Constraints on English middle structuresa Lexical-Constructional analysis

  1. Cortés Rodríguez, Francisco José
  2. Mairal Usón, Ricardo
Journal:
Onomázein: Revista de lingüística, filología y traducción de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

ISSN: 0717-1285 0718-5758

Year of publication: 2013

Issue: 27

Pages: 220-240

Type: Article

More publications in: Onomázein: Revista de lingüística, filología y traducción de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of English middle structures within the framework of the Lexical Constructional Model (LCM), which proposes a central module, the level 1 or argument module, consisting of elements of syntactically relevant semantic interpretation based on the interaction between lexical and constructional templates. Hence, the first task will be to explain the constructional template corresponding to middle sentences in English by means of the metalanguage proposed in the model. Nevertheless, and following some of the more recent and still programmatic proposals (cf. Cortés and Sosa, 2008; Mairal and Ruiz de Mendoza, 2008; Cortés, 2009), the Middle Template will also include its corresponding qualia features, following Pustejovsky´s (1995) semantic theory. This extended system of representation will allow us to give a principled account of the semantic (in)compatibility between lexical elements (predicates and arguments) and the middle construction.