Earticle

초록

영어

This paper discusses the status of English ergative verbs. Ergativity is an important area of English syntax, but there have been divergent views on the concept from various linguistic traditions. The term "ergative" is often used in terms of "ergative language", "ergative case", and "ergative verb". In the first part of this paper, some earlier definitions of ergativity will be reviewed. In addition, the main reason for the terminological confusion between "ergative case" and "ergative verb" will be explained. The second part of the paper presents four proposed defining syntactic (and also semantic) properties of English ergative verbs, together with a diagnostic for English ergative verbs. The final section of the paper contains a discussion of the nature of English ergative verbs with regard to the motivation for English speakers to use ergative verbs, different ways of encoding ergative verbs between languages, and the productivity of English ergative verbs and its effect on English grammar.

목차

Abstract
 1. Introductory remark
 2. Definitions of ergativity and terminologies in previous studies
 3. English ergative verbs redefined
  3.1. Initiators and background
  3.2. Defining English ergative afresh : their defining properties and an independent diagnostic
 4. Further remarks on the nature of English ergative verbs
 5. Concluding remarks
 References

저자

• Sangsuk Oh [ Harvard University ]

참고문헌