Chapter 5 - Verb Phrases2 Verb Types
Obviously, the Verb Phrase revolves around the head verb, the head being the central
element of any phrase. Not only does the head project its categorial properties to the
phrase, but also by restrictive selection it determines the categorial nature of its
complements. Thematic heads also impose restrictions on arguments by assigning -
roles to them. The arguments of a thematic head, such as a verb, will appear either in
complement or specifier positions according to the principles of -role assignment
detailed in chapter 2. It follows therefore that the lexical properties of individual verbs
will play a large role in determining the structure of particular VPs. We will organise
this central section of this chapter by focussing on different subcategories of verbs,
starting with those that have the simplest lexical specifications.
2.1 Unaccusative verbs
Perhaps the simplest verb type, seen from a lexical perspective, is a group known as
unaccusative verbs. At first sight, these look like simple intransitive verbs, though we
shall see that they are in fact simpler than intransitives (or at least, intransitives are
more complex!). Unaccusatives take one DP argument to which they assign a theme
-role. They may also, optionally in most cases, take a location or path argument
expressed by a PP:
(8) a a letter arrived (in the mail box) (from the tax office)
b the train departed (from the station) (to Helsinki)
c the disease spread (to other towns)
d the table sat in the corner
e the heater stood against the wall
f the gas appeared (from nowhere)
g the snow settled (on the roof)
h the Picts lived in Scotland
i the water ran (down the wall)
These verbs are typically verbs of movement or location. Some of them are
ambiguous, having an unaccusative sense and an agentive sense. For example, the verb
sit can simply mean ‘be situated in a particular location’ (perhaps with a particular
orientation), as in (8d), or it can mean ‘to adopt a posture in which most weight is
supported by the rear end’ as in (9):
(9) Sam sat on the sofa
In this usage, the verb is not unaccusative as it involves an agent argument: only
something which is capable of volitional action can ‘sit’ in this sense, but virtually
anything that is capable of being located can ‘sit’ in the unaccusative sense.
Unaccusative verbs have a certain range of properties by which we can identify
them. One is that they may appear in there sentences, which we have mentioned
several times in the previous chapters. These have a there subject and the theme
argument sits behind the verb (and must be indefinite):