Resumen de Cognate object constructions: an evaluation of the state of the art
This paper reviews the previous research on cognate object constructions (COCs) by examining the nature and sources of variation in the patterns of argument structure of these constructions across languages. COCs consist of a verb and an element, typically a noun, which share the same root morpheme (e.g. smile a beautiful smile). I examine the main properties of COCs and the different approaches used to analyse these constructions. I also point out the primary areas of controversy and the understudied areas in the research into COCs that I aim to examine in my thesis. Future research will need to (i) collect and analyse data on cognate structures from a wider variety of languages, and (ii) use them as an empirical basis with which to assess current theoretical hypotheses on cognate structures.
