420 MARY L. NUNES
(68) a. Sherlock'sA investigation uncovered important evidence that
the butler was the murderer.
b. Anderson's A analysis introduced the notion of affectedness
into studies of the English nominal.*^2
Criticism and discussion exemplify nonperformance-object ACTs which can
take a topical A on an accumulated-action reading:
(69) a. Sue'sA criticism was valid.
b. Sam'sA discussion was too long.
Presentation and entrance exemplify ACMs which take neither a PAT nor
an EXP U, but which include an ACT component in their LSs. Both vNs
have an AC-ACT interpretation in the following constructions:
(70) a. Jeff s A presentation was boring.
b. The toreador'sA entrance was dramatic.
Not all ACM vNs have an AC-ACT interpretation (cf. fn. 34). The three-
argument form of entry is such a vN. As with the performance object
ACMs, however, entry is able to incorporate the meaning of the U into the
vN on a result reading. For example, in the constructions given below, entry
is the coded equivalent of the thing entered.
(71) a. The secretary'sA entry was illegible.
b. Joe'sA bank-book entry was undecipherable.
In the absence of the direct argument, some ACHs having a LOC A and a
TH U (cf. the second subset of Type D nominals in Table 1) are likewise
able to take a topical A with result vNs. With them, too, the U is interpre-
tationally incorporated into the vN.^43
(72) a. Jeff 's[oc.A inheritance permitted him to retire at an early age.
b. Justin'sloc:A acquisition was worth millions of dollars.
Clearly, the vN data, represented in Tables 1 and 2 and exemplified in
(59)-(72), strongly suggest the following. In the English vNP, if the U nei
ther occurs as a direct argument, nor is interpretationally included in the
meaning of a result vN, the A is permitted to function topically only if 1) it
is linked to an EXP argument, or 2) if the vN with which it is in a topic-
comment relation has an ACT component in its LS and can take an
accumulated action reading. In particular, the following patterns of LDP-
NParg linking have been noted in the preceding discussion: