The semantic representation of possesseed-raising constructions in terms of reflexivity

Authors

  • Beatriz Martínez Fernández University of La Rioja

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.74

Abstract

This paper aims to provide arguments in favour of the widely discussed idea that English causative alternating constructions of the type "John broke his arm/His arm broke" are, at least partly, reflexive. As we shall see, several constraints condition this proposal, namely the actor/non-actor category of the first argument of the activity predicate and the concept of control. In addition, I will argue that the recurrent association of this particular causative formal composition to the above mentioned reflexive meaning leads us to consider this alternation as a new construction within the wider scope of causatives. This construction has been labelled as the Possessed-Raising construction

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bloomfield, L. 1933. Language. New York: Holt.

Croft, W. 1990. Typology and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dik, S. C. 1997. The Theory of Functional Grammar I : The Structure of the Clause. Dordrecht: Foris.

Goldberg, A. E. 1995. A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Kövecses, Z. & Radden, G. 1998. “Metonymy: Developing a cognitive linguistic view”. Cognitive Linguistics 9 (1): 37-77.

Levin, B. 1993. English Verb Classes and Alternations. A Preliminary Investigation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Levin, B. & Rappaport Hovav, M. 1995. Unaccusativity. At the Syntax- Lexical Semantics Interface. Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Martín Arista, F. J. 2001. “Adjustment and motivation”. Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses 42: 167-186 Moreno Cabrera, J. C. 1991. Curso Universitario de Lingüística General. Tomo I: Teoría de la gramática y sintaxis general. Madrid: Sintesis.

Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, F. J. 1999. Introducción a la teoría cognitiva de la metonimia. Granada: Granada Lingvistica y Método Ediciones.

Siewierska, A. 1990. “The Source of the Dative Perspective in Polish pseudo-reflexives”. Working with Functional Grammar: Descriptive and Computational Applications. Eds. Hannay & Wester. Dordrecht: Foris. 1-14.

Van Valin, R. D. Jr. & Lapolla, R.J. 1997. Syntax. Structure, meaning and function. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Downloads

Published

29-05-2002

How to Cite

Martínez Fernández, B. (2002). The semantic representation of possesseed-raising constructions in terms of reflexivity. Journal of English Studies, 3, 149–163. https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.74

Issue

Section

Articles