Verb-Particle Constructions in English

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1 Verb-Particle Constructions in English Andrew Thomas In English, there are a variety of interesting syntactic phenomena that occur. One of these is the verb+particle construction, where a verb takes either a complex argument or incorporates a particle to form a complex verb. The particle is often homophonous with a preposition, and for most purposes this is fine, however it has properties that are not consistent with a preposition and in certain cases it is not a preposition at all (i.e. get together, bring back.) It has been demonstrated that the preposition in these constructions does not form a constituent with the verb (Jackendoff, 2002). With that in mind, the Complex Predicate (CP) analysis has the verb and particle as a complex head. This is the primary analysis, others being Small Clause (SC) analysis and the l-syntax analysis, which will all be addressed throughout the course of the paper. Although a particle verb can be intransitive, the transitive verb+particle construction, as seen below, is the focus of this paper. (1) a. They turned in the book b. They turned the book in 1

2 As one can see, in (1a) and (1b) the DP can appear on either side of the particle 1. Potential explanations as to why this is happens are constraints on information structure 2 and weight. For example, a (weak or unstressed) pronoun such as it can only appear in between a verb and a particle. A possible reason for this could be end weight, where the more heavily weighted items appear towards the end of a sentence. There is also empirical evidence against complex DPs (defined as those having an embedded clause) appearing in between a verb and a particle. There have been various theories as to why these phenomena occur; syntactic, thematic or otherwise, but so far there is no true consensus. The aim of this paper is to shed light on such phenomena and attempt to paint an accurate picture of what a successful verb+particle construction analysis in English entails. The common assumption, as seen in the literature from Johnson (1991), as well as Carnie (2013), is that particle verbs are complex predicate constructions. The assumption is that the syntactic structure of the verb+particle construction is as seen in the tree in (2) (2) V V blow Prt up This is a fairly intuitive argument, but the CP analysis is not without its 1 From Wasow and Arnold (2003) we will describe V+Prt+DP as the joined construction and V+DP+Prt as the split construction. 2 This will be addressed later on. 2

3 problems. Before that, however, we will discuss its strengths, of which there are many. First off, it seems natural that the verb and particle would form a unit, or a single lexical item which is what is argued for in CP. The reason that this makes sense is that the meaning of the unit is noncompositional. Rather, the meaning of the particle verb cannot be derived simply from the summation of its parts. Secondly, the fact that a verb-particle construction is a complex head can explain how these verbs undergo a variety of morphological processes 3. (3) a. Mikey s looking up of the reference is a trying affair. 4 b. the dusted off table. This along with gapping phenomena (i.e. one cannot coordinate under the scope of only the verb or particle) is the evidence Johnson provides us for this hypothesis. The syntactic analysis is a little more complicated. Johnson cites Object Shift as the reason the position of the DP varies. Object Shift is a phenomenon in Scandinavian languages in which a structurally case marked DP moves when the verb assigning case to it does, he cites that the obligatory pronoun shift (as in turn it in) is explained by Object Shift but gives little reason as to why Object Shift does it. Regardless of that, the syntactic is analysis is rather simple. The verb is excorporated from the complex head 3 The small clause analysis and l-syntactic analysis also seem to account for these morphological processes, and in reality may better account for the fact that only the verb undergoes morphological processes. With that in mind, this analysis does capture one s intuition of the verb and particle being a single unit. 4 Johnson (1991) 3

4 and moves to head of AgrO, then to head T, and the particle moves to head AgrO, if accusative case is assigned before the verb moves. Reanalyzing this case, since English main verbs doesn t exhibit head movement from V to T, the verb moves from head AgrO to head v. That is the paradigm for the joined construction. In the split construction the DP moves from its base position to SpecVP to SpecAgrOP, to get case and the particle doesn t move (with the verb exhibiting the same movement as the joined construction.) Split construction (CP) vp v V j look DP i AgrOP AgrO the reference t j VP t i V V t i t j Prt up There is a lack of clarity as to why a pronoun is always in the split construction, besides citing empirical evidence from Object Shift that dictates 4

5 the pronoun must be as close to a verb as possible. No mention of information structure or weight is made in this analysis. As mentioned earlier, there are detractors for this analysis. Ramchand and Svenonius (2002) cite the fact that these constructions violate the Righthand Head Rule (RHR) as reasons to throw it out. According to the RHR, the rightmost morpheme in a structure should be taken as the head. This can be expanded as saying the rightmost morpheme supplies the lexical category of the construction. However, we know this to not be the case, as turn in is quite obviously a verb and not a particle. There are alternatives to the CP analysis, though. In the small clause analysis offered by den Dikken (1995) and expanded from Kayne (1985) the particle and the object DP form a constituent. A small-clause is defined as a tenseless, subject-predicate structure. Central to this analysis is the optional (covert) incorporation of the particle into the verb. When the particle incorporates with the verb, the V+Prt construction can assign case to the DP, there is no movement, and we arrive at the joined construction (called re-analysis). However, if the incorporation does not take place then the DP raises to get case. Initial small clause accounts had constraints on relative weight and the extraposition of the DP element out of a paradigmatic split construction. These were refuted due to over-generation. 5

6 Split construction (SC) VP V SC throw DP x SC the trash Prt out t x The syntactic structure of this account is rather interesting. It posits the particle as the head of a SC. For the joined construction, the abstract incorporation takes place and the DP gets case. In the split construction, no such incorporation takes place and the DP moves to SpecSC, where the verb can get case (the reason it needs to move to get case, is that den Dikken assumes particles to be ergative, and cannot assign Case to its complement.) The issue with this is that the Case-assigning mechanism is different between the two constructions, which is obviously not ideal. From this we move on to a more recent alternative of Ramchand and Svenonius. Ramchand and Svenonius (2002) make a thematically oriented argument for the notion of a result phrase. Refuting the previous two alternatives, they approached the issues facing the structure with regard to lexical semantics and syntax (l-syntax.) For example, they cite that particular theta roles need to be checked at certain levels of representation. (4) Throw the dead rat out. 6

7 In the scope of (4), they argue that the dead rat is both the holder of the result (and thus must occupy SpecRP) and the undergoer of the action of throwing. Furthermore, they argue that occupying the specifier position of vp is the initiator, the specifier of VP the undergoer and the specifier of the result phrase the aforementioned holder. From this point, they argue that the verb moves up to head v and that the object DP is base generated in SpecPrtP. Split construction (l-syntax) vp v V f VP hand DP g V the pamphlets t f RP t g R PrtP t g Prt Prt out 7

8 The difference in the order of the verb+particle construction is due to whether or not the verb or particle moves overtly out of the particle phrase 5. If the particle moves out of the particle phrase, then the DP doesn t move and it is argued it moves in LF to occupy SpecRP and SpecVP. In the other case, the particle stays in its base-generated position and the DP moves overtly. The advantages of this are undoubtedly the fact that there is no incorporation or excorporation, however the account, like all the other fails to explain what causes the particle or object DP to move up (or not.) It seems very intuitive that looking at non-syntactic elements would aid us in the explanation of why syntactic ones occur. In Wasow (1997) he states that a verb+particle construction is weightsensitive. With regard to grammatical weight, it is a vague concept but generally noted to increase as the length of a construction or number of clausal arguments embedded in an argument increase 6. This is quite intuitive if we look at the following sentences: (5) a. Roscoe threw up the shawarma he had for dinner last night. b. *Roscoe threw the shawarma he had for dinner last night up. (6) a. Mallory put it out. b. *Mallory put out it. 5 Svenonius says the obligatory nature of this is that there is EPP aspect, i.e. the result phrase is clausal, reminiscent of and no doubt inspired by small clause accounts. 6 Also hypothesized as the number of nodes dominated. 8

9 He goes on to conclude that it is not the weight of any one constituents but the relative weight of the post-verbal constituent with other elements in the sentence that facilitates movement (or lack thereof.) In (5b) the element is not only complex but very long, and feels very unnatural that it would intervene between the verb and particle. A similar process happens in (6b), where the very light DP it seems out of place after the verb+particle construction. Wasow and Arnold (2003) noted that length was the factor 7 that significantly affected ordering, although it was demonstrated that complexity is very highly correlated with length. In addition to that, they also mentioned information structure, which is how information is ordered in a sentence 8 Under the given-new principle, wherein the given elements come earlier in a sentence, a weak pronoun such as it naturally comes earlier in a sentence because it must have a salient antecedent in the current discourse. I find this to be very compelling, and it is grounded in the data from their corpus study. Length and discourse-status both contributed to the ordering of the verb+particle construction. Applying these principles, (6a) is felicitous (and syntactically well-formed) with regards to the given-new principle as well as end weight. In contrast (5a) is felicitous with regard to end weight, less so for the given-new principle, because the shawarma he had for dinner last night is uniquely identifiable (thus not necessarily given), however it is not in focus as is it in (6), so it 7 As opposed to complexity 8 Specifically, with the end goal of emphasizing or topicalizing certain elements. 9

10 is relatively less activated than it (Birner, 2013). In further examinations of this topic it may be informative to compare not only discourse status but the position of DPs that are more or less activated than others and examine whether or not this corresponds to the theories of verb+particle constructions and information structure. Though only an overview, I feel like I have demonstrated a few key tenets of verb+particle constructions. From the demonstrated weight and information structure constraints to the fact that all analyses involve some predication and case acquisition, there are certain things that must be included in any successful analysis of verb+particle constructions, and various phenomena must be explained. It is evident from all we have looked at that in some situations there are optional movements but no proposal necessarily predicts why the correct structure appears in every scenario. Particularly problematic is the movement of the weak pronoun. In the all analysies shown there are scenarios in which the model correctly predicts the S-Structure. These explanations are not particularly well-motivated because although they predict that a weak pronoun must move is obligatory, the situations in which this occurs do not seem to select for the fact the DP is a weak pronoun versus a full DP (with determiner.) For example, in the CP analysis, the DP does not move if accusative case is assigned before the verb moves. What motivates the accusative case to be assigned before the verb moves, and why is it obligatory for weak pronouns? 10

11 Parallel to this, in the SC analysis we have the optional incorporation of the particle and verb which leaves the construction in the joined (default) case. But why does the particle not incorporate with the verb in the case that the DP is a weak pronoun? The l-syntactic analysis in addition does not mention why the particle as opposed to the DP raises overtly. That is where we must look at non-syntactic principles, such as information structure and end weight to account for these phenomena (including the unacceptability of sufficiently weighted DPs in split constructions.) These added constraints would not necessarily disallow the joined or split construction but would render certain constructions, such as a joined construction with a weak pronoun as well as a split construction with a complex DP, less viable, depending on the weight of the item, and/or how new the information is. It is my opinion that some form of an optimality or game theoretic approach would properly account for the non-binary felicitousness 9 (or syntactic well-formedness) of these constructions. It seems plain to me that we must use all the tools in the linguistic arsenal to account for what has been hailed as the embodiment of the genius of the English language. 9 What I mean by this is that certain awkward constructions are permitted. For example, if one were to stress it in (6b), this could render the construction grammatical. Also, one could conceivably utter (5b) and be understood (apart from being shot strange looks.) The point is, there is no clear delineation of what is acceptable and what is not, because stress and length are on continuous scales. 11

12 References Birner, B. (2013). Pragmatics. Wiley-Blackwell. Carnie, A. (2013). Syntax: A Generative Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. den Dikken, M. (1995). Particles: On the Syntax of the Verb-Particle, Triadic, and Causative Constructions. Oxford University Press. Jackendoff, R. (2002). English particle constructions, the lexicon, and the autonomy of syntax. In Verb-Particle Constructions. Mouton de Gruyter. Johnson, K. (1991). Object positions. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 9: McIntyre, A. (2012). English particle verbs as complex heads: Evidence from nominalization. In H. Hrtl (Ed), Interfaces of Morphology. Ramchand, G. and Svenonius, P. (2002). The lexical syntax and lexical semantics of the verb-particle construction. Proceedings of WCCFL 21. Wasow, T. (1997). Remarks on grammatical weight. Language Variation and Change, 9: Wasow, T. and Arnold, J. (2003). Post-verbal constituent ordering in english. In Rohdenburg G. and Mondorf B. (Eds), Determinants of Grammatical Variation in English, pages

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