Goldberg, Adele. 1997. Semantic Principles of Predication. In nceptual Structure, Discourse and
Language CSLI Publications.
0. In what ways can events combine to form a single predication structure?
Three types of predications are considered:
Single Verbs
Combination of verb and construction
Coordinate structure constraint violations (Lakoff 1986; Deane 1991)
Single Predication: the unitary grammatical expression of an action, state or
combination thereof applied to a single argument
1. Single Verbs
1. What should count as distinct subevents?
2. What counts as a causal relationship?
a. Verbs which designate causally linked events (accomplishments):
strangle, ``to squeeze someone's neck until death"
b. Preconditions in a Semantic Frame
Asserted
-------appeal
to file for retrial
preview
to view
reconsider
to consider
reattach
to attach
Presupposed Event
-----------------------after court case was lost
before a subsequent (public) viewing
after previous act of considering
after initial attachment, detachment
Figure 1. Verbs that evoke complex frames
c. Negation of an aspect of a frame
Asserted
Presupposed Precondition
------------------------------stiff to fail to tip
after eating at a restaurant
betray to fail or desert someone
after having the person's trust
renege to change one's mind
after promising to do something
miscarry to spontaneously abort
after becoming pregnant
Figure 2. Verbs that specify the failure to satisfy an ICM
2. Predications designated by combination of Verb and Construction
Distinguishing between a verb's inherent or ``core" lexical semantics and the semantics
associated with the grammatical structures in which the verb can occur.
(Goldberg 1991, 1992, 1995; Fillmore & Kay ms; Pinker 1994; Hovav & Levin 1996;
Fauconnier & Turner 1996; Mandelblit 1995).
Ditransitive:
Subj V Obj1 Obj2
X CAUSES Y to RECEIVE Z
Caused-Motion: Subj V Obj Obl
X CAUSES Y to MOVE (to) Z
Resultative:
Subj V Obj Pred
X CAUSES Y to BECOME Z
Transitive:
Subj V Obj
X ACTS ON Y; EXPERIENCES Y
Figure 3. Constructional Semantics
The verb serves to lexically code or elaborate the event that the construction designates.
Ditransitive construction: ``X CAUSES Y to RECEIVE Z"
( give, hand, mail )
a. Causal Relations
Means
Amy kicked Paul the ball.
Elena sneezed the foam off the cappuccino.
Ken wrote his way to fame and fortune.
Instrument
Arther wristed the ball over the net.
The train screeched into the station.
b. Precondition in Semantic Frame
Ditransitive construction: ``X CAUSES Y to RECEIVE Z"
Dave baked Elena a cake.
Caused Motion Construction: Subj V Obj Obl ``X CAUSES Y TO MOVE Z"
Precondition of motion: freedom from restraints.
% The warden freed the prisoner into the city.
% Pat unleashed the dog into the yard.
c. Negation of an aspect of a frame
Ditransitive construction: `` X CAUSES Y to RECEIVE Z,"
Pat denied Chris a popsicle.
Pat refused Chris a kiss.
Caused-motion construction: `` X CAUSES Y to MOVE Z"
Pat locked Chris out of the room.
Transitive construction. ``X ACTS ON Y"
Pat ignored Chris.
Adam resisted the marshmellows.
d. Co-occurring activity
“He seemed to be whistling his way along." (Oxford University Press Corpus)
Very Limited Possibility:
%He whistled out of the room.
*She whistled the metal flat. (to mean, she caused the metal to become flat while
whistling)
*She whistled him a box. (to mean, she gave him a box while whistling.
3. Coordinate structures that do not obey the Coordinate Structure Constraint
Syntactically Complex but Semantically Unitary Predications
What did you go to the store and buy?
Causal Relations
Precondition in a semantic frame
The denial of an implication of a frame
4. Conclusion
Three types of predications:
a. Subevents evoked by a single verb
b. Events evoked by combination of verb and constructional semantics
c. Events evoked by conjuncts which violate the coordinate structure constraint
All three cases involve three possibilities:
a causally related sequence of events.
a sequence of events constituting an ICM (one or more events may be
presupposed)
a sequence of events in which one aspect of an ICM is negated
Q: Does causal relation need to be separate case?
FRAME may be the basis for predication.