Constraining argument structure in nominalizations: The case of English -'er'
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Andrew McIntyre [1]
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[1] Humboldt-Universität, Berlin
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- Localización: Lingua: International review of general linguistics, ISSN 0024-3841, Nº 141, 2014, págs. 121-138
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
The article contributes to the typology of structural factors constraining argument realization in nominalizations, focussing on English –er-nominals. It reappraises conclusions of earlier studies on when –er-nominals allow argument realization. Derivations disallowing argument linking are treated as semantically and structurally parallel to nominal compounds, and their argument-structural behaviour is attributed to a generalization that non-heads of base-generated complex heads cannot realize arguments, with principled exceptions. In argument-realizing –er-nominals, some speakers allow the full range of argument structures permitted by head movement analyses, while less liberal varieties require a (lexicalist-inspired but syntactically implemented) analysis where –er is an Agent-realizing affix that selects V°, forcing arguments of V to merge above affixation as arguments of nouns, which is only possible for PP and of-insertion arguments
