LINGUIST List 17.1068

Mon Apr 10 2006

Qs: Detransitivised Causative, etc.; Appraisal Theory

Editor for this issue: James Rider <riderlinguistlist.org>

Directory         1.    Andrew McIntyre, Detransitivised Causative, Passive, 'become'
         2.    Heba Bakry, Appraisal Theory and 'Recommendation Letters'
Message 1: Detransitivised Causative, Passive, 'become'
Date: 10-Apr-2006
From: Andrew McIntyre <ajmciweb.de>
Subject: Detransitivised Causative, Passive, 'become'


Dear Linguists,

I am looking for expressions (in any language) which fulfill ALL of conditions A, B and C below.

A. The expression has either (or both) of the following functions: i. it means something like 'become' ii. it can be used in forming a passive construction

B. The expression is derived from a verb meaning something like 'cause, make' by means of marking associated with detransitivisation, passive, middle/mediopassive, or reflexivity, or by means of absence of a marker normally required for transitive verbs.

C. The expression is not a trivial passive or reflexive of 'cause/make', i.e. the verb meaning 'cause/make' is not necessarily interpreted as having a causer/agent argument (whether implicit or identical to another nominal in the sentence).

To illustrate what I'm looking for, here are some concrete examples:

The passive reading of French 'se faire': (1) L'arbre s'est fait couper (Google) the.tree REFL-PERF caused cut.down 'The tree got cut down.' This is relevant because the tree didn't cause itself to get cut down. Labelle (2002) gives similar examples.

The following Old Norse example (Miller 1993:212f) might be relevant: (2) hon ger-i-sk blid vid hann she make-PRES.3.S-REFL affectionate with him 'She became affectionate with him.'

Here 'sk' is glossed as a reflexive, but it's a nascent passive/middle affix. (2) is relevant to my query if neither the subject referent nor anybody else necessarily causes her to become affectionate, but not if the sentence is more accurately glossed by 'she made herself affectionate' or 'she was made affectionate'.

Perhaps Latin specialists could comment on whether 'fieri' provides relevant examples.

Background to my query: Certain uses of English 'get', if analysed in a particular way, would also be instances of what I have in mind. I am currently experimenting with such an analysis, and would like to see whether there is relevant evidence outside English.

References Labelle, Marie. 2002. The French non canonical passive in se faire; www.wata-net.com/proceedings/MarieLabelle/Labelle.pdf ) Miller, D. Gary. 1993. Complex Verb Formation. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Thanks, Andrew

*********************************************** Dr. Andrew McIntyre www.uni-leipzig.de/~angling/mcintyre

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics Syntax
Message 2: Appraisal Theory and 'Recommendation Letters'
Date: 10-Apr-2006
From: Heba Bakry <hbakrygmail.com>
Subject: Appraisal Theory and 'Recommendation Letters'



I am a scholar , and was wondering if there are any studies or literature on ''recommendation letters'' as application of the appraisal theory.

Thanks, and best regards.

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis Pragmatics Sociolinguistics