ARGUMENT LINKING IN DERIVED NOMINALS 3972.3.2.3 State-verb nominalizations
The final class of nominals whose verb sources are capable of taking both
macroroles is composed of state vNs. At first glance, the vN data appear to
discount RRG's prediction of U > A with this class. That is, while "mental
statives" and the envy subclass can mark only the clausal U (the y argu
ment) with of and cannot mark it with any other preposition, other STA
vNs behave differently. The love subclass can mark the y argument with
either of or for; it can also mark the χ argument with of as long as a for y
immediately follows. The hope and reverence subclasses cannot (for most
speakers) mark the y argument with of, but mark it with for (or toward, in
the case of reverence); they can, as with the love subclass, mark the χ argu
ment with of as long as a for y immediately follows. Schematically, these
differences may be organized as follows.
(32) [of y] only [of/'for y] [of x] if followed by for y [for (of) y]
a) mental sts & envy sbcls
b) love subclass
c) hope & reverence subclasses
These facts are immediately simplified when it is recognized that the of
χ constructions (cf. third column in 32) are possessive in nature. Thus, the
of following the vN head in constructions like those in (33), headed by
members of the love and mental states subclasses, marks a possessor, not a
clausal actor:
(33) a. the love ofJessposs'r for the puppy
b. the desire of the soldierposs'r for a homecooked meal.
For the sake of future discussion, it should be pointed out that these
state-based constructions reflect inalienable possession, in contrast to alien
able possession. In English, post-nominally marked alienable possession is
signaled by the double possessive, the NP of NP's, where both the posses
sive of marker and the genitive 's mark the possessor NP: the book of
John's. Post-nominally occurring possessors of inalienable possessions are
marked only with the possessive of: the windows of the house('s). Where
possessor NPs occur prenominally, of course, the alienable-inalienable con
trast is neutralized: John's book, the house's windows.
As is typical of possessives (regardless of the (in)alienably-possessed
status of the object of possession), the meaning of the constructions in (33)
can be decomposed semantically by paraphrases like "the vN (that/which) χ
has (for y)," exemplified in full clauses below.