A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish

The paper compares the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish. It is argued that the two structures are similar as regards argument realization, i.e. in both constructions, the theme argument appears in the structural subject position. The two structures also have a disposi...

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Main Author: Anna Bondaruk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin 2015-12-01
Series:LingBaW
Subjects:
Online Access:https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/5623
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author Anna Bondaruk
author_facet Anna Bondaruk
author_sort Anna Bondaruk
collection DOAJ
description The paper compares the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish. It is argued that the two structures are similar as regards argument realization, i.e. in both constructions, the theme argument appears in the structural subject position. The two structures also have a dispositional meaning in common. However, they show a number of differences. They differ in the presence of a syntactically active agent, their aspectual properties, the availability of episodic interpretations, the obligatory presence of an adverbial modifier, and verb class restrictions. Although these differences seem to argue against a common syntactic derivation for the two structures analysed here, they do not preclude classifying the modal dać się structure as a subtype of the dispositional middle. If middles are seen as a notional category, understood as a special meaning that different grammatical structures can have, along the lines postulated by Condoravdi (1989), then the modal dać się structure can be subsumed under the label of middle. In fact, it is argued that the modal dać się structure represents Type II middles in Ackema and Schoorlemmer’s (2005) typology, and it shows properties typical of lassen-middles in German (Pitteroff 2014).
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spelling doaj-art-931199df0f70487aa9d4c8dce2d8b7a92025-01-21T05:09:19ZengThe John Paul II Catholic University of LublinLingBaW2450-51882015-12-011110.31743/lingbaw.5623A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in PolishAnna Bondaruk0John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin The paper compares the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish. It is argued that the two structures are similar as regards argument realization, i.e. in both constructions, the theme argument appears in the structural subject position. The two structures also have a dispositional meaning in common. However, they show a number of differences. They differ in the presence of a syntactically active agent, their aspectual properties, the availability of episodic interpretations, the obligatory presence of an adverbial modifier, and verb class restrictions. Although these differences seem to argue against a common syntactic derivation for the two structures analysed here, they do not preclude classifying the modal dać się structure as a subtype of the dispositional middle. If middles are seen as a notional category, understood as a special meaning that different grammatical structures can have, along the lines postulated by Condoravdi (1989), then the modal dać się structure can be subsumed under the label of middle. In fact, it is argued that the modal dać się structure represents Type II middles in Ackema and Schoorlemmer’s (2005) typology, and it shows properties typical of lassen-middles in German (Pitteroff 2014). https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/5623dispositional middleslassen-middlesgeneric interpretationdispositional meaning(anti-)causativeimplied agent
spellingShingle Anna Bondaruk
A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish
LingBaW
dispositional middles
lassen-middles
generic interpretation
dispositional meaning
(anti-)causative
implied agent
title A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish
title_full A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish
title_fullStr A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish
title_full_unstemmed A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish
title_short A comparison of the modal dać się structure with the dispositional middle in Polish
title_sort comparison of the modal dac sie structure with the dispositional middle in polish
topic dispositional middles
lassen-middles
generic interpretation
dispositional meaning
(anti-)causative
implied agent
url https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/5623
work_keys_str_mv AT annabondaruk acomparisonofthemodaldacsiestructurewiththedispositionalmiddleinpolish
AT annabondaruk comparisonofthemodaldacsiestructurewiththedispositionalmiddleinpolish