A Study of the Syntax-Semantics Interface: Unaccusativity

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ABSTRACT This project investigates phenomena that fall under the label "unaccusativity". These phenomena involve intransitive verbs whose subjects display syntactic and semantic properties of objects. Both syntactic and semantic characterizations of unaccusativity have been proposed, but neither is entirely successful because different "unaccusative" phenomena appear to pick out different subclasses of intransitive verbs. The investigators propose a mixed approach: unaccusativity is syntactically represented but semantically determined. A model of grammar is adopted that recognizes several distinct levels of lexical and syntactic representation, each with a well-defined function. The investigators determine the patterns of unaccusativity predicted by this model and evaluate these predictions with respect to a variety of unaccusative phenomena. They investigate the syntax-semantics interface as it relates to unaccusativity through a study of intransitive verbs of motion, and also explore cross-linguistic variation in the manifestation of unaccusativity through a contrastive study of English and Italian. They address the implications of this work for choosing between monostratal and multistratal theories of syntax, as well as between competing approaches to lexical semantic representation. This work should contribute to the development of an explanatory theory of unaccusativity.