Event Structure in Russian: Semantic Roles, Aspect, Causation

Multiword lexical units such as complex predicates, which consist of light verbs and predicative nouns, have long remained on the periphery of traditional syntactic theories. Light verb constructions pose a serious challenge for both theoretical and applied linguistics, as their syntactic structures are not solely determined by verbs alone but also by predicative nouns. There is assumed to be the lack of a comprehensive definition of the concept of light verbs that can account for the cross-linguistic diversity in the types and scope of light verb constructions. In particular, there is still no theoretical framework that adequately describes the complex argument structure formed by the interaction between light verbs and predicative nouns in light verb constructions. This paper investigates the syntactic and semantic representation of Czech light verb constructions. Light verb constructions represent a type of complex predicate where two syntactic elements serve as a single predicate. In this paper I focus to address crucial syntactic-semantic aspects closely related to the fundamental concept of light verbs. Specifically, based on the [+LIGHT] semantic features of desemanticized light verbs, this paper applies reduction and co-reference constraints to analyze the syntactic-semantic structure of light verb constructions. Finally I discuss the question of thematic role assignment between light verbs and predicative nouns.

This thesis investigated the event argument, an abstract linguistic element proposed by Davidson (1967), and the light verb (VP-shell) construction, first proposed by Larson (1988). Recent theories regarding the location of the event argument in syntax range from claims that it is not represented syntactically, to locating it in lexical projections, to proposals assigning two functional projections for the syntactic representation of events. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the relationship between the event argument and the light verb construction. The thesis is based on the Minimalist approach (Chomsky 1995). Different approaches to the event argument and the light verb construction were compared to determine their similarities and differences. A proposal was made regarding the relationship between the event argument and the light verb construction. This thesis claimed that the location of the event argument in syntactic structure is in the head of the light verb projection.

<p>Persian Light Verb Constructions (LVCs) have been studied by many scholars. Yet, little attention has been paid to the process of LVC formation. This paper aims to situate the components of Persian light verb constructions in contexts that can be justifiably invoked as a motivation for LVC formation. We will investigate the issue by arguing that Persian LVCs can be analyzed in terms of incorporation process. This process, explained from a cognitive viewpoint, involves LVCs originating from complete clauses, then passing through a <em>compositional path</em> (Langacker 1987, 2008) where a nonverbal and a verbal element are selected out of a kernel clause and end up in a complex predicate (CPr). The investigation will be primarily focused on the LVCs constructed with<em> </em>LV<em> kardan </em>‘do, make’, as the most frequently used light verb in Persian. The paper will also explore how different paths could be associated with certain particular ‘light’ meanings of<em> kardan. </em>The resulting LVCs may further yield <em>constructional schemas</em> upon which other LVCs formed with a given LV can be formed.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Light verb construction, Complex predicate, Incorporation, Persian</p>

Light verb constructions (LVCs) are composed of two elements: a light verb and a coverb that represent a complex predicate. The coverb can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a prepositional phrase. The focus of the present work of research is LVCs with nominal coverbs in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The work provides a characterization of the construction and explores its lexical, syntactic and semantic aspects. The findings of this work demonstrates that LVCs in MSA are compositional. Moreover, the elements of the composite are rigid and cannot be separated as the two elements represent a single semantic unit. LVs are distinct from the lexical analogues in terms of meaning and argument structure and this supports the argument structure view that the elements belong to two distinct entries. Furthermore, the study reveals two distinct classes of LVCs, which themselves incorporate unique morphosyntactic and semantic aspects: agentive and non-agentive LVCs. The study further highlights, beside agentivity, the elements of causation and boundedness that are contributed to the construction. This research advances the understanding of LVCs in MSA, providing valuable insights for linguists.

This paper deals with the identification of verbal multiword expressions in Croatian using NooJ. We focus on light verb constructions, i.e. constructions consisting of a light verb and a nominal part (e.g. donijeti odluku ‘to make a decision’ or ‘to reach a decision’). The nominal part in light verb constructions (LVCs) can be either a noun phrase (e.g. dati udarac ‘to give a blow’) or a prepositional phrase (staviti na raspolaganje ‘to put at disposal’). Light verbs are entirely or partially deprived of their lexical meaning and the meaning of the whole construction is conveyed by their complimentary NPs or PPs. All elements in these constructions act as a single unit at some level of linguistic analysis, particularly at the level of semantics and, more recently, of syntax.

In this paper we present a Lexicalized Feature-based Tree-Adjoining Grammar analysis for a type of nominal predicate that occurs in combination with the light verbs “do” and “be” (Hindi kar and ho respectively). Light verb constructions are a challenge for computational grammars because they are a highly productive predicational strategy in Hindi. Such nominals have been discussed in the literature (Mohanan, 1997; Ahmed and Butt, 2011; Bhatt et al., 2013), but this work is a first attempt at a Tree-Adjoining Grammar (TAG) representation. We look at three possibilities for the design of elementary trees in TAG and explore one option in depth using Hindi data. In this analysis, the nominal is represented with all the arguments of the light verb construction, while the light verb adjoins into its elementary tree.

This study implements an automated parser-based approach to the investigation of light verb constructions. The database consisting of ICE-GB and ICE-IRE is used to obtain qualitative and quantitative results on the use of light verb structures. The study explains and evaluates the steps employed to optimize parser output in detecting open lists of light verb constructions. It discusses the qualitative usage differences of these structures in the data between the two varieties and finds that ICE-GB favours fewer high frequency light verbs while ICE-IRE contains more diverse lower frequency light verbs and more passives. Overall, counts of light verb constructions are considerably higher than previously assumed. The projected counts suggest that attestations of light verb constructions will increase considerably if the search is not restricted to certain high-frequency light verbs as is typically done in studies employing manual or semi-automatic approaches to data collection.

Abstract. Persian Light Verb Constructions (LVCs), consisting of a light verb and a preverb, fall into two groups: separable and inseparable. The nominal preverbs in the former, unlike those in the latter, can function as direct object DP argument, can be modified by an adjective, and can be relativized, scrambled and focused on by Wh‐interrogatives. In this paper, it is argued that the (in)separability of LVCs cannot necessarily be an indication of the fact that LVCs are formed at two levels of representation. It is shown that (in)separability of LVCs follows from the semantic and morphosyntactic properties of preverbs and light verbs in the language.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if the Turkish verb cek- also has the role as a light verb in Turkish (i.e fotograf cek-, fotokopi cek-, cile cek- etc). In this study I also examined gapping of light verbs in coordination constructions and by using the same test on some cek- constructions I tried to improve that some cek- constructions have the same properties as the well-known light verbs like et-, ol-. We can observe the the same fact concerning gapping as in the case of cek- as a compound, neither backward nor forward gapping is unacceptable. In the second section I also investigated the cek- compound when it takes double objects, which might be unacceptable to some Turkish speakers, but they could be find in the Turkish youth language, which is an evidence of cek’s grammaticalization process. It is very interesting that double objects can be find also in the well-known light verb constructions as hasta-yi muayene et- (to examine the patient) etc. It follows from this that some cek- constructions have a role as a light verb, some have idiomatic meanings and most of them have heavy verbal features. This study also shows some Japanese light and heavy verb data to make a comparison.

The PARSEME GRC guidelines distinguish between Light-Verb Constructions, such as to make a suggestion, and Verbal Idioms, such as to kick the bucket. Light-Verb Constructions need to contain a nominal element that is abstract and predicative. Verbal Idioms are lexically, morphologically, morphosyntactically, and syntactically inflexible. Syntactic nominalisations as the nominal element are usually disregarded especially in Light-Verb Constructions due to their structural and functional ambiguity. (Post)classical Greek has productive morpho-syntactic means for the nominalisation of any part of speech which are not restricted e.g. diatopically or distratically, whereas lexical nominalisation by means of derivational morphology is more restricted. This makes the exclusion of syntactic nominalisations seem artificial. When considering the eventiveness of the nominal component the crucial characteristic it emerges that non-deverbal and underived event nouns, including syntactic nominalisations, can in fact be predicative nouns in verbal multi-word expressions. Syntactic nominalisations can appear as predicative nouns in Light-Verb Constructions along with forming part of Verbal Idioms. Synchronically, verbal multi-word expressions containing a syntactic nominalisation can be gap fillers, indexical alternatives, or semantico-pragmatic alternatives to structures with a lexical nominalisation. The study is primarily based on the PARSEME GRC and ECF Leverhulme Sketch Engine corpora of literary classical Attic philosophical prose, historiography, and oratory.

Light verb constructions (LVCs) in English and Romance languages are somewhat unique crosslinguistically because LVCs in these languages tend to have semantically similar synthetic verb counterparts (Zarco 1999): e.g.make an appearanceandappear. This runs contrary to assumptions in linguistic theories that two competing forms are rarely maintained in a language unless they serve distinct purposes (e.g. Grice 1975). Why do English LVCs exist alongside counterpart synthetic verbs, especially given that synthetic verbs are arguably the more efficient form (Zipf 1949)? It has been proposed that LVCs serve an aspectual function (Prince 1972, Live 1973, Wierzbicka 1982, Tanabe 1999, Butt & Geuder 2001), as there are telic LVC counterparts (e.g.have a thought) of atelic verbs (e.g.think). This proposal has been difficult to evaluate without a large-scale resource providing a markup of both LVCs and counterpart verbs. Addressing this gap in resources, the present research describes the development of guidelines for LVC annotation in the English PropBank (Bonial & Palmer 2015). The focus of this article is the subsequent analysis of these annotations, aimed at uncovering corpus evidence of what contexts call for the use of an LVC over a synthetic verb. The corpus study shows that the general function of LVCs is not an aspectual one and provides distributional evidence that the ease and variety with which LVCs can be modified is the general motivating factor for the use of an LVC.

This chapter focuses on a light verb construction (LVC) from both Portuguese and Spanish, dar conselho/consejo (“to give advice”). The chapter provides an overview of the literature both on the concept of light verbs and, in particular, on the syntactic and semantic analyses put forward by previous literature on Portuguese and Spanish. This literature on LVCs has focused on their syntactic analyzability, predicational nature, argument structure, and semantic compositionality. These topics are discussed and illustrated further in the section on present-day Portuguese and Spanish. The diachronic section tracks the evolution of the LVC. It concludes that dar conselho/consejo underwent no semantic change and only limited syntactic changes linked to their clause-taking abilities, mostly in Spanish rather than in Portuguese. This chapter explores a noun-based construction with limited changes, as opposed to the other constructions in this book, and one which reveals syntactic differences between both languages.

One of the most widely used constructions in Korean is the so-called light verb construction (LVC) involving an active-denoting verbal noun (VN) together with the light verb ha-ta`do'. This paper first discusses the argument composition of the LVC, mixed properties of VNs which have provided a challenge to syntactic analyses with a strict version of X-bar theory. The paper shows the mechanism of multiple classification of category types with systematic inheritance can provide an effective way of capturing these mixed properties. An implementation of the analysis within the LKB (Linguistics Knowledge Building) system proves its feasibility and efficiency.

In comparison to the German Funktionsverbgefüge, the Dutch light verbs constructions are usually described from the lexicological point of view and not from the grammatical point of view. This article focuses on a brief characterization of the most frequent Dutch light verbs. These verbs have primarily a grammatical function and their lexical meaning is very. The research questions I try to answer are: How can the Dutch light verbs be characterized? What are the most frequently used light verbs in contemporary Dutch? In characterizing the Dutch verbs, I am partly inspired by the description of the German light verbs by Helbig & Buscha (2001: 79-105). The use of the most frequent light verbs in the Dutch light verbs constructions was verified, among others, with the help of the written corpus of contemporary Dutch (Corpus Hedendaags Nederlands).

This paper addresses the problem of isolating light verb constructions (LVC) and classifying them according to semantic-syntactic parameters. LVC are firstly classified as a subtype of collocation. This step is important since it places the study of these constructions within a theoretical framework and defines the tests that are valid for their identification. Subsequently, on the basis of the reduction test (nominalization of the LVC and deletion of the verb), a boundary is traced between causative and non causative LVC on the one side and between base and extended LVC on the other side. Ultimately, a grid of semantic/aspectual criteria is proposed in order to distinguish different types of extended LVC. The application of this grid to Italian data allows a semantic classification of LVC based on a semantic decompositional analysis. This classification shows how it is possible to isolate different degrees in the function played by the verb in a LVC, according to its contribution to the semantic interpretation of the construction.