Chapter 5 - Verb Phrasesargument structure as the main difference here is to do with the number of arguments.
The other examples in (25) demonstrate that the contribution of the light verb can
affect aspect (do a dance verses dance) and duration (take a look verses look) of an
event.
It seems that these verbs lie somewhere between thematic verbs with a full
descriptive content and functional verbs which play no role in the thematic structure of
the sentence. This is why they are called light verbs as they make a contribution to
thematic and other aspects of semantic structure, though a ‘lighter’ one than fully
thematic main verbs.
In the following cases, the light verbs take verbal complements, but function in a
similar way to the above:
(27) a I made the glass shatter = I shattered the glass
b they got the door shut = they shut the door
c we let the water run = we ran the water
Again in these cases the light verbs do make a contribution to the meaning of the
construction and so the sentences on either side of the equation are not identical.
Interestingly, there seems to be different degrees to which these verbs contribute a
meaning, with make in (27a) contributing very little and let in (27c) far more.
Compare:
(28) a I made the door close
b I let the door close
Only in (28a) could it be said that I closed the door, though in both cases I did
something that resulted in the door becoming closed.
It has become standard in recent years to represent light verbs with a lower case ‘v’
rather than an upper case ‘V’, which is used for fully thematic verbs. We will adopt
this practice here.
What is the structure of the VP containing a light verb? Let us concentrate on the
cases in (27). In these we have the light verb itself with a subject to its left. To the right
we appear to have a VP containing the main verb and its arguments. Suppose we
assume that the main VP is a complement of the light verb. This would give us the
structure:
(29) vP
DP v'
she v VP
made DP V'
the vase V
break
agenttheme