BBN-ANG-253
Advanced Syntax Lecture Course
Autumn, 2014/15
More complex verb types 2
1
Intransitive verbs

they take one argument which is typically an agent or an experiencer
1 a Peter laughed
b Peter fainted

they can take a cognate object
2 a Peter smiled a friendly smile
b Peter danced a happy dance
c *Peter fainted a faint

in English they cannot be passivised

the event structure is complex

cf. unaccusatives and ergative unaccusatives
2
Verbs with multiple complements

they have three arguments: (i) an agent, a theme and a location or (ii) an agent, a
theme and a goal/beneficiary
3 a Peter put the beer in the fridge
b Peter gave a bottle to John
c Peter gave John a bottle
1
BBN-ANG-253
Advanced Syntax Lecture Course
Autumn, 2014/15

their event structure is complex: e = e1 → e2 → e3
4
vPagent
v’
DPagent
v
vP
v’
v
VP
V’
DPtheme
V
PPlocative/DPgoal/beneficiary
put/give
e1= agent does something
e2= theme changes location or possession
e3= theme is in a certain location or possession

passivisation
5 a Peter gave John a bottle
b John was given a bottle
c A bottle was given to John
d *A bottle was given John
(N.B. In the tree in (117) on p 186 in Newson et al. there is a typo: the subscripts ’goal’
and ’theme’ are in the wrong place and should be swapped. Similarly, there is another typo in
the tree in (121) on p 188: the arrow pointing from ’t1’ to ’Gary1’ is incorrect, instead, it
should be pointing to ’Pete1’.)
2
BBN-ANG-253
Advanced Syntax Lecture Course
Autumn, 2014/15
3
Phrasal verbs

6
the number of arguments appearing varies, a V + P sequence is involved
a The plane took off
b Peter looked up a word
c The referee sent a player off the field

their meaning is often idiomatic, i.e. it is not composed of the meaning of the verb and
the particle (P)

7
phrasal verbs vs. prepositional verbs
a He looked up a word
b He walked down Memory Lane
c He looked a word up
d *He walked Memory Lane down
8
a Down Memory Lane, he walked
b *Up a word, he looked
9
a He walked right down Memory Lane
b *He looked right up a word
c He looked a word right up
10
a He walked down Memory Lane and up Sunset Boulevard
b *He looked up a word and up an expression

phrasal verbs and the right-hand head rule of English morphology: in a verb + particle
sequence the element on the left behaves like a head
3
BBN-ANG-253
Advanced Syntax Lecture Course
Autumn, 2014/15

movement of the particle is only grammatical if the PP does not contain an object DP
11
vPagent
DP
The ref.
v’
v
V1
VP
v
V’
DP
the player
send
12
V
PP
t1
off
vPagent
DP
The ref.
v’
v
V1
VP
v
V’
DP
the player
13
V
P2
V
PP
send
off
t1
t2
a The referee sent the player off the field
b *The referee sent off the player the field
14
a The referee sent the player right off
b *The referee sent right off the player (cf. (9))
4