English causative alternation: A sign-based constructional approach

Linguistic Research 41(3): 475-491. English causative alternation is largely considered to be controlled by the semantic content of a lexical entry. However, clarifying the extent of this belief has been challenging. This paper proposes an SBCG analysis utilizing the feature structures and inheritance hierarchies of HPSG to address these challenges, bypassing the need for inferential conceptual structure or arity operations. Unlike traditional theories where lexical entries directly function as lexemes in syntax, this approach suggests that terminal lexemes inherit constraints from both supertype lexemes and lexical entries. This method avoids issues arising from treating one alternant as the base of derivation and pursues grammatical rigor by model-theoretically defining alternation elements. The possibility of alternation is determined by the unification potential of feature types within a type hierarchy, thereby reconciling the productive aspects of causative alternation with lexical idiosyncrasies. (Kyungpook National University)