11. Arguments from the Root vs. Arguments from the Syntax

Lisa Travis

doi:10.1108/S0092-4563(2012)0000038013

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Syntax and Semantics

ISSN: 0092-4563
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11. Arguments from the Root vs. Arguments from the Syntax

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Title:	11. Arguments from the Root vs. Arguments from the Syntax
Author(s):	Lisa Travis
Volume:	38 Editor(s): María Cristina Cuervo, Yves Roberge ISBN: 978-1-78052-376-7 eISBN: 978-1-78052-377-4
Citation:	Lisa Travis (2012), 11. Arguments from the Root vs. Arguments from the Syntax, in María Cristina Cuervo, Yves Roberge (ed.) The End of Argument Structure? (Syntax and Semantics, Volume 38), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.261-291
DOI:	10.1108/S0092-4563(2012)0000038013 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Chapter Item
Abstract:	Malagasy, a Western Malayo-Polynesian language, has a rich morphological system that encodes shifts in argument structure and event structure. Assuming that complex morphology represents complex syntax, Malagasy can provide insights into the interaction of syntax and argument structure. In this chapter, I probe this interaction by investigating (i) changes in argument structure under nominalization and (ii) the complexity of the argument structure of roots in Malagasy. The argument structure of different verbal constructions behave differently when they are nominalized, and the range of argument structures of roots is as complex as the argument structure of morphologically complex verbs. I argue, using data from nominalizations, that external theta-roles come in three different types: (i) the type assigned by a combination of v and the theta-grid of root, (ii) the type assigned by v itself, and (iii) the type assigned by syntactic configuration alone. Further, I argue that roots show the same rich internal argument system as morphologically complex verbs, providing evidence for three types of external arguments in three different specifier positions: Spec, vP, Spec, ASPP, and Spec,vP. Data from the morphological system of Malagasy at first appears to support a close link between syntax and argument structure, but when looked at more closely, supports the view that roots have to have lexically specified theta-grids.