Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The lexical semantics of derived statives

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Linguistics and Philosophy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper investigates the semantics of derived statives, deverbal adjectives that fail to entail there to have been a preceding (temporal) event of the kind named by the verb they are derived from, e.g. darkened in a darkened portion of skin. Building on Gawron’s (The lexical semantics of extent verbs, San Diego State University, ms, 2009) recent observations regarding the semantics of extent uses of change of state verbs (e.g., Kim’s skin darkens between the knee and the calf) and Kennedy and Levin’s (Measure of change: The adjectival core of degree achievements, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008) theory of change, it is shown, contrary to previous analyses, that a fully compositional semantic analysis is possible, and thus that there is no argument from derived statives for word formation differing from semantic composition above the word level in requiring deletion operations, as in Dubinsky and Simango’s (Passive and stative in Chichewa, Language 72:749–781, 1996) analysis. Further, such an analysis, by contrast with previous ones, both compositional (Jackson in Resultatives, derived statives, and lexical semantic structure, Doctoral dissertation, UCLA, 2005b; Condoravdi and Deo in Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Linguists (CIL 18), Seoul, 2008) and non-compositional (Dubinsky and Simango 1996), correctly predicts, as shown by a range of arguments, that the meaning of the derived stative contains the meaning of the verb it is derived from and that it therefore contrasts fundamentally with morphologically simple adjectives in the kind of meaning that it has.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexiadou A., Anagnostopoulou E. (2008) Structuring participles. In: Chang C.B., Haynie H.J. (eds) Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics.. Somerville MA, Cascadilla Proceedings Project, pp 33–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexiadou A., Anagnostopoulou E., Schäfer F. (2006) The properties of anti-causatives crosslinguistically. In: Frascarelli M. (eds) Phases of interpretation. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, pp 187–211

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chierchia G. (1989) Structured meanings, thematic roles and control. In: Chierchia G., Partee B.H., Turner R. (eds) Properties, types and meaning.. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 131–166

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chierchia, G. (2004). A semantics for unaccusatives and its syntactic consequences. In A. Alexiadou, E. Anagnostopoulou, & M. Everaert (Eds.), The unaccusativity puzzle (pp. 22–59). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Previously circulated as unpublished 1989 Cornell University manuscript.]

  • Condoravdi, C., & Deo, A. (2008). Aspect shifts in Indo-Aryan. In Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Linguists (CIL 18): Workshop on formal approaches to the relation of tense, aspect and modality. Seoul.

  • Cresswell M.J. (1985) Structured meanings: The semantics of propositional attitudes. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLancey S. (1984) Notes on agentivity and causation. Studies in Language 8: 181–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deo, A. (2006). Tense and aspect in Indo-Aryan languages: Variation and diachrony. Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.

  • Dixon R.M.W. (1982) Where have all the adjectives gone?: And other essays in semantics and syntax. Mouton, The Hague

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Doron, E. (2009). The interaction of adjectival passive and voice. Handout of talk given at Stanford University, February 17, 2009.

  • Dowty D. (1979) Word meaning and Montague grammar. D. Reidel Publishing, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dowty D. (2007) Compositionality as an empirical problem. In: Barker C., Jacobson P. (eds) Direct compositionality.. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 23–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubinsky S., Simango S.R. (1996) Passive and stative in Chichewa: Evidence for modular distinctions in grammar. Language 72: 749–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Embick D. (2004) On the structure of resultative participles in English. Linguistic Inquiry 35: 355–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Embick, D. (2009). Roots, states, stative passives. Handout of talk presented at Roots, Stuttgart, June 11, 2009.

  • Gawron, M. (2009). The lexical semantics of extent verbs. San Diego State University, ms., January 31, 2009.

  • Grimshaw J. (1982) On the lexical representation of Romance reflexive clitics. In: Bresnan J. (eds) The mental representation of grammatical relations. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 87–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Härtl H. (2003) Conceptual and grammatical characteristics of argument alternations: The case of decausative verbs. Linguistics 41: 883–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, E. (2005a). Derived statives in Pima. Handout of talk given at SSILA, January 7, 2005.

  • Jackson, E. (2005b). Resultatives, derived statives, and lexical semantic structure. Doctoral Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

  • Jaxontov S.J. (1988) Resultative in Chinese. In: Nedjalkov V.P. (eds) Typology of resultative constructions. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp 113–133

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kallulli, D. (2006). On unaccusative morphology and argument realization. University of Vienna.

  • Kearns K. (2000) Semantics. Macmillan Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy C. (1999) Projecting the adjective: The syntax and semantics of gradability and comparison. Garland, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy C. (2007) Vagueness and grammar: The semantics of relative and absolute gradable adjectives. Linguistics and Philosophy 30: 1–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy C., Levin B. (2008) Measure of change: The adjectival core of degree achievements. In: McNally L., Kennedy C. (eds) Adjectives and adverbs: Syntax, semantics, and discourse. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 156–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy C., McNally L. (2005) Scale structure, degree modification, and the semantics of gradable predicates. Language 81: 345–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y. (2008). Topics in the phonology and morphology of San Francisco del Mar Huave. Doctoral Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.

  • Koontz-Garboden A. (2005) On the typology of state/change of state alternations. Yearbook of Morphology 2005: 83–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koontz-Garboden, A. (2006). The states in changes of state. In Proceedings of the 32nd annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, Berkeley, CA.

  • Koontz-Garboden A. (2008) Monotonicity at the lexical semantics–morphosyntax interface. In: Elfner E., Walkow M. (eds) Proceedings of the 37th Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society. Amherst, MA, GLSA, pp 15–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Koontz-Garboden A. (2009a) Anticausativization. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 27: 77–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koontz-Garboden A. (2009b) Ulwa verb class morphology. International Journal of American Linguistics 75: 453–512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koontz-Garboden, A. (2010). Only some lexical semantic roots are morphological roots. Paper presented at annual meeting of the Linguistic Association of Great Britain, Leeds, September 3, 2010. https://doi.org/personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/andrewkg/cos-roots-ho-2-sept.pdf.

  • Koontz-Garboden, A. (to appear). The monotonicity hypothesis. In L. McNally & V. Demonte (Eds.), Telicity, change, and state: A cross-categorial view of event structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Koontz-Garboden, A., & Beavers, J. (2011). Manner and result in the roots of verbal meaning. The University of Manchester and The University of Texas at Austin, ms.

  • Kratzer, A. (2000). Building statives. In Proceedings of the 26th Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (pp. 385–399). Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.

  • Krohn, L. (2008). The manner/result complementarity and verbs of the manner of death. Unpublished undergraduate Grammatical Semantics Class Essay, The University of Manchester.

  • Langacker, R. (1986). Abstract motion. In Proceedings of the 12th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (pp. 455–471). Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.

  • Levin B. (1993) English verb classes and alternations: A preliminary investigation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, B., & Rappaport Hovav, M. (2003). Roots and templates in the representation of verb meaning. Handout of talk at the Department of Linguistics, Stanford University, May 15, 2003.

  • Mačavariani M.V. (1988) Stative, resultative, passive, and perfect in Georgian. In: Nedjalkov V.P. (eds) Typology of resultative constructions, English translation edited by B. Comrie. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp 259–275

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Marantz, A. (1997). No escape from syntax: Don’t try morphological analysis in the privacy of your own lexicon. In Proceedings of the 21st Annual Penn Linguistics Colloquium (pp. 201–225). Volume 4.2 of University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics.

  • Mateu, J. (2009). Events in non-verbal domains: A DM-based approach. Handout of talk given at Events across categories: Theoretical and experimental approaches to event structure. Madrid, 27–28 May 2009.

  • Matsumoto Y. (1996) Subjective motion and English and Japanese verbs. Cognitive Linguistics 7: 183–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mchombo S. (1993) A formal analysis of the stative construction in Bantu. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 14: 5–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mchombo S. (2004) The syntax of Chichewa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzer, A. (2009). Adjectival passives in hebrew: Evidence for parallelism between the adjectival and verbal systems. Tel Aviv University, ms. lingBuzz/000907.

  • Nedjalkov I.V., Nedjalkov V.P. (1988) Stative, resultative, passive, and perfect in Evenki. In: Nedjalkov V.P. (eds) Typology of resultative constructions, English translation edited by B. Comrie. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp 241–257

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nedjalkov, V.P. (eds) (1988) Typology of resultative constructions. John Benjamins, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Nedjalkov V.P., Inenlikey P.I., Raxtilin V.G. (1988) Resultative and perfect in Chukchee. In: Nedjalkov V.P. (eds) Typology of resultative constructions. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp 153–166

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nedjalkov V.P., Jaxontov S.J. (1988) The typology of resultative constructions. In: Nedjalkov V.P. (eds) Typology of resultative constructions. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp 3–62

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Perel’muter I.A. (1988) Stative, resultative, passive, and perfect in Ancient Greek (Homeric Greek). In: Nedjalkov V.P. (eds) Typology of resultative constructions, English translation edited by B. Comrie. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, pp 277–287

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Piñón C. (2008) Aspectual composition with degrees. In: McNally L., Kennedy C. (eds) Adjectives and adverbs: Syntax, semantics, and discourse.. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 183–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Pustejovsky, J. (1992). The syntax of event structure. In B. Levin & S. Pinker (Eds.), Lexical and conceptual semantics (pp. 47–82). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell [Reprinted from Cognition 41].

  • Pustejovsky J. (1995) The generative lexicon. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramchand G.C. (2008) Verb meaning and the lexicon: A first-phase syntax. Cambridge University Press., Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rappaport Hovav M., Levin B. (1998) Building verb meanings. In: Butt M., Geuder W. (eds) The projection of arguments: Lexical and compositional factors. CSLI Publications, Stanford, CA, pp 97–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhart T. (2002) The theta system: An overview. Theoretical Linguistics 28: 229–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhart T., Siloni T. (2005) The lexicon-syntax parameter: Reflexivization and other arity operations. Linguistic Inquiry 36: 389–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein S. (2004) Structuring events. Blackwell, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Saxton D., Saxton L., Enos S. (1983) Tohono O’odham/Pima to English, English to Tohono O’odham/Pima dictionary (2nd edn). The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. (2006). Canalization of causative derivations. Paper presented at 2006 meeting of LSA, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

  • Talmy L. (2000) Towards a cognitive semantics, volume 1: Concept structuring systems. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Wasow T. (1977) Transformations and the lexicon. In: Culicover P., Wasow T., Akmajian A. (eds) Formal syntax.. Academic Press, New York, pp 327–360

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics and English Language, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Andrew Koontz-Garboden

Authors
  1. Andrew Koontz-Garboden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Koontz-Garboden.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Koontz-Garboden, A. The lexical semantics of derived statives. Linguist and Philos 33, 285–324 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-011-9082-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-011-9082-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation