Cover not available
Part of
Current Issues in Syntactic Cartography: A crosslinguistic perspective
Edited by Fuzhen Si and Luigi Rizzi
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 267] 2021
► pp. 217–242

Chapter 10
Towards a cartography of light verbs

| Beijing Language and Culture University
A common goal shared by cartographic studies is “to draw maps as precise and detailed as possible of syntactic configurations” (Cinque & Rizzi 2008). In the past two decades, a great progress has been made in the study of peripheries of different domains such as CP domain, VP domain and DP domain. The “more precise and detailed” cartographic research goal enables us to rethink those projections which believed to be single projections in earlier theoretical models. A rich literature on peripheries have shown that many of these superficial single projections are actually abbreviations of much richer structural zones. For instance, the C layer is split into Topic and Focus components (Rizzi 1997; Rizzi & Bocci 2017) and Topic and Focus themselves are also conceived as Topic “field” and Focus “field” (Benincà & Poletto 2004), encoding different and hierarchically arranged topic elements or focus elements. Similarly, this chapter suggests that “light verb” can also be further analyzed as a “light verb field”, containing several layers of different light verbs, conveying different information. Following this tradition, also in light of Larson (1988, 2014), Harley (2002), and Benincà & Poletto (2004), the present chapter provides a zoom-in/zoom-out mental magnifier for the study of various light verb structures. One major assumption and two subsequent assumptions are proposed: (1) Split light verb hypothesis: from a cartographic point of view, the light verb “v” is not “ONE” head, but an umbrella name of a rather “rich structural” zone, call it “light verb field” or “light verb zone”. (2) About the argument structure, it is proposed that in the complex light verb constructions, the core of the predicate is not composed of one single argument structure, but a chain of several argument structures. (3) Correspondingly, the event structure can also be looked at in more details in these structures: the idea is that in the sentences contain chain argument structures, the event can also be analyzed as a chain of event fragments, following rule-to-rule correspondence principle.
Keywords: split light verb hypothesis, chain argument structures, chain event structures, ‘zoom-in/zoom out’, mental magnifier, light verb field, rule-to-rule correspondence principle
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.About the term “light verb”
    • 2.1LVNs vs. LVBs
    • 2.2Characteristics of “light verb” in Jespersenian sense
    • 2.3Huang’s light verb analysis in Chinese
  • 3.Internal configuration of light verb structures
    • 3.1Observation step 1: Simplex Light Verb Shell Structures
    • 3.2Observation step 2: Complex Light Verb Shell Structures
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 October 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.267.10si
References
D’Alessandro, Roberta, Franco, Irene, & Gallego, Ángel J.
2017 The Verbal Domain. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, Mark
1989 Object sharing in serial verb constructions. Linguistic Inquiry 20: 513–553.Google Scholar
1991 On the relation of serialization to verb extensions. In Serial Verbs: Grammatical, Comparative and Cognitive Approaches [Studies in the Sciences of Language Series 8], Claire Lefebvre (ed.), 79–102. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bamgbose, Ayo
1974 On serial verbs and verbal status. Journal of West African Languages 9:17–48.Google Scholar
1982 Issues in the analysis of serial verb constructions. Journal of West African Languages 12: 3–20.Google Scholar
Beermann, Dorothee, Sahoo, Kalyanamalini & Hellan, Lars
2007 What is ‘argument sharing’? A case study on argument sharing under VP-serialization in Oriya. In Linguistic Theory and South Asian Languages: Essays in Honour of K. A. Jayaseelan [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 102], Josef Bayer, Tanmoy Bhattacharya & M. T. Hany Babu (eds), 15–28. Amsterdam: John Benjamin. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bodomo, Adams
1993 Complex predicates and event structure [University of Trondheim Working Papers in Linguistics 20]. Trondheim: Department of Linguistics, University of Trondheim.Google Scholar
Belletti, Adriana
(ed.) 2004 Structures and Beyond: The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, Vol. 3. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2009 Structures and Strategies. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Benincà, Paola & Poletto, Cecilia
2004 Topic, focus and V2: Defining the CP sublayers. In The Structure of IP and CP:The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, Luigi Rizzi (ed.), 52–75. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Bocci, Giuliano
2004 Contrastive focalization on topics and preverbal subjects in Italian. Rivista di Grammatica Generativa 29: 3–60.Google Scholar
Bruening, Benjamin
2016 Light verbs are just regular verbs. [URL]> (29 January 2021).
Cheng, Lisa Lai-Shen & Huang, C.-T. James
1995 On the argument structure of resultative compounds. In In Honor of William Wang: Interdisciplinary Studies on Language and Language Change, Matthew Chen & Ovid Tzeng (eds), 187–221. Taipei: Pyramid Press.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam
1957 Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1993 A minimalist program for linguistic theory. In The View from Building 20. Essays in Linguistics in Honor of Silvain Bromberger, Ken Hale & Samuel Jay Keyser (eds). Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
1995 The Minimalist Program. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Cinque, Guglielmo
1999 Adverbs and Functional Heads: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2001 Restructuring and the order of aspectual and root modal heads. In Current Studies in Italian Syntax. Essays Offered to Lorenzo Renzi, Guglielmo Cinque & Giampaolo Salvi (eds), 137–155. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
2002a The interaction of passive, causative, and “restructuring” in Romance. In The Syntax of Italian Dialects, Christina Tortora (ed.), 50–66. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2002b A note on ‘restructuring’ and quantifier climbing in French. Linguistic Inquiry 33(4): 617–636. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 Restructuring and Functional Heads: The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, Vol. 4. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
(ed.) 2002c Functional Structure in DP and IP: The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, Vol. 1. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Cinque, Guglielmo & Rizzi, Luigi
2008 The cartography of syntactic structures. STiL-Studies in Linguistics: CISCL Working Papers 2: 42–56.Google Scholar
Collins, Chris
1997 Argument sharing in serial verb constructions. Linguistic Inquiry 28(3): 461–497.Google Scholar
Feng, Shengli
2005 Light verb movement in modern and classical Chinese. Linguistic Science 1: 3–6.Google Scholar
2015 Light-verb syntax between English and classical Chinese. In Chinese Syntax in a Cross-Linguistic Perspective, Audrey Li, Andrew Simpson & Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai (eds), 229–250. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
van Gelderen, Elly
2004 The CP and split CP cross-linguistically: The layer parameter. Word 55(3): 369–403. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hale, Ken & Keyser, Samuel Jay
1991 On the syntax of argument structure. Lexicon Project Working Papers, Center for Cognitive Science, MIT.Google Scholar
1993 On argument structure and the lexical expression of syntactic relations. In The View from Building 20: Essays in Honor of Sylvain Bromberger, Ken Hale & Samuel Jay Keyser (eds), 53–109. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hale, Kenneth & Keyser, Samuel Jay
1997 The limits of argument structure. In Theoretical Issues at the Morphology-Syntax Interface, Amaya Mendikoetxea & Myriam Uribe-Etxebarria (eds), 203–230. Bilbao & Donostia-San Sebastián: Universidad del País Vasco & Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa.Google Scholar
1998 The basic elements of argument structure. In Papers from the UPenn/MIT Roundtable on Argument Structure and Aspect [MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 32], Heidi Harley (ed.), 73–118. Cambridge MA: MITWPL.Google Scholar
Hale, Ken & Keyser, Samuel Jay
2002 Prolegomenon to a Theory of Argument Structure. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harley, Heidi
1995 Subjects, Events and Licensing. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Harley, H.
2002 Possession and the double object construction. In Yearbook of Linguistic Variation 2, Pierre Pica & Johan Rooryck (eds), 31–70. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoekstra, Teun
1999 Auxiliary selection in Dutch. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 17: 67–84.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James
2005 Syntactic analyticity: The other end of the parameter. Lecture notes, 2005 LSA Linguistic Institute, Harvard University and MIT.Google Scholar
Hang, C.-T. James
2008 Ta de laoshi dang de hao. Linguistic Sciences 3: 225–241.Google Scholar
Huang, C.-T. James
2010 Between Semantics and Syntax. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2015 On syntactic analyticity and parametric theory. In Chinese Syntax in a Cross-Linguistic Perspective, Audrey Li, Andrew Simpson & Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai (eds), 1–48. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Jespersen, Otto
1954 A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles. London: George Allen & Unwin and Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaard.Google Scholar
Kayne, Richard S.
1984 Connectedness and Binary Branching. Dordrecht, Neth.: Foris.Google Scholar
Koopman, Hilda & Szabolcsi, Anna
2000 Verbal Complexes. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Larson, K. Richard
1988 On the double object construction. Linguistic Inquiry 21: 589–642.Google Scholar
2014 On Shell Structure. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Fuqiang
2020 A cartographic study of Chinese “you” in “you+VP” construction. Beijing Language and Culture University: PhD dissertation.Google Scholar
Li, Yafei
1990 On V-V compounds in Chinese. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 8:177–207. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, Wenying
2017 Functional Hierarchy of Chinese Spatial PPs. PhD dissertation, BLCU.Google Scholar
Mateu, Jaume
2005 Arguing our way to the Direct Object Restriction. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 8: 55–82.Google Scholar
Méndez, Rodrigo Romero
2005 Spanish light verb constructions: Co-predication with syntactically formed complex predicates. [URL]> (29 January 2021).
Peng, Jiafa & Chao, Sun
2017 Syntactic generation of Chinese intransitive verbal constructions taking oblique objects: The cartographic project of syntactic structures containing different inventories. Journal of Anhui Electrical Engineering Professional Technique College 2: 48–55.Google Scholar
Pollock, Jean-Yves
1989 Verb movement, universal grammar, and the structure of IP. Linguistic Inquiry 20: 365–424.Google Scholar
Radford, Andrew
2000 Syntax: A Minimalist Introduction. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Ramchand, Gillian
2008 Verb Meaning and the Lexicon. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013 The event domain. Workshop on Little v, Leiden University, 25–26 October.
Rizzi, Luigi
1976a Ristrutturazione. Rivista di Grammatica Generativa 1:1–54.Google Scholar
1976b La montee du sujet, le si impersonnel et une règle de restructuration dans la syntaxe italienne. Recherches Linguistiques 4:158–184Google Scholar
1978 A restructuring rule in Italian syntax. In Recent Transformational Studies in European Languages, Samuel Jay Keyser (ed.), pp. 113–158. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press. (Also in Rizzi 1982a).Google Scholar
1981 Nominative marking in Italian infinitives and the nominative island constraint. In Binding and Filtering, Frank Heny (ed.), 129–157. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
1982a Issues in Italian Syntax. Dordrecht: Foris. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1982b Comments on Chomsky’s chapter ‘On the representation of form and function’. In Perspectives on Mental Representation, Jacques Mehler, Edward C. T. Walker & Merrill Garrett (eds), 441–451. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
1997 The fine structure of the left periphery. In Elements of Grammar: A Handbook of Generative Syntax, Liliane Haegeman (ed.), 281–337. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2004 “Locality and Left Periphery.” In Structures and Beyond, edited by Adriana Belletti, 223–251. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
2013 Notes on cartography and further explanation. Probus 25(1): 197–226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2015 Cartography, criteria, and labeling. In Beyond Functional Sequence, Ur Shlonsky (ed.). Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 The left periphery: Cartography, freezing, labelling. In Studies on Syntactic Cartography, Fuzhen Si (ed.). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.Google Scholar
Rizzi, Luigi & Bocci, Giuliano
2017 The left periphery of the clause. Primarily illustrated for Italian. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, 2nd edn, Martin Everaert & Henk C. van Riemsdijk (eds). Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rizzi, Luigi & Cinque, Guglielmo
2016 Functional categories and syntactic theory. Annual Review of Linguistics 2: 139–163. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Samo, Giuseppe
2019 A Criterial Approach to the Cartography of V2. John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Shi, Deming
2018 A cartographic study of right dislocations in Mandarin Chinese. MA thesis, Beijing Language and Culture University.Google Scholar
Si, Fuzhen
2002 Multiple feature checking and its syntactic consequences. PhD dissertation, Beijing Language and Culture University.Google Scholar
2007 Two types of Chinese double object constructions. Paper presented at the Joint Conference of IACL-15/ NACCL-19, Columbia University, New York, 25–27 May.
2012 A comparative study of Chinese and English derivational morphology. Journal of Yili Normal University 3: 98–102.Google Scholar
2015a Possessive relationship in double object constructions. Foreign Language and Literature Research 3: 2–11.Google Scholar
2015b Light verb constructions: A cartographic perspective. Paper presented at the Round Table Conference on Light Verbs, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
2018 A cartographic study on the light verb constructions. Linguistic Research 1: 11–17.Google Scholar
2019 New horizons in syntactic cartographic studies. Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies. No 3: 25–37.Google Scholar
Stepanov, Arthur & Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan
2008 Cartography and licensing of wh-adjuncts: A cross-linguistic perspective. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 26(3): 589–638. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sybesma, Rint
1992 Causatives and Accomplishments: the case of Chinese ba . Leiden University: PhD dissertation.Google Scholar
Tang, Sze-Wing
2019 Hot-cool typology of the sentence-final particles. Foreign Language Teaching and Research 51(5): 643–652.Google Scholar
Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan
2008 Object specificity in Chinese: A view from the v P periphery. The Linguistic Review 25(3): 479–502. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2016 Distributions and interpretations of Chinese inner light verbs and outer light verbs. Linguistic Sciences 4.Google Scholar
2018 High applicatives are not high enough: A cartographic solution. Lingua Sinica 4 (2). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Washio, Ryuichi
2005 Some issues in unaccusativity. Handout of invited speech at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Chinese Linguistic Society of Japan, University of Tsukuba.Google Scholar
Xiong, Zhongru
2017 A cartographic study of Chinese Lian construction. Modern Foreign Languages 4: 439–450.Google Scholar
Yee Fan Tan, Min-Yen Kan & Hang Cui
2006 Extending corpus-based identification of light verb constructions using a supervised learning framework. [URL]> (29 January 2021).
Zhu, Xingfan
2005 Light verbs and the objects-taking phenomenon of Chinese intransitive verbs. Modern Foreign Languages 3.Google Scholar