Empty verbs in Chinese predicatives and complex predicates

On the form of complex predicates: toward demystifying serial verbs

As the recent volume edited by Aikhenvald and Dixon (2006) indicates, interest in verb serialization or serial verb constructions (SVCs hereafter) persists. Indeed, the question of how serial verbs differ from other types of complex predicates such as converbal complex predicates and verb compounds, as well as other multi-verb constructions like coordination and subordination, remains one of th...

Complex predicates: The case of serial verbs in Dagaare and Akan

Complex Predicates with Light Verbs in VALLEX: From Formal Model to Lexicographic Description

Natural languages are typically characterized by a large area where grammar and lexicon overlap. Complex predicates with light verbs represent a typical language phenomenon at the lexicongrammar interface. Their theoretically adequate representation thus requires a close interplay between the lexicon and the grammar. In this paper, we introduce a formal model for the lexicographic description o...

The Representation of Complex Telic Predicates in Wordnets: the Case of Lexical-Conceptual Structure Deficitary Verbs

This paper has a twofold aim: (i) to point out that telicity is both a lexical and a compositional semantic feature; (ii) to propose a straightforward solution to represent lexical telicity in wordnets-like computational lexica. The approach presented here subsumes the basic idea that lexicon is not a repository of idiosyncrasies. It is rather organized following a few general (universal or par...

Complex Predicates in Arrernte

Using the example of Murrinh-Patha, Seiss (2011) illustrates how Australian Aboriginal languages can shed light on the morphology-syntax interface: one aspect of their polysynthetic nature is that information often encoded in phrases and clauses in other languages is instead found in a single morphological word. In this paper, we look at another instance, the Australian Aboriginal language Arre...