Verbs and situations

Verbs and situations

1. Causatives

   • verb in the main clause of a causative sentence
   • make, get, force, cause, have, prevent
   • two-clause
     • indirect causation
   • one-clause
     • direct causation
       • different verbs
       • morphonologically related verbs and adjectives
       • same verb form used causatively and non-causatively
   • transitive
     • subject argument and a direct object argument
   • intransitive
     • not a direct object
       • unergative
         • requires a subject
       • unaccusative
         • subject affected by action
   • conversion
     • causative-to -unaccusative entailment

2. Situation Types

   • Vendler's classification
     • Achievement
       • not duration
       • not progressive
       • contains state as an embedded proposition
       • directed by goals
     • State
       • not progressive
       • as simple situations
     • Activity
       • progressive
       • as simple situations
     • Accomplishment
       • duration
       • progressive
       • contains activity and achievement
       • directed by goals
   • Goals
     • end-points after which the event is over
     • Locative phrases
       • specify the goal that ends the activity phase of the accomplishment

3. says something about the noun

4. Clause

   • verb on its own and carries a proposition

5. Argument

   • covers all kinds of referential constituents
     • embedded clause
   • agent
     • referent

6. Aspect

   • encoding of the time profiles of events
   • progressive
     • highlights duration phase of vent
     • ignores event's end
     • signals dynamism