A Study on "Semantic Sentence Structures" in German
1997（The Locus of Meaning; Papers in Honor of Yoshihiko IKEGAMI）
A Study on "Semantic Sentence Structures" in German
1. "Semantic Sentence Structures" and syntactic structures
As syntactic structures can be seen in the formal aspect of sentences, certain
"semantic sentence structures"（= SSS） can be seen in the semantic aspect of sentences,
likeweise. The "SSS" signify an abstract semantic structure such as "movement" or
"change of a state" etc. There exists a regular correspondence between such "SSS" and
the syntactic structures. In expressing an action towards a part of somebody else's body,
for example, if the sentence expresses only the directional action, a syntactic structure
as in（1）is used（the prepositonal phrase for the part of the body）, but if the sentence
expresses not only the directional action but also the consequent change of the state, a
syntactic structure as in （ 2 ） is used （ the accusative for the part of the body ）
（Seino1991）.
（1） S＋V＋O（Dat）＋Prep（Acc）
Dat = dative case
a. Er schlägt ihr ins Gesicht.
Acc = accusative case
he hits her in the face
b. Er sieht ihr in die Augen.
he looks into her eyes
（2） S＋V＋O（Dat）＋O（Acc）
a. Er wäscht ihr die Hände.
he washes her hands
b. Sie rasiert ihm den Kopf.
she shaves his head
Sentence（2a）expresses the fact that the hands as objects have become clean by the
action concerned, and sentence（2b）expresses the fact that the head as an object has lost
the hair by the action concerned. Therefore, the verbs which originally express only a
mere directional action towards a part of somebody else's body and are used in syntactic
structure（1） are used in the same syntactic structure as（2） if they are used in the
"SSS" which also includes the change of a state in the part of somebody else's body
（Note 1）.
（3） S＋V＋O（Dat）＋O（Acc）＋Adj
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Er schlägt ihr das Gesicht wund.
he hits her such that the face is sore
On the causative expressions we can see the following correspondence between the
"SSS" and the syntactic structures: when we express only an affection towards others in
order to cause the actions concerned, the syntactic structure as in（4）（the dative for
others） is used, whereas when we also express the fact that the actions concerned are
consequently caused by it, a syntactic structure as in （5） （the accusative for others）
is used （Horasawa 1986）.
（4） S＋V＋O（Dat）＋O（Acc）
a. Er empfieht ihr, zum Arzt zu gehen.
he recommends her to go to the doctor
b. Er befiehlt ihnen, die Brücke zu sprengen.
he orders them to blow up the bridge
（5） S＋V＋O（Acc）＋Prep（ZU）
a. Er zwingt sie dazu, die Wahrheit zu sagen.
he forces her to tell the truth
b. Wir bringen ihn dazu, daß er mitfährt.
we manage to persuade him to go with us
Therefore the following aber-sentence which expresses the negative result of the
affection is possible after（4）（see（6a））, but not after（5）（see（6b））.
（6） a. Er hat ihr empfohlen, zum Arzt zu gehen, aber sie ist nicht zum Arzt
gegangen.
he recommended her to go to the doctor but she did not
b. *Er hat sie dazu gezwungen, die Wahrheit zu sagen, aber sie hat die
Wahrheit nicht gesagt.
he has compelled her to say the truth but she did not
In addition, the morphological aspect is also concerned in the formation of the "SSS".
For example, （4） above, which consists of zu-infinitive constructions, contains not only
a communicational approach to others but also an urge to take a certain action, but if
only communicational approaches to others are to be expressed, daß-sentences are used
as in （7） instead of zu-infinitives （Fujinawa 1992）.
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（7） S＋V＋O（Dat）＋O（daß-Satz）
a. Er wirft ihr vor, daß sie ihm nicht hilft.
he accuses her of not helping him
b. Sie eröffnet ihrem Freund, daß sie ein Kind bekommt.
she confesses to her friend that she expects a child
Therefore the sentences of the "SSS" in （ 7 ） cannot principally substitute the
zu-infinitives for daß-sentences.
（8）（7a） → *Er wirft ihr vor, ihm nicht zu helfen.
（7b） → *Sie eröffnet ihrem Freund, ein Kind zu bekommen.
2. The Systems of "SSS"
I have mentioned that the "SSS" can be seen in the semantic aspect of sentences in
accordance with the syntactic structures. It is assumed that the numbers of these "SSS"
are limited. We have to wait for an exhaustive analysis of concrete examples to make
systematic descriptions（Zaima 1987a）, but next I will give some fundamental "SSS" and
show that these lead to certain systems.
For example, we can admit the following hierarchy in the expressions of changes of
states: （9） expresses mere states, （10） changes of states, and （11） changes of states
caused by others.
（9） STATE（x）
a. Er schläft.
he sleeps
b. Die Kugel ruht.
the sphere is at rest
（10） BECOME（x, STATE）
a. Er stirbt.
he dies
b. Die Blume welkt.
the flower withers
（11） CAUSE（X, BECOME（y, STATE））
a. Er löst Zucker auf.
he makes sugar dissolve
b. Die Polizei befreit die Geiseln.
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the police frees the hostages
And we can also see the following hierarchy in the expressions of actions: （12）
expresses the "self-contained" actions by the subjects, （13） directional actions towards
the objects, （14） actions which affect the whole objects, and （15） actions which affect
the objects and even cause a change in their states.
（12） DO（x）
a. Er hupt.
he hoots
b. Er schreit.
he shouts
（13） DO（x, DIRECTION）
a. Er drückt auf den Knopf.
he pushes on the button
b. Er tritt ins Zimmer.
he steps into the room
（14） DO（x, OBJECT）
a. Er schüttelt den Baum.
he shakes the tree
b. Er schleift das Messer.
he whets the knife
（15） CAUSE（X, BECOME（y, STATE））
a. Die Polizei befreit die Geiseln.
the police frees the hostages
b. Er löst Zucker auf.
he make the sugar dissolve
3. "SSS" and Linguistic Recognition Patterns
I have mentioned that the "SSS" have certain relationships to one another and
construct systems. Next it must be mentioned that they show linguistic recognition
patterns of the realistic events.
For example the events which cause a movement of objects from one place to another
can be expressed in the following two "SSS"（Narita 1992）.
（16） S＋V＋O（Acc）＋Prep（Acc）
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a. Er packt die Kleider in den Koffer.
he packs the clothes in the suit-case
b. Er lädt Heu auf den Wagen.
he loads hay on the cart
（17） S＋V＋O（Acc）
a. Er packt den Koffer.
he packs the suit-case
b. Er belädt den Wagen mit Heu.
he loads the cart with hay
The "SSS" in （16） focuses on moving objects and regards the events as "movements
of objects", whereas that in （17） focuses on goals of the movements and regards the
events as "changes of states". That is to say, we can grasp any event in the real world
linguistically in some way according to the recognition styles and the "SSS" are based on
the linguistic recognition patterns. Such phenomena can be also seen on the "human
movement". （18） regards the places as the goals of the movements （"SSS" of
"movement"）, （19）, however, regards the places as the objects for the transitive action
（"SSS" of "total affection to an object"）.
（18）S＋V＋Prep（Acc）
a. Er steigt auf den Berg.
he climbs the moutain
b. Er tritt ins Zimmer.
he steps into the room
（19）S＋V＋O（Acc）
a. Er besteigt den Berg.
b. Er betritt das Zimmer.
Therefore, in the case of the opposite pair treten/betreten, the adverbs for the concrete
movements such as ein paar Schritte combine with treten（see（20a））, but not with
betreten（see（20b））.
（20）
a. Er tritt ein paar Schritte ins Zimmer.
he enters the room a few steps
b. *Er betritt ein paar Schritte das Zimmer.
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4. "SSS" and Each Language
I have remarked that the "SSS" are based on the linguistic recognition patterns which
reflect the human recognition styles to the real world. Next I will show that how to
express the "SSS" in a language depends on that language.
The sentences in（21a）（22a）（23a）, for example, express "to attach something to the
objects and change them", but there are no Japanese verbs which correspond to them.
In Japanese there are only expressions as "movements" like in（21b）, （22b）, （23b）.
Therefore, it depends on each language whether it really takes the respective possible
linguistic recognition patterns of the real world into the lexemes or not.
（21）
a. Er lädt die Gewehre.
he loads the gun
b. KARE-HA
he-Thema
（22）
JU-NI
TAMA-WO TUMERU
gun-Dat bullet-Acc load
a. Man zeichnet die ausgestellten Waren aus.
one marks the displayed articles
b. TENJISARETA
diplayed
（23）
SHOHIN-NI
SIRUSI-WO
TUKERU
articles-Dat
mark-Acc
attach
a. Man stattet den Raum mit einer Klimaanlage aus.
the room is equipped with an air-conditioner
b. HEYA-NI
EAKON-WO
TUKERU
Room-Dat air-conditioner-Acc equip
And as for "the appearance and disappearance" of objects, the German prepositions are
followed by the dative as in（24a）-（27a）and express the linguistic recognition of "the
changes of states at the place concerned", whereas the Japanese language the
postpositonal particle NI which corresponds to the dative as in（24b）-（27b） and
expresses the linguistic recognition pattern of "movement into the place concerned"
（Narita1981）.
That is to say, it depends on each language which of the possible linguistic recognition
patterns of the real world it uses.
（24）
a. Der Regisseur erscheint auf der＜*die＞ Bühne.
the director appears on the-Dat＜*-Acc＞ stage
b. ENSHUTUKA-HA
the director-Nom
BUTAI-NI＜*-DE＞ ARAWARERU
stage-Acc＜*-Dat＞ appear
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（25）
a. Er taucht in der＜*die＞ Menschenmenge unter.
he disappears in the-Dat＜*-Acc＞ crowd
b. KARE-HA
he
（26）
HITOGOMI-NI＜*-DE＞
SUGATA-WO KESU
crowd-Acc＜*-Dat＞
disappear
a. Das tote Tier wurde in der＜*die＞ Erde vergraben.
the dead animal was buried in the-Dat＜*-Acc＞ ground
b. SINDA DOBUTU-HA
dead animal-Nom
（27）
TICHU-NI＜*-DE＞
UMERARETA
ground-Acc＜*-Dat＞
buried-was
a. Er befestigt eine Lampe an der＜*die＞ Decke.
he fixes a lamp at the-Dat＜*-Acc＞ ceiling
b. KAREHA
he
RANPU-WO
TENJO-NI＜*-DE＞
KOTEISURU
lamp-Acc
ceiling-Acc＜*-Dat＞
fix
5. "SSS" and the Verbal Polysemy
I have remarked that how to express the "SSS" in a language depends on that
language. Next I will describe the relations between the "SSS" and verbal polysemy.
Verbal polysemy means essentially that one verb forms more than one "SSS". One can
find in the verbal polysemy a certain generative mechanism which is based on the verbs
and the syntactic structures （Zaima 1987b）.
For example, as （28） shows, the verb schütteln forms the "SSS" of the total affection to
the object, if it is used in the syntactic structure 'S-V-O（Acc）'（a-sentence）, and the
"SSS" of the movement which is caused by the affection concerned, if it is used in the
syntactic structure 'S-V-O（Acc）-Prep（DIRECTION）'（b-sentence）.
（28）
a. DO（x, OBJECT）
Er schüttelt den Baum.
he shakes the tree
b. CAUSE（x, MOVE（y, DIRECTION））
Er schüttelt die Äpfel vom Baum.
he schakes the appels from the tree
In Japanese, one must use the compound verb YUSURI-OTOSU in order to express the
"SSS" of the b-sentence.
The verb blasen in （ 29 ） forms the "SSS" of the immanent action of the subject
（a-sentence）, if it is used in the syntactic structure 'S-V', the "SSS" of the directional
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action of the subject, if it is used in the syntactic structure 'S-V-Prep（DIRECTION）'
（b-sentence）, and the "SSS" of "the movement caused by the affection concerned", if it
is used in the syntactic structure 'S-V-O（Acc）-Prep（DIRECTION）（c-sentence）.
（29）
a. DO（X）
Er bläst.
he blows
b. DO（x, DIRECTION）
Er bläst ihr ins Gesicht.
he blows into her face
c. CAUSE（x, MOVE（y, DIRECTION））
Er bläst die Krümel vom Tisch.
he blows the crumbs from the table
These examples show the hierarchy pattern of the verbal polysemy.
There is another pattern of verbal polysemy. For example, as the sentences of the verb
scheuern show, it is verified that the verb which forms the “SSS” of “the removal of
objects from a place”（a-sentence）forms also the “SSS” of “the state change of the place
caused by the removal of attached objects”. Between them exists the relation of
'presupposition vs. logical result'（Ogawa1985）.
（30）
a. S＋V＋O（Acc）＋Prep
CAUSE（x, MOVE（y, DIRECTION））
Er scheuert den Fleck vom Fußboden.
he scrapes the dirt from the floor
b. S＋V＋O（Acc）
CAUSE（X, BECOME（y, STATE））
Er scheuert den Fußboden.
he scrapes the floor
And as the sentences（31a）and（31b）show, the intransitive verb überlaufen forms the
expression where the focus is put on the place（b-sentence）as well as the expression
where the focus is put on the object which moves from there（a-sentence）, the transitive
verb packen, as the sentences（32）show, the expression where the focus is put on the
place（b-sentence）as well as the expression where the focus is put on the object which
moves from there（a-sentence）. That is, the intransitive and transitive polysemy
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patterns concerned are based on the same semantic mechanism. It shows that the
polysemy patterns in German is regular in that the intransitive polysemy pattern exists
in the transitive polysemy pattern which has the semantic marker CAUSE.
（31）
a. Das Wasser läuft aus der Wanne über.
the water overflows out of the bathtub
MOVE（x, DIRECTION）
b. Die Wanne läuft über.
the bathtub overflows
BECOME（x, STATE）
（32）
a. Er packt die Kleider in den Koffer.
he packs the clothes in the suit-case
CAUSE（x, MOVE（y, DIRECTION））
b. Er packt den Koffer.
he packs the suit-case
CAUSE（x, BECOME（y, STATE））
6. "SSS" and the State of the Real World
I have stated that we can admit certain generative rules in the polysemy of verbs
according to the "SSS". Next I will state that the acceptability of the uttered sentences
generated by the syntactic structures and the verbs relates closely to the state of the
real world as a condition outside of the language. （33）
（34）with reflexive pronouns, for
instance, express the "SSS" which means that the subjects change to the states of the
adjectives by the actions concerned. While the a-sentences are acceptable, the
b-sentences are not because in the real world there are some states which the
a-sentences express, but there is no state which the b-sentences could express.
（33）
a. Er läuft sich müde.
he runs so hard that he has become tired
b. *Er läuft sich grün.
he runs so hard that he has become green
（34）
a. Er arbeitet sich müde.
he works so hard that he has become tired
b. *Er arbeitet sich süß.
he works so hard that he has become sweet
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And as（35）and（36）indicate, in the case of the transitive verbs which express a
causation of changes of states, we can form the reflexive forms which transform the
original objects into the subjects and have the "SSS" of the change of a state（Fujinawa
1986）.
（35）Er löst Zucker auf.
→ Zucker löst sich auf.
he dissolves sugar
（36）Er klärt Wasser.
sugar dissolves
→ Wasser klärt sich.
he purifies water
water becomes clear
As（37）（38）indicate, however, it depends on the state whether a verb can form this
reflexive form or not. This "SSS" expresses the events which occur spontaneously, and
the matter in （ 37 ） occurs spontaneously, whereas that in （ 38 ） does not occur
spontaneously. The difference of the acceptability in this case may be also based on the
state in the real world.
（37）Man schält die Haut auf dem Rücken.
one peels the skin on the back
→ Die Haut auf dem Rücken schält sich.
the skin on the back peels
（38）Man schält die Bananen.
one peels the bananas
→ *Die Bananen schälen sich.
the bananas peel
And the verbs of perception are said to co-occur with infinitives in general, as（39）
indicates the verbs of smell and taste riechen/schmecken, however, do not co-occur with
infinitives. For that reason we can say that smell and taste are based on the internal
characteristics of the object and cannot be regarded as matters for the objects of human
perception. This may be also based on the difference in the real world about the human
perception.
（39）
a. Man fühlt sein Herz schlagen.
one feels his heart beat
b. Man hört sein Herz schlagen.
one hears his heart beat
c. Man sieht sein Herz schlagen.
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one sees his heart beat
d. *Man riecht sein Herz schlagen.
one smells his heart beat
e. *Man schmeckt sein Herz schlagen.
one tastes his heart beat
But the following difference of acceptability may be based not so much on the reflexion
of the state in the real world as the state of human cultural life where it is quite normal
that man is healthy（Note 2）.
（40）
a. Bei Müllers ist jemand krank.
someone is ill in the Müller family
b. *Bei Müllers ist jemand gesund.
someone is healthy in the Müller family
Notes
1） This indicates, as stated in 5., that the syntactic structures have active semantic
functions to form the "SSS".
2） The following sentences with the syntactic structure S-V-O-Adj form the "SSS"
which expresses the states of objects when the subjects take an action to them, but it
may be also based on the state of human cultural life why the a-sentence is acceptable
but the b-sentence is not. Namely we often change its color when we buy a car
（ a-sentence ） , but when we buy roses, we do not change specially their colors
（b-sentence）.
a. Er kauft das Auto rot.
he buys the car
red
b. *Er kauft die Rosen rot.
he buys the rosed red
← Er kauft das rote Auto.
he buys the red car
← Er kauft die roten Rosen.
he buys the red roses
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Literature
Fujinawa, Mayumi（1986）："Mono・koto" wo shugo to suru saikihyougen ni tuiteno
imironteki iti kousau, in: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Der Keim Nr.10,
Tokyo
Fujinawa, Yasuhiro（1992）："Kotogara" wo meguru hyougen ni miru doitsugo no
imikouzou, in: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Magister's thesis, Tokyo
Horasawa, Shin（1986）："Sieki" no kouzoukata, in: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies,
Der Keim Nr.10, Tokyo
Narita, Takasi（1981）：Zu den Präpositionen, die den Dativ und Akkusativ regieren,
in Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Der Keim Nr.5, Tokyo
-------
（1992）：Akkusativierung und Satzbedeutung, in: Toyama University
Kyouyoubu Kiyou Nr.2/24, Toyama
Ogawa, Akio（1985）：Tadoutekiidou wo arawasu dousi no maetudurika, in: Tokyo
University of Foreign Studies, Der Keim Nr.9, Tokyo
Seino, Tomoaki（1991）：Sintaihyougen niokeru yonkakumokutekigo no kinou, in:
Kumamoto University Bungakubu Ronshuu Nr.35, Kumamoto
Zaima, Susumu（1987a）：Doitsugo kenkyuu no iti houkou, in: Doitusbungaku Nr.79,
Tokyo
------
（1987b）
："VERBBEDEUTUNG" UND SYNTAKTISCHEE STRUKTUR,
in: Deutsche Sprache, Heft 1, Erich Schmidt Verlag
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