This thesis is about the structure of prefixed verbs in Slavic and the
syntax of resultative secondary predication. The topic is explored through
four case studies of different prefixed-verb constructions (Slovenian
na-laufati se [on-run self] 'get one’s fill of running', Slovenian/Russian
na-brati/na-brat' [on-gather] 'gather a quantity of', Slovenian pre-sedeti
[through-sit] and Russian pro-sidet' [through-sit] 'spend time sitting').
The discussion is cast against the often hypothesized distinction between
VP-internal/resultative and VP-external prefixes, for which all four
constructions present a puzzle. For example, some of the prefixes in these
constructions can stack on a verbal base that already contains a
VP-internal/resultative prefix, which is typically considered a diagnostic
of VP-externality. On the other hand, these same prefixes also change the
argument structure of their input, which is the hallmark of resultative
secondary predication.
The thesis argues that the constructions discussed all contain
VP-internal/resultative prefixes. This conclusion opens another puzzle:
when these prefixes stack over another resultative prefix, we have two
resultative prefixes on one verbal root. This appears to go against the
widely-assumed hypothesis that there can be only one resultative secondary
predicate per verb. The thesis reconciles this hypothesis with the
investigated data by proposing that, surface appearances notwithstanding,
the syntactic structure of such doubly-prefixed 'verbs' in fact contains
two VPs, each of which embeds a prefix-headed resultative secondary
predicate; one of the V’s, however, is null. The postulation of two VPs is
supported with various kinds of novel data, including adverbial
modification, aspectual patterning, and the occurrence of two unselected
objects. The two VPs are proposed to be concatenated in a manner similar to
one that has been proposed for some serial verb constructions, in a
conjunction-like structure under a single Tense node.
The results of the thesis have consequences for the general theory of
resultative secondary predication, for the theory of null verbs, and for
the often hypothesized distinction between VP-internal/resultative and
VP-external prefixation in Slavic.
|
E-mail this message to a friend
