On the argument structure of phrasal predicates in Kalam and other languages of the Trans New Guinea family

Andrew Pawley, The Australia National University

Phrasal predicates are problematic for models of language that assume a neat division of labour between lexicon and syntax. On the one hand, certain phrasal predicates have many of the properties of a lexical unit, taking the argument structure of a simple predicate. On the other hand, syntactically their constituents function separately. This paper will examine the argument structure and phrase structure of phrasal predicates in Kalam, a typical language of the Trans New Guinea family, with a briefer look at comparable material in related languages.

Kalam has a small, closed class of verb roots but has several productive types of phrasal predicates, of which two broad types, serial verb constructions (SVCs) and verb adjunct constructions (VACs), will be discussed. There are some difficulties in assigning a functional argument structure ('Subject', 'Direct Object', etc.) to certain verb adjunct constructions, where one of the predicate constituents, the verb adjunct, has claims to be an argument, and where no constituent is a canonical subject or object. In both SVCs and VACs we find a family of constructions whose members superficially look alike but which on closer analysis turn out to be diverse in their semantic role structure and in some cases fuzzy in their functional argument structure. This situation reflects the general principle of constructional economy: faced with the problem that there is more semantics than there is syntax, language users economise by using relatively few formal constructions to express a very large variety of semantic relations. The merits of a lexicalist vs. a construction-based treatment of the argument structures of these types of phrasal predicate will be assessed.