Do verbs have argument structure?

I argue that the mainstream view of the lexicon-syntax interface whereby a verb’s lexically specifi ed argument structure is projected as syntactic structure is wrong. Instead, I argue for the neo-constructionist view that what we perceive as the argument structure of the verb is really determined by the syntax, namely by syntactico-semantic frames that are generated independently of verbs and other lexical items. That is, argument structure is not projected from the verb and the verb’s semantic-conceptual properties, but it is rather something that the verb getsby being inserted in a particular syntactico-semantic frame.

Published online: 28 November 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.108.04afa