Orð og tunga - 01.06.2006, Page 51

Matthew Whelpton: Argument Structure
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Body Part Ascension - as they apply to four verbs - cut, break, touch,
hit. The results are summarised in Figure 2.
7. Middle
a. The bread cuts easily.
b. Crystal vases break easily.
c. *Cats touch easily.
d. *Door frames hit easily.
8. Conative
e. Margaret cut at the bread.
f. *Janet broke at the vase.
g. *Terry touched at the cat.
h. Carla hit at the door.
9. Body part ascension
i. Margaret cut Bill's arm // Margaret cut Bill on the arm.
j. Janetbroke Bill's finger // *Janet broke Bill on the finger.
k. Terry touched Bill's shoulder // Terry touched Bill on
the shoulder.
l. Carla hit Bill's back // Carla hit Bill on the back.
Touch Hit Cut Break
Conative No Yes Yes No
Body-part Yes Yes Yes No
Middle No No Yes Yes
Figure 2: Verb-Construction Matching
Levin argues that the availability of a particular construction is linked
to the presence of a conceptual component in the meaning of the rele-
vant verb, as shown in Figure 3.
touch Verb of pure contact CONTACT
hit Verb of contact by motion CONTACT, MOTION
cut Verb of caused change of state by contact in motion CAUSE, CHANGE, CONTACT, MOTION
break Verb of caused change of state CAUSE, CHANGE
Figure 3: Conceptual Analysis of 4 Verbs