Doctoral Dissertation Research: Argument Realization and (Non-)agreement

论元和附加语之间的区别被认为是一种普遍的语言区别，并被具体地构建在许多现代句法理论的体系中。一般说来，论元是动词形成完整意义所需的短语，而附加语则增加了可选的额外信息。最近的语言学调查发现，一种语言在两个方面挑战论元-附加语的区别，成为语言的普遍性。首先，虽然大多数论元通过标记在动词上而与附加语区别不大，但某些典型的论元甚至缺乏这一区别特征。其次，与其他语言不同，减少动词论元的过程似乎是通过泛化机制进行的，这些机制可能会忽略动词的特定含义。这里的文件将构成合众国际的博士论文的核心组成部分。更广泛的影响包括将录音和转录公开存放在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的数字储存库中。这个项目在一个更大的论元实现调查中研究了次要宾语和中间语，这种语言最多允许一个宾语以动词为索引；因此，目前没有区分次要宾语和不可索引的附加语。这个项目探讨了关于次级宾语的三个问题：(A)次级宾语是否引入了新的参与者或实现了那些在谓词意义上已经存在的参与者；(B)次级宾语的语法功能是什么？它们是否有别于其他从属宾语；以及(C)哪些因素决定了哪些从属宾语是以动词为索引的？最后，这个项目旨在对中间结构进行更全面的描述，重点关注动词的词汇语义如何影响其在中间上下文中的行为，以及这种论元抑制如何与论元实现性质相互作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The distinction between arguments and adjuncts is assumed to be a universal distinction made by languages and is specifically built into the architecture of many modern syntactic theories. Broadly speaking, arguments are phrases that the verb requires to form a complete meaning, while adjuncts add in optional extra information. Recent linguistic investigation has identified a language that challenges the argument-adjunct distinction as a linguistic universal in two ways. First, while most arguments are weakly distinguished from adjuncts by being marked on the verb, certain typical arguments lack even this as a distinguishing feature. Second, the processes for reducing a verb’s arguments seem to operate through generalized mechanisms that may ignore the verb’s specific meaning, unlike in other languages. The documentation here will form a core component of the doctoral dissertation of the Co-PI. Broader impacts include a publicly available deposit of recordings and transcriptions at a digital repository housed at the University of Texas at Austin. This project examines secondary objects and middles within a larger investigation of argument realization in a language that allows at most one object to be indexed on the verb; thus there is currently no distinction between secondary objects and unindexable adjuncts. This project explores three questions about secondary objects: (a) do secondary objects introduce new participants or realize those already in the predicate's meaning; (b) what is the grammatical function of secondary objects and are they distinct from other dependents; and (c) what factors govern which dependent is indexed on the verb? Finally, this project aims for a fuller description of middle constructions, with a focus on how the lexical semantics of the verb affects its behavior in middle contexts, and how such argument suppression interacts with argument realization properties.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.