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Gute Argumente. Wo beginnen?
(2019)
Gerade allgemeinere Verben zeigen eine Variationsbreite der Verwendung, die nicht leicht zu einem einheitlichen Bild zu fassen ist. Am Beispiel des Verbs beginnen wird gezeigt, wie hier die Interaktion zwischen der Struktur der Aktanten und den grammatischen Regelmäßigkeiten funktioniert. Dabei wird versucht, in der Kombination von Valenzinformationen, Argumentstrukturpositionierungen und Musterbildungen im Gebrauch ein zusammenhängendes Bild dieses Verbs in seinen verschiedenen Verwendungen zu entwerfen.
Central complements: good arguments are self-explanatory.
Together with its central complements, verbs model basic patterns of interaction. The constellations of these complements in turn correspond to central patterns of the argument structure. Nominative and accusative complements formally occupy the first and second positions (subject and object), but they also have certain semantic preferences. The formal function of the dative is less pronounced, where it occurs (ditransitive verbs) the semantic imprint of the frame („transfer“) is very strong. This corresponds to the meaning of a core group of corresponding verbs. Other verbs that allow this pattern are used more often in other valence structures and the ditransitive use appears as a systematic way of personal extension of object‑related activities. This will be discussed with reference to the verbs zeigen and (in a different way) lehren.
This article investigates the transitive-oblique alternation in German that involves the preposition an ‘at, on’, e.g. ein Buch schreiben ‘write a book’ vs. an einem Buch schreiben ‘work on / write a book’ (lit. write at a book). The crucial semantic difference between the two structures is the obligatory atelic interpretation of the prepositional an-variant. Based on a corpus study for twenty verbs that were discussed in the previous work, I revisit the assumptions that were made by Filip (1999). First, the incremental theme verbs like bauen ‘build’ or essen ‘eat’ appear only seldom with an. This questions the central role of incrementality as the semantic explanation for the acceptability of the an-variant. Second, selectional preferences of verbs differ in the two argument structures. This observation challenges the assumption that the an-phrase and the direct object are alternative syntactic realizations of the same verbal argument. Overall, this first corpus-based study of the an-construction reveals complex interactions between the semantics of individual verbs, verb classes and the meaning of the preposition an.
This article shows what may be gained by a pattern-based analysis and lexicographic representation of argument structure patterns as compared to one based solely on the valency properties of verbs. The pattern analysed expresses a state whereby two or more entities are positioned on a scale of distinct values. Formally it minimally comprises a verb expressing a state or event and two NPs expressing the entities ranked. The NP referring to the entity occupying the lower position on the scale is embedded in a PP headed by vor. Allowing the identification of instances comprising verbs whose meaning is not straightforwardly related to that of the pattern, the pattern-based analysis employed raises the question of how the metaphorical state meaning of the pattern comes about. Since the verb does not express a ranking and / or a state in a large number of instances, the metaphorical state meaning of the pattern is argued to originate in these cases within the scalar meaning of the preposition and / or to be associated with the pattern itself.
The following article shows how several verbal argument structure patterns can build clusters or families. Argument structure patterns are conceptualised as form-meaning pairings related by family relationships. These are based on formal and / or semantic characteristics of the individual patterns making up the family. The small family of German argument structure patterns containing vor sich her and vor sich hin is selected to illustrate the process whereby pattern meaning combines with the syntactic and semantic properties of the patterns’ individual components to constitute a higher-level family or cluster of argument structure patterns. The study shows that the patterns making up the family are similar with regard to some of their formal characteristics, but differ quite clearly with respect to their meaning. The article also discusses the conditions of usage of the individual patterns of the family, the contribution of verb meaning and prepositional meaning to the overall meaning of the patterns, coercion effects, and productivity issues.
In German linguistics, a traditional distinction is made between (i) prepositional objects (POs) and prepositional adverbials, and (ii), among the latter, between adverbial complements and adjuncts. As a contribution to the debate on points of contact and possible syntheses between valency-based and construction-based approaches to verb argument structure, a corpus-based constructionist account of German PO and PP adverbial verb argument structures involving the preposition vor ‘in front of’ is developed. It is argued that ‘desemanticised’ PO-uses of vor are markers of inherently meaningful verb argument structure constructions that form a transparently motivated network comprising both PO and PP adverbial patterns. Analyses are presented for five interrelated families of vor constructions within the overall network thus defined. Their meanings are shown to reflect an interplay of more concrete spatial meanings of the preposition and the lexical semantics of verbal fillers of these constructions. Once conventionalised, they are subject to regular processes of metaphorical and metonymic semantic extension that are tentatively unravelled to create an integrated semantic map of verbal vor-constructions in present day German.
Argumentstrukturmuster. Ein elektronisches Handbuch zu verbalen Argumentstrukturen im Deutschen
(2019)
Valency-based and construction-based approaches to argument structure have been competing for quite a while. However, while valency-based approaches are backed up by numerous valency dictionaries as comprehensive descriptive resources, nothing comparable exists for construction-based approaches. The paper at hand describes the foundations of an ongoing project at the Institut für Deutsche Sprache in Mannheim. Aim of the project is the compilation of an online available description of a net of German argument structure patterns. The main purpose of this resource is to provide an empirical basis for an evaluation of the adequacy of valency- versus construction-based theories of argument structure. The paper at hand addresses the theoretical background, in particular the concepts of pattern and argument structure, and the corpus-based method of the project. Furthermore, it describes the coverage of the resource, the microstructure of the articles, and the macrostructure which is conceived of as a net of argument structure patterns based on family resemblance.
Novel formats of construction-based description hold great potential for phenomena that fall through the cracks in traditional kinds of linguistic reference works. On the example of German verb argument structure constructions with a prepositional object, we demonstrate that a construction-based description of such phenomena is superior to existing lexicographic and grammaticographic treatments, but that it also poses a number of new problems. The most fundamental of these relates to the fact that construction-based analyses can be proposed on different levels of abstraction. We illustrate pertinent problems relating to the precise identification of constructional form and meaning and suggest a multi-layered descriptive format for web-based electronic reference constructica that can accommodate these challenges. Semantically, the proposed solution integrates both lumping and splitting perspectives on constructional grain size and permits users to flexibly zoom in and out on individual elements in the resource. Formally, it can capture variation in the number and marking of realised arguments as found in e.g. passives and transitivity alternations. Aspects of the theoretical controversy between Construction Grammar and Valency Theory are addressed where relevant, but our focus is on questions of description and the practical implementation of construction-based analyses in a suitable type of linguistic reference work.
The present thesis investigates the syntagmatic relations of certain Finnish emotion verbs that are formed by the derivational suffix -ua/-yä (e.g. suuttua ‘get angry’, pelästyä ‘get frightened’). Prototypically, the suffix expresses reflexivity, but in the case of the “inchoative” emotion verbs, it indicates a change of state on behalf of the experiencer, from a non-emotional state to an emotional state.