Verb-Complementation

The current paper investigates the plausibility of the claim that the complementation patterns of an adjective can resemble that of a verb as well as its compliance with the rules of Present-Day English. The results of the research suggest that, as long noted in the case with verbs, the gerund complement is diff using over the to-infinitive in regressive contexts. The study also reveals additional factors which might influence a speaker's choice of the respective complement type.

This monograph (co-authored with prof. Mukhadin Kumakhov) is a study of complementation in Kabardian, a language belonging to the West Caucasian group. For the first time subordinate clauses in Kabardian are analysed in the framework of a semantically based classification of matrix predicates and selected types of complement predicates. Various types of nonfinite forms occur as complement predicates, such as participles, gerunds, infinitiives and masdars. Among other phenomena investigated in relation to complementation are negation, interrogative, causative, imperative and coordinative constructions. Of particular interest is the case marking of subjects and objects as well as their coreferential relations in complementation. The introductory part of the monograph includes a sketch of the grammar of Kabardian. —————

В книге рассматриваются дополнительные конструкции в кабардинском языке. Впервые в абхазо-адыгском языкознании дополнительные конструкции анализируются с опорой на семантические основания. Выделяются классы главных предикатов и типы зависимых предикатов, исследуются из семантические, синтаксические и морфологические взаимоотношения. В качестве зависимых предикатов выступают инфинитные образования (причастие, герундий, инфинитив, масдар и др.). Исследуются негативные, вопросительные, императивные, координационные, каузативные, потенциальные и аористные предложения в связи с дополнительными конструкциями. Особое внимание уделяется оформлению падежей субъекта и объекта и их координационными отношениями в дополнительной конструкции. Книга включает вводную часть, где даются общие сведения о кабардинском языке.

Old English verbs exhibit enormous variability as far as their complementation frames are concerned. This variability concerns not only the available object types but also their number; to the effect that one and the same verb may appear with two objects, one object or even without an object at all. The category of the objects may differ as well, i.e. an object may be expressed by means of NPs, PPs or clauses. The variability also affects the choice of a particular type of object so that an NP may appear in the ACC, GEN or DAT Case, prepositions may also differ and as far as the clause is concerned, it can either be finite or non-finite. Clearly, this range of variability is not exhibited by all OE verbs but it has to be emphasised that the majority of OE verbs are characterised by dynamic complementation patterns. In this paper we intend to show that this dynamicity, inherent in OE complementation, is not captured by the existing classifications of OE verbs and thereby indicate a need for a new classification. A set of desiderata for a new typology will be formulated in the paper. For the sake of clarity, the properties of OE verbal complementation will be illustrated here with a single verb swerian ‘to swear (an oath)’ but the conclusions presented in the paper are consistent with the findings following from a research on a much larger scale.

The current paper investigates the plausibility of the claim that the complementation patterns of an adjective can resemble that of a verb as well as its compliance with the rules of Present-Day English. The results of the research suggest that, as long noted in the case with verbs, the gerund complement is diff using over the to-infinitive in regressive contexts. The study also reveals additional factors which might infl uence a speaker’s choice of the respective complement type.

The objective of the paper is to show that the available complementation patterns of OE verbs do not, pace Visser (1963-73), constitute a haphazard set. In the course of the paper it will be shown that the system of ditransitive complementation in OE comprises a set of predictable combinations of the available object types. Moreover, individual OE verbs tens to appear in more that one complementation patter and the patterns are, as we will show, to some extent predictable. The observed predictability is limited to a certain type of regularities, while the other properties are inherently idiosyncratic and this dichotomy should be reflected in a classificatory system of OE verbs to the effect that what is genuinely predictable should be eliminated from the typology. The idiosyncratic properties of verbal complementation, however, tend to occur in clusters, hence some predictability is also inherent in the, and it should be encoded in classifications in a maximally economical way. It seems, however, that the existing classifications of OE verbs neither take into account the variability, nor do they acknowledge the predictability. As a result, they do not capture the genuine nature of the system of OE verbal rection.

Selon les modèles et théories adoptés, la complémentation en tant que concept peut prendre des formes très diverses. Ainsi la notion de complément et celle d’argument ne renvoient pas forcément aux mêmes réalités linguistiques même si, sous plusieurs aspects, elles présentent des similitudes qui permettent de considérer la structure argumentale d’un prédicat et l’analyse d’un verbe en termes de compléments comme deux formes d’analyse d’un même phénomène, à savoir celui de complémentation. Notre objectif sera d’étudier quelques phénomènes liés à la complémentation de l’adverbe de manière. Nous analyserons un ensemble de phrases simples, françaises et polonaises, construites selon le schéma N V Adv Ω où l’Adv est un adverbe de manière, en vue de répondre à une série de questions qui méritent selon nous d’être rediscutées : le verbe et l’adverbe sont-ils en relation de complémentation bidirectionnelle ou de modification qualificative comparable à celle qui noue l’adjectif au substantif déterminé ? L’adverbe est-il un argument du verbe au même titre que les expressions en position de sujet et de complément ? L’adverbe peut-il, selon les emplois, assumer le rôle du prédicat principal dont dépendent, sémantiquement et syntaxiquement, les noms en position de sujet, d’objet direct... bref en position de compléments ? Si c’est ainsi, à quoi se résume la fonction que joue le verbe dans de tels énoncés ? Il n’est pas injustifié de dire que le verbe et l’adverbe sont en concurrence pour ce qui est des rôles que ces deux unités assument dans la structure prédicative des propositions construites selon le schéma N V ADV Ω.