Verbconstructions cross-linguistically - Introduction

Presented here is an initiative for constructing an environment enabling the enumeration of verb constructions cross-linguistically. The aims are:

For each language, that the enumeration be complete and transparent;
Across languages, that the enumerations be comparable.

The environment includes a labeling system which, for any verb construction of a given language, provides a template for that construction type displaying its argument structure and other properties, in a fashion as transparent as possible. The template is constructed from a universally established inventory of labeling primitives. The initiative has started with, on the one hand, a rather extensive inventory of Verb Constructions in Norwegian (based on the TROLL 1989 work, NorKompLeks 1996, and Norsource 2007), and on the other, a comparative survey of closely related languages of the Volta Basin Area (supported by The Legon-Trondheim project on Ghanaian languages). Thus both scenarios mentioned above are being instantiated.

The characterization of a construction type relates to at least the following parameters, when applicable:

diathesis/argument operations (such as passive, causativisation, applicative formation),
syntactic valency,
semantic participants,
particular patterns of agreement, including coreference patterns (such as 'equi' and 'raising' patterns, argument sharing, secondary predication), tense/aspect agreement, and subject and object marking,
'full' vs 'expletive' elements. NOT included is modification and syntactic processes not particular to the formation or modification of argument structure.

The basic structural parts of a Template are referred to as slots. In the slot specification, the following conventions are observed:

Slots are interconnected by '-' (hyphen).
Distinct items inside a slot are interconnected by '_' (underline).
An item label containing neither ‘-‘ nor ‘_’ is an uninterrupted string of letters. If it acts as a complex label, the internal composition is indicated by alternation between small and capital letters (however, no labels are distinguished in terms of CAP vs. not).

Constructions with a Verb as head have a Template structure with maximum five slots:

Slot 1: POS of the head, and diathesis information (e.g.: 'V_pas' for passive diathesis; 'V' alone if the construction is active).
Slot 2: Valency: transitivity specification - intr, tr, ditr, ... (see list below) (if the construction is passive, the valence given is that of its corresponding active form).
Slot 3: Dependent Specification: comments on syntactic and referential properties of specific arguments – see list below.
Slot 4: Participant Roles.
Slot 5: Situation Type: a label for the situation type expressed by the construction, written in CAPS

Slots 1 and 2 are obligatorily filled, the others not. A slot not specified is not displayed; however, the labels defined for the various slots are distinct, hence no specification can be misread with regard to which slot it fits into. Likewise, no labels are distinguished in terms of CAP vs. not.

The following template exemplifies the notation (with an English example sentence):

(1) v-tr-ag_affincrem-COMPLETED_MONODEVMNT

the boy eats the cake

The template reads as:

Slot 1: The head is V;
Slot 2: the syntactic frame is transitive;
Slot 4: the thematic roles expressed are 'agent' and 'incrementally affected';
Slot 5: the situation type is (partially characterized as) 'completed monotonic development'.

Nothing here occupies Slot 3. (Since neither 'ag_affincrem' nor 'COMPLETED_MONODEVMNT' is a defined slot 3-specification, there is no ambiguity as to which slot is here empty.)

The following template has specification for the first three slots (from Norwegian, with gloss and translation):

(2) v-trScpr-scObNrgCse_scAdj

han sang rommet tomt

“he sang the room empty”

han

heSBJ3PSGNOM

PN

sang

singPAST

Vitr

rommet
rom	et
roomOBJ	DEFSGNEUT
CN

tomt
tom	t
emptySC	SGNEUT
ADJ

This template reads as:

Slot 1: The head is V;
Slot 2: the syntactic frame is transitive with a secondary ('small clause') predicate;
Slot 3: the secondary predicate is predicated of the object, which is a 'non-argument', i.e., does not have a semantic argument relation to the verb, and expresses the result of a causation; moreover, the secondary predicate is headed by an adjective.

If a construction has a verbal complement, or is a series of verbs, where there is reason to comment on each verbal domain, the construction is entered as a sequence of two (or more) v-constructions, where each has the argument frame instantiated by the verb in question. The v-constructions are separated by double hyphen. After the first slot, which indicates the kind of construction, there is a slot with information on how constituents from the different v-constructions interrelate. The following is an example of a Serial Verb Construction in Akan, where 'sv' indicates this type:

3) sv-objIDsu_aspID--v-tr-ag_ejct--v-tr-th_endpt-CONTACTEJECTION

This template reads as:

Slot 1: The construction is an SVC;
Slot 2: The object of the first clause is (referentially) identical to the subject of the second clause, and aspect (PST) is identical across the clauses;
Slot 3: The v-constructions: the first v-construction has a transitive verb, and its participant roles are 'agent and ejected'; the second v-construction also has a transitive verb, with the participant roles 'theme' and 'endpoint' (notice that in each of these frames, there is no slot 3-specification, but both have slot 4-specification);
Slot 4: The whole construction expresses the situation-type 'CONTACTEJECTION', that is, 'ejection with the ejected obtaining contact with an expressed entity'.

v-intrImpers

SIT-TYPE: PHENOM

det regner

“it rains ”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

regner
regn	er
rain	PRES
Vitr

v-intrImpersPrtcl

SIT-TYPE: PHENOM_TELIC

det klarner opp

“it clears up”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

klarner
klarn	er
clear	PRES
Vitr

opp

up

PRT

v-intrImpersObl

ROLE: loc

SIT-TYPE: SEMELFACTIVE

det kvekker i Ola

“Ola startles”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

kvekker
kvekk	er
startle	PRES
Vitr

i

inOBLLOC

PREP

Ola

ola

Np

det sprekker i glasset

“the glass breaks apart”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

sprekker
sprekk	er
crack	PRES
Vitr

i

inOBLLOC

PREP

glasset
glass	et
glass	NEUTSGDEF
CN

ROLE: loc

SIT-TYPE: ACTIVITY

det synger i fjellene

“it sings in the mountains”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

synger
syng	er
sing	PRES
Vitr

i

inOBLLOC

PREP

fjellene
fjell	ene
mountain	DEFPL
CN

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: agmover

SIT-TYPE: MOTION

det springer en mann

#det springer en mann

“there is a man running”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

springer
spring	er
run	PRES
Vitr

en

aINDEFSGCOMM

DET

mann

man

CN

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: agmover

SIT-TYPE: ENDPNTMOTION

det springer en mann hit

“there is a man running to here”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

springer
spring	er
run	PRES
Vitr

en

aINDEFSGCOMM

DET

mann

man

CN

hit

hereENDPNT

ADV

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: thmover

SIT-TYPE: MOTION

det ruller en ball

#det ruller en ball

“there is a ball rolling”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

ruller
rull	er
roll	PRES
Vitr

en

aINDEFSGCOMM

DET

ball

CN

v-intrDirPresentational

ROLE: thmover

SIT-TYPE: ENDPNTMOTION

det ruller en ball hit

“a ball is rolling here”

det

SBJEXPLET

PN

ruller
rull	er
roll	PRES
Vitr

en

INDEFSGMASC

DET

ball

N

hit

to-hereENDPNT

ADV

v-intrPresentationalLoc

ROLE: ag_loc

SIT-TYPE: POSTURE_LOC

det sitter en mann i stolen

“there is a man sitting in the chair”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

sitter
sitt	er
sit	PRES
Vitr

en

aINDEFSGCOMM

DET

mann

man

CN

i

inOBLLOC

PREP

stolen
stol	en
chair	DEFSGCOMM
CN

det sitter en mann her

“there is a man sitting here”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

sitter
sitt	er
sit	PRES
Vitr

en

aINDEFSGCOMM

DET

mann

man

CN

her

hereOBLLOC

ADVm

v-trPresentational

ROLE: ben_th

SIT-TYPE: PENDINGSTATE

det venter ham en ulykke

“there awaits him an accident”

det

SBJEXPLET

PN

venter
vent	er
await	PRES
Vtr

ham

SGMASCOBJind

PN

en

INDEFSGMASCOBJ

DET

ulykke

accident

N

det tilkommer ham hundre kroner

“he can claim a hundred kroner”

det

itSBJEXPLET

PN

tilkommer
tilkom	er
to-come	PRES
Vtr

ham

himMASCSG

PN

hundre

hundred

CARD

kroner
krone	r
kroner	INDEFPL
CN

v-intr

ROLE: ag

SIT-TYPE: ACTIVITY / SEMELFACTIVE

gutten hopper

“the boy jumps”

gutten
gutt	en
boySBJ	DEFSGCOMM
CN

hopper
hopp	er
jump	PRES
Vitr

v-intrPrtcl

ROLE: ag

SIT-TYPE: SUSTAINEDACTIVITY

Ola driver på

#Ola driver på

“Ola keeps on”

Ola

ola

olaSBJ

Np

driver
driv	er
keep	PRES
Vitr

på

on

ADV

ROLE: th

SIT-TYPE: SUSTAINEDACTIVITY

regnet varer ved

“the rain persists”

regnet
regn	et
rainSBJ	DEFSGNEUT
N

varer
var	er
last	PRES
Vitr

ved

by

ADV

v-intrPrtcl

ROLE: ag

SIT-TYPE: COMPLETEDACTIVITY

Ola stopper opp

maskineriet stopper opp

“the machinery comes to a hold”

maskineriet
maskineri	et
machinerySBJ	DEFSGNEUT
Np

stopper
stopp	er
stop	PRES
Vitr

opp

up

ADV

ROLE: th

SIT-TYPE: COMPLETEDACTIVITY

regnet holder opp

“the rain ceases”

regnet
regn	et
rainSBJ	DEFSGNEUT
CN

holder
hold	er
hold	PRES
Vitr

opp

up

ADV

v-intr ROLE: agsens SIT-TYPE: SENSING_PROTR gutten lytter

'the boy listens'