Changes in argument structure in the course of derivation in Hungarian Cover Image

Changes in argument structure in the course of derivation in Hungarian
Changes in argument structure in the course of derivation in Hungarian

Author(s): Gábor Alberti
Subject(s): Morphology, Syntax, Finno-Ugrian studies
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: word formation; thematic theories; argument hierarchy; Model Tau;

Summary/Abstract: For all types of derivation characterised as productive by Kiefer (2000), the original version of Model Tau (Alberti 1997), dealing only with verbal derivation coming with no category change, can be extended to the entire spectrum of derivations; moreover, it can be extended in a straightforward way: the single novel factor is the central case frame peculiar to particular word categories. For instance, if the predicator is a noun, what corresponds to the case frame <Nom, Acc≯ in the sphere of verbs, is the case frame <Nom, Poss≯; this mapping is immediately observable in the case of -ÓjA (Laczkó 2005a), a suffix forming nouns in an argument-structure retaining way (elcsábít 'seduce' -≯ elcsábítója '(someone's) seducer'). The case frame characteristic of the output word category supplies an upper limit, within which the actual realization can belong to five types that precisely coincide with the five basic types of category-preserving verbal (and participial) derivation discussed Alberti (1997). How can these five basic types be derived? The crucial factor of each argument-structure transition is "advancement" of an argument (parallel with the "degradation" of another argument) in a sense that can be precisely defined in Model Tau.

  • Issue Year: 53/2006
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 1-39
  • Page Count: 39
  • Language: English