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Description:
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This work addresses issues of the interface between the lexical
specification of verbs and the level of Morpho-syntactic structure and
verbal Aspect. The main claim is that the properties of constructions are
largely predictable from the semantic properties of the head verb. This
claim also extends to predictions concerning the aspectual properties of
constructions. The languages on which this study is based include Germanic
(English, Norwegian and German) and Slavic (Bulgarian and Russian). The
analysis is carried out within a framework of grammar called 'The Sign
Model', currently under development. The discussion focuses on a number of
aspectual processes attested cross-linguistically and the problems they
pose for a unified treatment. In the course of presentation an illustration
is given of the systematic interrelation between the morpho-syntactic
realization of constructions and their aspectual properties. While
providing a discussion of the relevant existing proposals for the treatment
of Aspect (Aspectuality) in view of the syntactic properties of
constructions, the work also indicates a system geared towards a unified
analysis. A considerable part of the book is devoted to the implementation
of the Sign Model to the analysis of passive constructions based on a
notional definition of PASSIVE. A number of construction types
cross-linguistically are matched against this definition, such as middles
in English, impersonals in Germanic, and the Bulgarian constructions
involving the reflexive clitic se. An attempt is made at defining the
constraints for each of the above construction types which arise from the
lexical specification of the head verbs. The book also includes a proposal
concerning the aspectual properties of passives and the role palyed by
passive morphology in aspect construal.
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