The roots of verbal meaning / / John Beavers and Andrew Koontz-Garboden.

• Superior document: Oxford studies in theoretical linguistics ; 74
• VerfasserIn: Beavers, John,; Koontz-Garboden, Andrew,
• TeilnehmendeR: Koontz-Garboden, Andrew,
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford : : Oxford University Press,, 2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Oxford studies in theoretical linguistics ; 74.; Oxford scholarship online.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xiv, 255 pages) :; illustrations

This book explores possible and impossible word meanings, with a specific focus on the meanings of verbs. It presents a new theory of possible root meanings and their interaction with event templates that produces a new typology of possible verbs, with semantic and grammatical properties determined not just by templates, but also by roots.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Lexical semantics and theories of verb meaning ; Thematic roles as a theory of verb meaning ; Event structures as a theory of verb meaning ; Hypotheses about root meaning ; Outline of the study ; Background assumptions: defining causation and change -- Entailments of change in the roots of change-of-state verbs. Two types of change-of-state verbs ; Lexical semantic consequences of Bifurcation ; Morphological consequences of Bifurcation ; Analytical option 1: abandon Bifucation ; Analytical option 2: preserving Bifurcation ; Roots vs. templates in change-of-state verbs -- The roots of ditransitive verbs of caused possession. Roots and templates in ditransitive verbs ; Ditransitive verbs, possession, and co-location ; The meanings of templates: a case for root sensitivity ; Change of state and aspectual properties: root telicity ; Defining and composing template and root meanings ; Root classes ; Further evidence for change of state in roots: root durativity ; The dative alternation: root-determined argument realization ; Root vs. template in ditransitive verbs -- Manner/result complementarity and causation in verbal roots. Manner/result complementarity ; Result entailments in verbs ; Manner entailments in verbs ; Classes of manner+result verbs ; Manner, result, and the architecture of event structure ; The roots of manner+result verbs and Bifurcation ; Roots vs. templates in manner+result verbs -- Conclusion. Summary on conditions on root meaning ; The origins of complex root meanings ; Are there any constraints on root meaning? ; Possible and impossible verbs.