The geometry of events: Evidence from English and American Sign Language
Abstract
The current analysis argues for a feature geometric analysis of grammatical Situations and Events (S/E structures). Individual Situations and Events are represented as substructures of an S/E geometry that includes representations of inception and causation, and the contrasts between static and eventive Situations, telic and atelic Events, and punctual and extended Events. In addition, insights from localist and causal approaches to predicate decomposition are incorporated. S/E structures are analyzed as grammatical templates or constructions and are merged with morphemes through head nodes, equivalent to subevents. The interfaces between S/E structures, Argument structures, and Tense and Aspect are analyzed in a similar manner. The visibility or opacity of S/E structures in the surface forms of predicates is accounted for in terms of the associations between nodes in the S/E structure and morphemes: one-to-one associations yield predicates with visible S/E structures, many-to-one associations, which are restricted, produce predicates with opaque S/E structures on the surface. Evidence from English, in which S/E structures tend to be opaque, is presented involving various adverbial tests. Three distinct types of predicates in ASL are also analyzed, including classifier predicate constructions (CLP), agreeing predicates (A-predicates) and plain predicates (P-predicates). The distinctions between these predicate types are analyzed here in terms of distinctions in the underlying S/E structures. This analysis accounts for the particular spatial morphology found in CLP, the referring morphology in A-predicates, and the lack of this morphology in P-predicates. In all of these ASL predicates the S/E structures are highly visible. This analysis also includes provisional feature geometric accounts of the lexical semantics of verbal roots, and viewpoint Aspect.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Wilbur, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Linguistics
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