| This dissertation examines the relationship between verb semantics and sentential semantics, and argues that non-lexically filled argument structure constructions--i.e. form-meaning pairings corresponding to basic sentence types--are required independently of the verbs which instantiate them. That is, it is argued that the constructions themselves, independently of the words in the sentence, carry meaning and specify syntactic structure. The theoretical framework that is adopted is that of Construction Grammar (Fillmore 1985, 1987, 1990; Lakoff 1987; Fillmore, Kay & O'Connor 1988).;Chapter 1 presents an overview and gives arguments for adopting a constructional approach to argument structure. Chapter 2 analyses the nature of verb meaning, the nature of constructional meaning, and the relationship between the two. Constructions are shown to be associated with a family of related senses, much like the polysemy recognized for lexical items. Chapter 3 suggests an account of how to capture relationships among constructions, and generalizations across constructions; an inheritance hierarchy of constructions is posited, and the inheritance links themselves are treated as objects in the system. In chapter 4, the constructional approach to argument structure is compared with other recent accounts, including several lexical rule approaches. Chapter 5 presents an account of the partial productivity of constructions; this work adapts insights from Pinker (1989) into a system without lexical rules.;Chapters 6-9 involve more specific analyses of several English constructions: the ditransitive construction (e.g. Bob faxed him the news), the "caused-motion" construction (e.g. Bob sneezed the napkin off the table), the resultative construction (e.g. He talked himself hoarse.), and the X's way construction (e.g. Bob elbowed his way through the crowd.). |
