This thesis is concerned with the syntactic and semantic properties of a dispositional
middle construction. Building on new empirical observations, I argue for a novel
derivational account of the middle construction, namely that it has a complex eventive
structure. This proposal contrasts with existing analyses that can be divided into
syntactically uniform approaches and semantically uniform approaches. Crucially,
existing analyses have failed to address the fact that only transitive activity and
accomplishment verbs undergo middle formation. I use this observation to argue
that an eventive cause, or a CAUSE head, is a defining structural feature of a middle
construction. Furthermore, I argue that the middle construction does not project
the understood agent in syntax and the understood theme is base-generated in the
internal argument position. The desired surface structure arises via movement of
the understood theme, which creates a linearizable structure. The complex eventive
structure argued for in this thesis not only captures the syntactic properties of a
middle construction, but it also serves as the source of a dispositional interpretation,
which is one of the characteristic properties of a middle construction. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/15482 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Kit, Olena |
| Contributors | Kučerová, Ivona, Cognitive Science of Language |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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