Voice and Applicative Derivations

@cite{kratzer-1996} @cite{pylkknen-2008} @cite{schfer-2008} @cite{cuervo-2003}

Classic examples testing the Voice/Appl heads in Minimalist derivations.

Derivations

1. Transitive: "John broke the vase" VoiceP [Voice_AG [vP [VP V DP]]] → Agentive Voice introduces the agent

2. Anticausative: "The vase broke" VoiceP [Voice_∅ [vP [VP V]]] → Non-thematic Voice: no agent, SE marks absent external arg

3. Unaccusative: "The ship sank" VoiceP [Voice_∅ [vP_GO [vP_BE [VP V]]]] → Inchoative structure, no external argument

4. Ditransitive with low applicative: "John sent Mary a letter" VoiceP [Voice_AG [vP [ApplP [Appl_low DP_goal [VP V DP_theme]]]]]

5. High applicative (benefactive): "John baked Mary a cake" VoiceP [Voice_AG [ApplP [Appl_high DP_benef [vP [VP V DP_theme]]]]]

structure Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.VoiceApplDerivation : Type

A simplified derivation record for testing Voice/Appl structure. Tracks which heads are present and their properties.

TODO: Replace with real SyntacticObject trees once the feature system on SimpleLI can encode sub-eventive heads (vDO/vGO/vBE). Currently these all map to Cat.v, losing the event-structural distinctions that drive inchoative/causative predictions.

• voice : Option VoiceHead

  Voice head (if present)

• appl : Option ApplType

  Applicative type (if present)

• verbHeads : List VerbHead

  Event-structural heads

• hasExternalArg : Bool

  External argument present?

• hasAppliedArg : Bool

  Applied argument present?

• hasTheme : Bool

  Theme argument present?

instance Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instReprVoiceApplDerivation : Repr VoiceApplDerivation

Equations

• Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instReprVoiceApplDerivation = { reprPrec := Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instReprVoiceApplDerivation.repr }

def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instReprVoiceApplDerivation.repr : VoiceApplDerivation → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

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def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instBEqVoiceApplDerivation.beq : VoiceApplDerivation → VoiceApplDerivation → Bool

Equations

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• Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instBEqVoiceApplDerivation.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false

instance Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instBEqVoiceApplDerivation : BEq VoiceApplDerivation

Equations

• Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instBEqVoiceApplDerivation = { beq := Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.instBEqVoiceApplDerivation.beq }

def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.transitive_break : VoiceApplDerivation

"John broke the vase" — transitive with agentive Voice. [VoiceP John [Voice_AG [vP [VP broke [DP the vase]]]]]

Equations

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def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.anticausative_break : VoiceApplDerivation

"The vase broke" — anticausative with non-thematic Voice. [VoiceP [Voice_∅ [vP_GO [vP_BE [VP broke]]]]] SE marks the non-thematic Voice at PF.

Equations

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def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.unaccusative_sink : VoiceApplDerivation

"The ship sank" — unaccusative (inchoative, no agent). [VoiceP [Voice_∅ [vP_GO [vP_BE [VP sank]]]]]

Equations

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def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.ditransitive_send : VoiceApplDerivation

"John sent Mary a letter" — ditransitive with low applicative. [VoiceP John [Voice_AG [vP [ApplP Mary [Appl_low [VP sent [DP a letter]]]]]]]

Equations

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def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.benefactive_bake : VoiceApplDerivation

"John baked Mary a cake" — high applicative (benefactive). [VoiceP John [Voice_AG [ApplP Mary [Appl_high [vP [VP baked [DP a cake]]]]]]]

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def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.middle_open : VoiceApplDerivation

"The door opened" — unaccusative change-of-state, middle voice. [vP_GO [vP_BE [VP opened]]] (No VoiceP at all — expletive/middle variant)

Equations

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def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.predictsExternalArg (d : VoiceApplDerivation) : Bool

External argument iff agentive/causer Voice.

Equations

• Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.predictsExternalArg d = match d.voice with | some v => v.assignsTheta | none => false

def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.predictsAppliedArg (d : VoiceApplDerivation) : Bool

Applied argument iff Appl head present.

Equations

• Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.predictsAppliedArg d = d.appl.isSome

def Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.isInchoativeDerivation (d : VoiceApplDerivation) : Bool

Inchoative structure iff derivation has vGO ∧ vBE without vDO.

Equations

• Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.isInchoativeDerivation d = Minimalism.isInchoative d.verbHeads

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.transitive_has_external : predictsExternalArg transitive_break = true

Transitive has an external argument (from agentive Voice).

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.anticausative_no_external : predictsExternalArg anticausative_break = false

Anticausative lacks an external argument (non-thematic Voice).

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.unaccusative_no_external : predictsExternalArg unaccusative_sink = false

Unaccusative lacks an external argument.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.ditransitive_has_both : predictsExternalArg ditransitive_send = true ∧ predictsAppliedArg ditransitive_send = true

Ditransitive has both external and applied arguments.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.benefactive_has_applied : predictsAppliedArg benefactive_bake = true

High applicative benefactive has applied argument.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.anticausative_is_inchoative : isInchoativeDerivation anticausative_break = true

Anticausative has inchoative structure.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.transitive_not_inchoative : isInchoativeDerivation transitive_break = false

Transitive is NOT inchoative (has vDO).

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.causative_pair_shared_core : (anticausative_break.verbHeads.all fun (x : VerbHead) => transitive_break.verbHeads.contains x) = true

The causative alternation: transitive and anticausative share the inchoative core but differ in Voice flavor.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.causative_pair_voice_contrast : transitive_break.voice = some voiceAgent ∧ anticausative_break.voice = some voiceAnticausative

The causative pair differs in Voice: agentive vs non-thematic.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.send_is_low_appl : ditransitive_send.appl = some ApplType.low

Low applicative is below VP (recipient/goal).

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.bake_is_high_appl : benefactive_bake.appl = some ApplType.high

High applicative is above VP (benefactive).

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.middle_no_external : predictsExternalArg middle_open = false

Middle voice has no external argument and no semantics.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.agentive_voice_is_phase_head : voiceAgent.phaseHead = true ∧ voiceCauser.phaseHead = true

Agentive Voice corresponds to traditional v* (phase head). isPhaseHead in Phase.lean identifies phases via Cat.v, but in the Kratzer/Schäfer framework, agentive Voice replaces v*. The phaseHead field on VoiceHead tracks this distinction at the feature level.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.nonthematic_voice_not_phase_head : voiceAnticausative.phaseHead = false ∧ voiceMiddle.phaseHead = false

Non-thematic and expletive Voice are NOT phase heads. Only θ-role-assigning Voice heads (agentive, causer) are phases.

theorem Minimalism.Phenomena.VoiceAppl.phase_iff_theta (v : VoiceHead) (h : v = voiceAgent ∨ v = voiceCauser ∨ v = voiceAnticausative ∨ v = voiceMiddle) : v.phaseHead = v.assignsTheta

Phase-head-ness correlates with θ-role assignment: Voice is a phase head iff it assigns a θ-role.