Secondary Predication in Polish By
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Secondary Predication in Polish By Malgorzata Szajbel-Keck A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Johanna Nichols, Chair Professor Darya Kavitskaya Professor Line Mikkelsen Fall 2015 Abstract Secondary Predication in Polish by Malgorzata Szajbel-Keck Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures University of California, Berkeley Professor Johanna Nichols, Chair This thesis explains how secondary predication is constructed. It focuses on Polish, with some comparisons to other languages, and provides analysis on the syntactic, morphological and semantic level in the paradigm of Minimalism. It starts with a definition of primary and secondary predication, maintaining that only adjuncts are true secondary predicates. This is followed by an introduction of a new phrase type, bipartite, to Polish linguistics – an expression consisting of a preposition and adjective or, sometimes, a noun. It is shown that bipartites are not simply adverbs, for which they have been taken so far, but they can serve in a variety of functions, some of them typical for adjectives, such as attributive modifier or predicative use. That predicative use, especially in secondary predication, is then in the focus of the rest of this work. The morphosyntactic composition of secondary predication is discussed in detail, showing that lexically secondary predicates involve both adjectives and nouns (to a much lesser extent). Structurally, secondary predicates are divided into bare ones, consisting of an adjective or noun, and prepositional ones, involving bipartites, and thus consisting of a combination of a preposition and adjective or noun. Semantically, secondary predicates can be depictive or resultative. It is also illustrated that although secondary predicates fall into the category of adjuncts, they must be clearly distinguished from adverbials, attributives, interjections and absolutes. The second part of this study concentrates on the syntax of secondary predication. It shows that secondary predicates are best described as small clauses with a predicator serving as Pr head. Three attachment sites are proposed that allow for unambiguous subject and object control, as well as separation of depictives and resultatives from circumstantials. Secondary predicates can both agree and not agree with controlling NPs. Cases are discussed where agreement is obligatory, optional or blocked. In order to account for this variety, two types of Pr head (small clause head) are assumed: the full one blocks agreement and may assign its own case, the defective one allows agreement. The agreement involves both Agree and feature sharing between the controlling NP and secondary predicate. Finally, long distance control of secondary predicates in non-finite constructions and verbal nouns is explained. 1 Additional to dichotomy depictive vs. resultative, a third group, the co-called circumstantials, is identified which differs significantly from the former ones not only in semantics, but also in lexical composition (they are predominantly nominal) and attachment site (inside NP). Keywords: secondary predication, adjective, bipartite, Polish, syntax, small clause, predicator, depictive, resultative 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... v 0. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 0.1. Methodology ........................................................................................................ 5 0.2. Sources of data ..................................................................................................... 5 0.3. What is secondary predication? ............................................................................ 9 0.4. Bipartites ............................................................................................................ 12 0.4.1. Functions ......................................................................................................14 0.4.2. Structure .......................................................................................................18 0.4.3. Derivation ....................................................................................................20 0.4.4. Word or a phrase? ........................................................................................22 0.5. Structure of the dissertation ................................................................................ 24 1. Typology of secondary predication ........................................................................... 26 1.1. Lexical composition ........................................................................................... 26 1.1.1. Nouns ...........................................................................................................26 1.1.2. Adjectives ....................................................................................................30 1.2. Structural composition ....................................................................................... 30 1.2.1. Bare secondary predicates ............................................................................31 1.2.2. Prepositional secondary predicates ..............................................................34 1.3. Semantic composition ........................................................................................ 36 1.3.1. Depictives ....................................................................................................36 1.3.2. Resultatives ..................................................................................................38 1.3.3. Distinguishing between depictives and resultatives ....................................42 1.3.4. Circumstantials ............................................................................................43 1.4. Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 48 2. Structural properties .................................................................................................. 49 2.1. Secondary predicates as adjuncts ....................................................................... 49 2.2. Distinguishing secondary predicates from other sentence parts ........................ 52 2.2.1. Adverbial adjuncts .......................................................................................52 i 2.2.2. Attributives ..................................................................................................54 2.2.3. Interjections and absolute construction ........................................................57 2.3. Modifiers of secondary predicates ..................................................................... 58 2.4. Relation with the controlling NP ........................................................................ 61 2.4.1. Gradation of the controlling capacities ........................................................62 2.4.2. Controllers embedded in a PP ......................................................................64 2.4.3. Bare secondary predicates in finite clauses .................................................65 2.4.3.1. Subject controller ................................................................................. 67 2.4.3.2. Object controller .................................................................................. 69 2.4.4. Bare secondary predicates in non-finite clauses ..........................................72 2.4.4.1. Local control ........................................................................................ 72 2.4.4.2. Non-local control ................................................................................. 74 2.4.5. Prepositional secondary predicates ..............................................................77 2.5. Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 79 3. Syntax ........................................................................................................................ 80 3.1. Theoretical background ...................................................................................... 81 3.2. Small clauses ...................................................................................................... 81 3.3. Small clause adjuncts vs. small clause complements ......................................... 84 3.4. Pr head and predicators ...................................................................................... 88 3.5. Attachment site ................................................................................................... 91 3.5.1. Depictives and resultatives ..........................................................................91 3.5.2. Circumstantials ............................................................................................95 3.6. Subject of PrP ..................................................................................................... 97 3.7. Case marking and φ-feature sharing ...............................................................