@cite{wood-2015} — Icelandic Morphosyntax and Argument Structure #

@cite{wood-2015} @cite{kratzer-1996} @cite{pylkknen-2008} @cite{schaefer-2008} @cite{cuervo-2003}

@cite{wood-2015} establishes that Icelandic -st (from historical reflexive sik) spells out Voice across MULTIPLE syntactic configurations, not a single "reflexive" or "anticausative" morpheme.

Key Claims Formalized #

Voice–CAUSE independence (Ch. 3): The causal relation is shared across causative and anticausative alternants. Voice contributes only whether an external argument is introduced. (Note: @cite{wood-2015} uses a single v head; the VerbHead decomposition here follows @cite{cuervo-2003}'s notation to model the same independence structurally.)
-st as elsewhere exponent of Voice (Ch. 3, §3.3–3.5): -st spells out non-agentive Voice across anticausative, middle, reflexive, experiencer, inherent, and reciprocal configurations. The morphological uniformity masks syntactic diversity.
Voice parameterization (Ch. 3): @cite{wood-2015}'s Voice_{D} vs Voice_{} distinction (whether Voice projects a specifier) is modeled here using the ±θ/±D grid from @cite{schaefer-2008}.
Applicative interaction (Ch. 5): @cite{wood-2015} shows -st cannot merge in SpecApplP because Appl assigns dative case and -st lacks case features. The high/low Appl interaction theorems below follow @cite{pylkknen-2008} and @cite{schaefer-2008}, not @cite{wood-2015}'s Icelandic-specific analysis (which argues Icelandic lacks true high applicatives).

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.cause_shared_across_alternation :

have causativeDecomp := Minimalism.buildDecomposition Minimalism.voiceAgent Fragments.Icelandic.Predicates.opnast.rootStructure; have anticausativeDecomp := Minimalism.buildDecomposition Minimalism.voiceAnticausative Fragments.Icelandic.Predicates.opnast.rootStructure; Minimalism.hasCause causativeDecomp = true ∧ Minimalism.hasCause anticausativeDecomp = true

The causal relation is shared across causative and anticausative alternants (@cite{wood-2015} Ch. 3). Modeled here using @cite{cuervo-2003}'s VerbHead decomposition: the causative has [vDO, vCAUSE, vGO, vBE]; the anticausative has [vCAUSE, vGO, vBE].

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.opna_alternation :

Minimalism.isCausative (Minimalism.buildDecomposition Minimalism.voiceAgent Fragments.Icelandic.Predicates.opnast.rootStructure) = true ∧ Minimalism.isInchoative (Minimalism.buildDecomposition Minimalism.voiceAnticausative Fragments.Icelandic.Predicates.opnast.rootStructure) = true

The causative alternation for opna/opnast: same root, different Voice.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.st_covers_all_types :

-st spells out Voice across all six construction types. Despite morphological uniformity, the underlying Voice configurations differ in ±θ/±D parameters.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.st_hides_theta_diversity :

have anticVoice := { flavor := Fragments.Icelandic.Predicates.StType.anticausative.voiceFlavor, hasD := true, phaseHead := false }; have midVoice := { flavor := Fragments.Icelandic.Predicates.StType.middle.voiceFlavor, hasD := false, phaseHead := false }; have reflVoice := { flavor := Fragments.Icelandic.Predicates.StType.reflexive.voiceFlavor, hasD := true, phaseHead := true }; anticVoice.assignsTheta = false ∧ midVoice.assignsTheta = false ∧ reflVoice.assignsTheta = true

Despite shared morphology, the Voice configurations differ. Anticausative and middle Voice do NOT assign θ; reflexive does.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.parametric_diversity :

The six -st types occupy distinct cells in the ±θ/±D space (@cite{schaefer-2008}). @cite{wood-2015}'s Voice_{D}/Voice_{} distinction maps approximately to the ±D axis; Voice semantics (Ø vs AGENT) maps to the ±θ axis.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.ethical_blocked_in_middle :

Minimalism.applHigh.licensedWith Minimalism.voiceMiddle = false

High applicatives are blocked when Voice has no event semantics (@cite{pylkknen-2008}, @cite{schaefer-2008}). Note: @cite{wood-2015} Ch. 5 argues Icelandic lacks true high applicatives; the asymmetry formalized here follows the cross-linguistic typology.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.possessive_survives_middle :

Minimalism.applLowRecipient.licensedWith Minimalism.voiceMiddle = true

Low applicatives survive when Voice has no event semantics because they relate to the theme, not the event (@cite{pylkknen-2008}).

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.possessive_survives_anticausative :

Minimalism.applLowRecipient.licensedWith Minimalism.voiceAnticausative = true

In anticausatives, possessive datives also survive.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.ethical_ok_in_active :

Minimalism.applHigh.licensedWith Minimalism.voiceAgent = true

High applicatives ARE licensed with agentive Voice.

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The full asymmetry: high applicatives require Voice with event semantics; low applicatives are independent of Voice (@cite{pylkknen-2008}, @cite{schaefer-2008}).

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.reflexive_predicts_agent :

Minimalism.VoiceFlavor.reflexive.thetaRole = some ThetaRole.agent

Reflexive Voice predicts agent θ-role (agent acts on self).

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.experiencer_predicts_experiencer :

Minimalism.VoiceFlavor.experiencer.thetaRole = some ThetaRole.experiencer

Experiencer Voice predicts experiencer θ-role.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.anticausative_predicts_none :

Minimalism.VoiceFlavor.nonThematic.thetaRole = none

Anticausative Voice predicts no external θ-role.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.middle_predicts_none :

Minimalism.VoiceFlavor.expletive.thetaRole = none

Middle Voice predicts no external θ-role.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.st_blocked_from_specApplP :

Minimalism.applLowRecipient.specCanBearCase false = false ∧ Minimalism.applLowRecipient.specCanBearCase true = true

@cite{wood-2015}'s key applicative claim: -st cannot merge in SpecApplP because Appl assigns dative case and -st lacks case features. This contrasts with SpecVoiceP and SpecpP, where Voice and p do NOT assign case to their specifiers.

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.appl_dative_retained_with_st :

Minimalism.applLowRecipient.licensedWith Minimalism.voiceAnticausative = true

In ditransitive -st alternations, Appl datives are retained because Appl assigns case independently of Voice. Direct object datives (from v) are lost through impoverishment (@cite{wood-2015} Ch. 5, §5.3.1).

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theorem Phenomena.ArgumentStructure.Studies.Wood2015.anticausative_verbs_are_cos :