Chapter 7
Phrasal Structure and Verb Complementation
Exercise 7.4Verb Subcategorization
Identify the subclass of the verb in each of the sentences in the set, and then write a subcategorization frame for each set.
The train appeared.
Some clouds appeared in the sky.
He appears healthy.
intrans
prep
cop
He seems happy/in a hurry.
She spread the butter.
She spread the butter on the toast.
The news spread quickly.
The water spread to the far corner.
The room smells musty.
The books smell.
He smelled the flowers.
The problem puzzled the detective.
The child is lying on the bed.
The crops are lying dormant now.
He is lying down.
The hunter shot the deer.
The hunter shot the deer in the leg.
The hunter shot at the deer.
The hunter shoots expertly.
The animal growled fiercely.
The dog growled at me.
Joseph remained angry all day.
Only one cookie remains.
He remained in the house.
She is still living.
He lives alone.
He lives in town.
She has lived a good life.
He locked the door.
She locked the jewels in the safe.
This door doesn't lock.
The child ate his dinner.
When do we eat?
He wrote me a letter.
He wrote a letter to me.
He writes well.
He wrote a novel.
The mail has not arrived.
The train arrived at the station.
For each of the following verbs, write sentences exemplifying as many subclasses as you can think of. Then, for each verb, draw up a subcategorization frame.
Example:
| STAND ____ (NP) PP | Jane stood the lamp in the corner. [complex trans] |
| The child stood on the ladder. [prep] |
ANTAGONIZE
HANG
FIND
CRY
GROW
DIE
GIVE
PASS
BECOME
SEND
Using semantic and syntactic tests, decide whether the following contain ditransitive verbs:
Marianne returned the book to me.
The library reserved the book for me.
A friend lent it to me for a day.
Study the following sentences:
She gave the door a push.
We gave the hitch-hiker a ride.
Tammy didn’t give her problems a thought.
Would you consider these sentences to contain ditransitive verbs? Do the direct objects is these sentences have any special semantic quality?
On the basis of the following example sentences, determine what verb subcategory pay belongs to. Consider whether any of the sentences might involve a latent (in)direct object.
We paid the wages to the carpenter.
We paid the carpenter.
We paid the bill.
Will you pay?
SEEM _____ ({AP, PP})
cop
SPREAD _____ (NP) (PP)
trans
complex trans
intrans
prep
SMELL _____ ({AP, NP})
cop
intrans
trans
PUZZLE _____ NP
trans
LIE _____ ({PP, AP})
prep
cop
intrans
SHOOT _____ (NP) (PP)
trans
complex trans
prep
intrans
GROWL _____ (PP)
intrans
prep
REMAIN _____ ({AP, PP})
cop
intrans
prep
LIVE _____ ({NP, AP, PP})
intrans
cop
prep
trans
LOCK _____ (NP (PP))
trans
complex trans
intrans
EAT _____ (NP)
trans
intrans
WRITE _____ (NP ({NP, PP}))
ditrans
ditrans
intrans
trans
ARRIVE _____ (PP)
intrans
prep
| ANTAGONIZE _____ NP | She antagonized him. [trans] |
| FIND_____ NP | We finally found the dog. [trans] |
| GROW_____ ({AP, NP}) |
He grew fat.
He grows roses. [trans] His influence is growing. [intrans] GIVE_____ (NP ({NP, PP})) The professor gave a lecture. [trans] The professor gave the student abook. [ditrans] The professor gave a book to the student. [ditrans] He gives freely. [intrans] |
| BECOME_____ {AP, NP} | Moira became famous/a dean. [cop] |
| HANG_____ (NP) (PP) |
He hung the door. [trans] He hung the picture on thewall. [complex trans] The curtains hang well. [intrans] The picture hangs in the gallery. [prep] |
| CRY_____ ({NP, PP}) |
We all cried. [intrans] He cried real tears. [trans] He cried for help. [prep] |
| DIE_____ (NP) |
She died yesterday. [intrans] She died a rich woman. |
| PASS_____ (NP ({NP, PP})) |
Pass me the salt. [ditrans] Pass the salt to me. [ditrans] I passed the car quickly. [trans] Time passes slowly. [intrans] |
| SEND_____ NP ({NP, PP}) |
He sent his boss the report. [ditrans] He sent the report to his boss. [ditrans] He sent flowers. [trans] |
Semantic test: Is the purported indirect object animate?
Yes, it is the personal pronoun “me” in each case.
Syntactic test: Can “indirect object movement” be performed?
*Marianne returned me the book.
*The library reserved me the book.
*A friend lent me it for a day.
It would appear from the syntactic test that none of the sentences contains a ditransitive verb. However, we must remember that there are restrictions with indirect object movement when pronouns are involved. If we replace “me” and “it” with noun phrases, we get the following results:
*Marianne returned the woman the book.
*The library reserved the woman the book.
A friend lent the woman the book.
Therefore, we conclude that (c) contains a ditransitive verb since it meets both the semantic and the syntactic test.
In many, but not all, cases these sentences allows indirect object movement:
? He gave a tune-up to the engine.
She gave a push to the door.
We gave a ride to the hitch-hiker
Tammy didn’t give a thought to her problems.
But note that the indirect object is often not animate (engine, door, problems). The direct object always expresses an event rather than an object (tune-up, push, ride, thought) and the verb + object construction is often equivalent to a simple verb identical or related in form to the direct object:
He tuned up the engine.
She pushed the door.
*We rode the hitch-hiker.
Tammy didn’t think about his problems.
These collocations have been called “complex/composite predicates”. They are commonly formed with the verbs have (have a bath), take (take a walk), and make (make a decision) as well as give.
In the examples given, the first is ditransitive, the second is transitive, the third is transitive, and the fourth is intransitive. The second sentence would appear to have a latent object, however, since “salary” or “wages” must be understood from context. The third sentence does not appear to have a latent indirect object, since bills need not be paid to someone (though they may be). The fourth sentence does appear to have a latent object since Bert paid is not equivalent to Bert is a payer. Thus, it can be concluded that pay is monotransitive and ditransitive.