Extract

This book is concerned with detailed formal semantic and syntactic analyses of applicative arguments in German and English. These arguments are typically defined as nominal constituents not selected by the lexical verb or a preposition of the sentence they appear in. In other words, they seemingly increase (or reflect an increase of) the verb’s valency. One of my goals is to provide an overview of different types of applicative arguments found in German and English and to provide formal tests and characteristics that differentiate the types. In (1), an example of each identified type is given: part-whole applicatives (1a, German), true benefactives (1b, German), recipient benefactives (1c, English), affected experiencers (1d, German and English), ethical applicatives (1e, German), subject co-referential applicatives (1f, German and English), and Datives of Inaction (1g, German).



Each of these types will be described in detail to unambiguously identify and characterize that type. This is important because the different types often seem identical on first glance, especially in German.

Applicative arguments are not a new phenomenon. Abraham (1973) was one of the first researchers who tried to differentiate German applicative arguments based on their syntactic behavior. Before that, they were typically classified based on their meaning alone. Given the framework Abraham was working in, ← 11 | 12 → his classifications are not adequate anymore. A re-evaluation of the types of applicative arguments in German is necessary.