Verbal Decomposition #
@cite{cuervo-2003} @cite{wood-2015} @cite{pylkkanen-2008}
Sub-eventive verb heads that decompose verbal structure into fine-grained event components. Following @cite{wood-2015} and @cite{pylkkanen-2008}, CAUSE is an independent head — separate from both Voice (which introduces the external argument) and the root-determined event structure (vGO, vBE).
Key decompositions:
- State: [vBE]
- Activity: [vDO]
- Inchoative: [vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (anticausative: "the door opened")
- Causative: [vDO, vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (transitive: "John opened the door")
Voice contributes vDO (the agent's activity); CAUSE is part of the root structure, present in both causative and anticausative alternants.
Independent of applicative heads — used by Fission, EventStructureBridge, and the Spanish fragment.
Sub-eventive verb heads from @cite{cuervo-2003}, extended with vCAUSE following @cite{wood-2015} and @cite{pylkkanen-2008}.
- vDO: Dynamic subevent where an agent does something
- vCAUSE: Causal relation between subevents (independent head; present in both causative and anticausative alternants)
- vGO: Dynamic subevent of change (inchoative component)
- vBE: Stative subevent of result state
Instances For
Equations
- Minimalism.instBEqVerbHead.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)
Instances For
Equations
Equations
- Minimalism.instReprVerbHead = { reprPrec := Minimalism.instReprVerbHead.repr }
Equations
- Minimalism.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalism.VerbHead.vDO prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalism.VerbHead.vDO")).group prec✝
- Minimalism.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalism.VerbHead.vCAUSE prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalism.VerbHead.vCAUSE")).group prec✝
- Minimalism.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalism.VerbHead.vGO prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalism.VerbHead.vGO")).group prec✝
- Minimalism.instReprVerbHead.repr Minimalism.VerbHead.vBE prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Minimalism.VerbHead.vBE")).group prec✝
Instances For
A verb's event-structural decomposition as a list of VerbHeads.
Key patterns:
- State: [vBE]
- Activity: [vDO]
- Inchoative: [vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (anticausative: "the door opened")
- Causative: [vDO, vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] (transitive: "John opened the door")
Equations
- Minimalism.isInchoative heads = (heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vGO && heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vBE && !heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vDO)
Instances For
Is this a causative (external cause + change + result)?
Equations
- Minimalism.isCausative heads = (heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vDO && heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vGO && heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vBE)
Instances For
Is this a simple state (vBE only)?
Equations
- Minimalism.isState heads = (heads == [Minimalism.VerbHead.vBE])
Instances For
Is this a simple activity (vDO only)?
Equations
- Minimalism.isActivity heads = (heads == [Minimalism.VerbHead.vDO])
Instances For
Does this decomposition contain a CAUSE head?
Equations
- Minimalism.hasCause heads = heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vCAUSE
Instances For
Is this an anticausative (CAUSE present, but no external agent)? Anticausatives have the causal structure but lack an agentive vDO. This is the key insight from @cite{wood-2015}: CAUSE is independent of Voice, so it can appear without an agent.
Equations
- Minimalism.isAnticausative heads = (Minimalism.hasCause heads && heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vGO && !heads.contains Minimalism.VerbHead.vDO)
Instances For
Inchoative = change + result, no external cause.
Inchoative with CAUSE: [vCAUSE, vGO, vBE] is still inchoative (no vDO).
Causative = external cause + change + result.
Causative with CAUSE head.
Inchoative is NOT causative (no vDO).
Causative is NOT inchoative (has vDO).
A pure state is neither inchoative nor causative.
An activity is neither inchoative nor causative.
Anticausative = CAUSE + change, no agent.
Causative with vDO is NOT anticausative.