Instruments in LFG's Argument-structure

Thesis

This thesis investigates the grammaticality of instruments in English, e.g. John opened the door WITH THE KEY, and why only certain alternations are permitted, cf. THE KEY opened the door, *THE FORK devoured the pasta. The analysis develops an argument-structure system that slots into the architecture of Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG), using Dowty's proto-roles and elements of Croft's causal chains. Chapter 5 introduces a new instrument construction and provides an analysis using the Unaccusativity Hierarchy (Solace (2000)) and elements of lexical aspectual causation.

Authors: Webb, J

• Publication date: 2008
• Type of award: MPhil
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: Oxford University, UK
• Language: English
• Keywords: Argument-structure; Cognitive Linguistics; Instruments; Proto-roles; Lexical Semantics; Unaccusativity; LFG
• Subjects: Linguistics