



Burzios Generalization: a verb which has no

external argument cannot assign Accusative case

(prototypical) unaccusatives do not project an external argument they cannot assign Accusative case, not even to cognate objects:

(10) She smiled a beautiful smile. [unergative

+cognate object]

(11) *They fell a bad fall. [*unaccusative + cognate

object]

Summing up

Unaccusatives

their argument:Patient/Th

select an internal argument

lack an external argument

are unable to assign Accusative case

mainly telic events

Unergatives

their argument : Agent

select an external argument

lack an internal argument

can assign Accusative case in special configurations

mainly atelic events

. unaccusatives

VP 3 Spec V - 3 V DP

unergatives

VP 3 Spec V DP 3 V ___

Task 3: Give the D-structure representation of the following Ss

The children all laughed.

The stone rolled down the hill.

She smiled a beautiful smile.

The book fell off the table.

The flowers in the garden withered.

Perlmutters list

(1)non-agentive: burn, fall, drop, sink, float, slide, slip, glide, hang, dangle, sway, wave, tremble, shake, drown, stumble,

trip, roll, succumb, dry, blow away, boil, seethe, lie

(involuntary), sit(involuntary), bend (involuntary)

(2) inchoatives: melt, freeze, evaporate, redden, darken, yellow,

rot, decompose, germinate, sprout, bud, wilt, wither,

increase, decrease, blush, explode, die, vanish, disappear.

Perlmutters list

(3) verbs of existing and happening: exist, occur, happen, take, place, result.

(4) aspectual predicates: begin, commence, start, stop, cease,

continue, end, resume, halt, proceed, terminate

(5) the so-called duratives: last, remain, stay, survive

(6) verbs denoting non-voluntary emission of stimuli that

impinge on the senses: shine, sparkle, glitter, glisten, glow,

jingle, clink, clang, snap, crackle, pop, smell, stink

(Perlmutter 1978:162163)

Introduction



Semantically predictable and

syntactically encoded

Types of diagnostics

(1) Diagnostics which show that the argument was

base-generated in the complement position of V

(and then moved to Spec IP)

< Q: does the argument have the properties of a

constituent which merges in the complement

position of V?

Types of diagnostics

(2) Diagnostics which show that the only argument

of V occupies the complement position of V (it

merged and has remained in a VP-internal

position)

< Q: does the argument occur in the complement

position of V?

Task 4: Are all the sentences below well-formed?

a. There developed a problem.

b. There appeared a ship on the horizon.

c. There was a boy in the garden.

d. There melted a lot of snow on the streets.

e. There laughed many children in the park.

Task 4

a. There developed a problem.

b. There appeared a ship on the horizon.

c. There was a boy in the garden.

d. *There melted a lot of snow on the

streets.

e. * There laughed many children in the

park.

Intransitive verbs differ with respect to there-sentences

Task 5: Are all the sentences below well-formed?

a. The river froze solid.

b. The door slid open.

c. John laughed sick.

d. John laughed himself sick.

e. The river froze itself solid.

f. They ran their shoes threadbare.

Task 5

a. The river froze solid. = a resultative phrase

b. The door slid open.

c. *John laughed sick.

d. John laughed himself sick.

e. *The river froze itself solid.

f. They ran their shoes threadbare.

Intransitives behave differently with respect to resultative phrases

Task 6

rusted pipes

decayed vegetation

recently arrived guest

an existed solution

a trembled tree

Task 6

rusted pipes

decayed vegetation

recently arrived guest

*an existed solution

*a trembled tree

Intransitive verbs behave differently with respect to the ability of their past participle

of being used as a noun modifier

Task 7

In the distance appeared a beautiful ship.

In the forest melted a lot of snow.

In the attic broke many windows.

Task 7


*In the forest melted a lot of snow.

*In the attic broke many windows.

The inventory

There-sentences


Preposition phrase the subject in post-V

position

= location

locative inversion


There-sentences

In the distance appeared a beautiful ship. = OK

BUT:

* In the forest melted a lot of snow.

* In the attic broke many windows.

Not all intransitives can occur in locative inversion structures

Summing up

one-argument intransitives do not represent a

homogeneous class. They behave differently

with respect to:

there-sentences

locative inversion

resultative phrases

the ability of their past participle of

occurring as a pre-noun modifier

cognate object

So far.

Diagnostic Unaccusatives Unergatives

There-sentences yes no

Locative inversion yes no

Resultative phrases yes only with a fake

reflexive or

with a DP (possession

relation)

The past participle

can occur DP-

internally

Yes if [+telic] no

Cognate object no yes

There-sentences

(1) a. *There smiled many students.

b. *There danced a girl in the street.

(2)a. There was a book on the table.

b. There remained two students in the room.

Unergatives cannot occur in there-sentences

Task 1

(3)

a. There melted a lot of snow in the streets.

b. There dried all the clothes on the clothes

line.

c. There burned a flag in a corner of the room.

d. There smoldered a flag in a corner of the

room.

Task 1

(3)

a.*There melted a lot of snow in the streets.

b.* There dried all the clothes on the clothes line.

c.*There burned a flag in a corner of the room.

d.*There smoldered a flag in a corner of the

room.

Unaccusatives denoting a definite change of state cannot appear in there-constructions.

There-sentences

Only unaccusatives which denote existence and coming into existence ( i.e. existence in a

general sense) can appear in there-

constructions.

There-sentences

(4) There stood a man in the doorway.

inside verbals

unstressed non-deictic there in sentence-initial position

an intransitive (unaccusative) verb

the DP argument is placed in post-verbal position/ adjacent to the verb

There V DP (PP)

There-sentences

(5) a. There darted into the room a little boy.

b.*There darted a little boy into the room.

(6) a. Suddenly there walked into the room a

unicorn.

b.* Suddenly there walked a unicorn into the

room.

(7) a. There ran into the room a man so handsome

that he must have been a movie star.

b. * There ran a man into the room...

There-sentences

outside verbals

The domain of outside verbals is not

restricted to unaccusatives (typically:

unergatives of motion)

Outside verbals : not an unaccusativity test

There V PP DP

Task 2

(8)There came to his mind her beautiful and intelligent face.

(Quirk et al.)

(9)Once upon a time there lived on the other side of the forest a

monster who demanded yearly tribute.

(10)There walked into the courtroom two people I had thought

were dead.

(11) There swam towards me someone carrying a harpoon.

(12)There danced towards us a couple dressed like Napoleon

and Josephine.

(13) Late at night there crept into the village a silent band of

soldiers.

Task 2

(8)There came to his mind her beautiful and intelligent face. (Quirk et al.)

(9)Once upon a time there lived on the other side of the forest a

monster who demanded yearly tribute.

(10)There walked into the courtroom two people I had thought

were dead.

(11)There swam towards me someone carrying a harpoon.

(12)There danced towards us a couple dressed like Napoleon

and Josephine.

(13)Late at night there crept into the village a silent band of

soldiers.

There-sentences: so far..

There-sentences:

(i) Outside verbals : There V PP DP

(ii) Inside verbals : There V DP ...

Only inside verbals are an unaccusativity diagnostic

There-sentences

Verbs which can occur in inside verbals:

Verbs of existence: be, exist, remain, float, linger, lurk, etc.

Verbs of sound existence: echo, resonate, resound,

reverberate, sound

Verbs of group existence: abound, crawl, creep, swarm

(14) There lingered perhaps an echo of grimness, and an echo of

something else

(15) Through my mind there reverberated the words from Portrait

of a Lady, Memories of my dead life, and Paris in the Spring

There-sentences

Verbs of appearance: appear, arise, begin, break, burst, dawn, derive, develop, emanate, emerge, flow, follow,

gush, happen, etc.

(16)

a.In 1983, there appeared a new study of the issue by Dr R.E.

b.Gradually there arose a faint humming from outside the tent

as people gathered to talk .

c.In 1542 there began almost a decade of fighting.

d.At this moment, up in the wood, there broke out an excited

yelping.

There-sentences

+ verbs of sound emission (clink, jingle)

(17)There ticked a grandfather clock in the hall.

+ verbs of light emission (gleam, glitter, glow, shine)

(18)There sparkled a diamond on her finger.

There shone yet another distant sunlit hilltop.

+ verbs of motion (fall, hang, dangle, lie, stretch, swing)

(19) There dangles a shiny new briefcase from his hand.

From her right ear there dangled a long silver cascade of tiny orbs.

There-sentences

unergatives cannot occur in there-sentences

unaccusatives which denote a definite

change of state cannot occur in there-

sentences

ONLY prototypical unaccusatives (verbs

of existence) can occur in there-sentences

There-sentences

Unaccusatives fall into two classes:

(i) Unaccusatives which have a transitive counterpart

(20) The soup cooled.

achievement: BECOME be _

(21) John cooled the soup.

accomplishment CAUSE BECOME be _

There-sentences

(22) a. The window broke.

b. Pat broke the window.

(23) a. The sky cleared.

b. The wind cleared the sky.

(24) a. The door opened.

b. John opened the window.

There-sentences

(ii) unaccusatives with no transitive counterpart:

verbs of existence

(25)

a. * He appeared a book on the table.

b. * Her job lived my mother in Boston.

c. *The thief disappeared the bicycle.

Task 3 : Which of the following sentences are ill-formed?

There remained three men in the room.

There stood six statues of the martyrs on the lawn.

There was a moments silence.

There followed a great flood of indignation in the

newspaper.

There appeared a shadowy figure in the doorway.

Task 3: Which of the following sentences are ill-formed?

There remained three men in the room.

There stood six statues of the martyrs on the

lawn.

There was a moments silence.

There followed a great flood of indignation in

the newspaper.

.


There sparkled a magnificent diamond on her

finger.

There withered all the flowers in the vase.

There danced many beautiful girls in that room.

There dried all the grapes.

There lingered the smell of onion all over the

kitchen.


There sparkled a magnificent diamond on her

finger.

*There withered all the flowers in the vase.

*There danced many beautiful girls in that

room.

*There dried all the grapes.

There lingered the smell of onion all over the

kitchen.

Task: Which of the following sentences are ill-formed?

There lurked danger in the air.

There are working three students in the

garden.

There talked three policemen to the crowd.

There melted all the ice cream in the cup.

Once upon a time there lived on the other

side of the forest a monster who demanded

yearly tribute.


There lurked danger in the air.

*There are working three students in the

garden.

*There talked three policemen to the crowd.

*There melted all the ice cream in the cup.

Once upon a time there lived on the other side

of the forest a monster who demanded yearly

tribute.


There dried all the clothes on the

clothes line.

There appeared a man in the valley.

There swam three boys to the

shore.

There barked a dog in the distance.


*There dried all the clothes on the

clothes line.

There appeared a man in the valley.

*There swam three boys to the

shore.

*There barked a dog in the distance.

Summing up

There-sentences (inside verbals):

(i) Prototypical unaccusatives, i.e. verbs of

existence and verbs of appearance = OK

(ii) Unaccusatives which denote a definite

change of state: NO

(iii)Unergatives: NO

(iv)Transitives: NO

There-sentences

Why can only verbs of existence occur in

there-sentences?

+ why are unergatives excluded?

+ why are unaccusatives which denote a

change of state excluded?

There-sentences

A semantic explanation:

there-sentences (existential sentences) are interpreted as expressing the coming into being of

some entity and the location of this entity

< some early analyses of there-sentences focused on

the idea of location:

(26) There is a God (in the universe).

There-sentences

Lyons (1967)

it might appear reasonable to say that all

existential sentences are at least implicitly locative

the sentences containing there express propositions

concerning existence, which means that there is

associated with the idea of existence.

some linguists have analysed it as an existential

operator

< there co-occurs with a locative PP

There-sentences

A syntactic explanation:

< the different D-structures of the two classes of

intransitives

(i) With unaccusatives the argument merges in

complement position

(ii) With unergatives the argument merges in the

Specifier position

I

There -sentences

Unaccusatives

VP 3 Spec V - 3 V DP fall

Unergatives

VP 3 Spec V DP 3 V _

laughed

the child

the child

There-sentences

There remained two students in the room.

Case position Theta-role position

There-sentences

IP 3 Spec I there 3 I VP 3 Spec V - 3 V DP rolled the stone

There-sentences

IP 3 Spec I there 3 I VP 3 Spec V - 3 V PP 2 5 V DP

rolled the stone on the floor

.

A challenge:

(27) a. Once there ruled a king who had no ears.

b. *Once there ruled a king with an iron hand.

= basically unergative

= OK

= actually reinterpreted as unaccusative

There-sentences

IP 3 Spec I there 3 I VP 3 Spec V - 3 V DP ruled a king

A challenge

(28) a. *There screamed the panther.

b. In this alternate world, millions of

years ago, there screamed the panther, there

laughed the hyena, all was as if in our own

sphere.

(Kuno and Takami 2004)

Summing up

Internal verbals, i.e. there-sentences = there

V DP (PP)

= an unaccusative diagnostic

(i) They prefer Vs of existence

(ii) Unergatives which occur in such

sentences are reinterpreted as

unaccusatives

Task

There once lived a king who had three daughters.

There has just appeared a new book by Chomsky.

There danced a student in the hall.

There ate an apple the girl.

There laughed several students during the lecture.

There occurred a tragic event yesterday.

There walked two prison guards into the courtroom.

There walked into the courtroom two prison guards.

There sang a tall woman on the stage.

Suddenly there ran out of a hidden crack a very tiny mouse.

Task

There once lived a king who had three daughters.

There has just appeared a new book by Chomsky.

* There danced a student in the hall.

* There ate an apple the girl.

* There laughed several students during the lecture.

There occurred a tragic event yesterday.

* There walked two prison guards into the courtroom.

There walked into the courtroom two prison guards.

*There sang a tall woman on the stage.

Suddenly there ran out of a hidden crack a very tiny mouse.

One more challenge

Unaccusatives which denote a definite change of state are

banned from there-sentences:

*There melted all the ice.

one possible solution: maybe only verbs of existence have the internal organization of Burzios (1986) classic

unaccusative VP structure (Kural 2004)

vs. definite change of state unaccusatives < BECOME be _

Summing up

there-sentences allow only verbs of existence

the there-sentences test suggests that only verbs of existence

are prototypical unaccusatives: _ V DP

they can occur in there-sentences because their argument

merges in complement position

unergatives which occur in there-sentences are recategorized

as prototypical unaccusatives

Summing up

one-argument intransitives do not represent a

homogeneous class. They behave differently with

respect to:

there-sentences

locative inversion

resultative phrases

the ability of their past participle of

occurring as a pre-noun modifier.

unaccusatives in english

Documents

types of mono

english task

english perlmutter

external argument

vt verbs

predictable agentivity

unergatives agentivity

role of nonagent