2019, Vol. 10, No. 4. - go to content...

Permanent address of this page - https://sfk-mn.ru/en/10flsk419.html

Метаданные этой статьи так же доступны на русском языке

Full article in PDF format (file size: 331.4 KB)

For citation:

Baklagova Ju.V. [The formal and functional-semantic features of the predicate-argument structure of the periphrastic causative verb allow in English] World of Science. Series: Sociology, Philology, Cultural Studies, 2019, Vol. 10, No. 4. Available at: https://sfk-mn.ru/PDF/10FLSK419.pdf (in Russian).

The formal and functional-semantic features of the predicate-argument structure of the periphrastic causative verb allow in English

Baklagova Julia Viktorovna
Kuban state university, Krasnodar, Russia
E-mail: liliann@mail.ru

Abstract. The article is devoted to the study of formal and functional-semantic features of the predicate-argument structure of the periphrastic causative verb allow in English. The research is of primary importance due to the lack of the unified theory of causation in linguistics and the scanty range of studies devoted to causative verbs in terms of formal semantics. The scientific novelty is as follows: the predicate-argument analysis of the causative verb allow is carried out for the first time. The author examines the verb allow in two functional meanings – «to let someone do or have something» and «let something happen, allow something to do something». The analysis of the predicate-argument structure is based on the description of two parameters with the involvement of the minimal context. The first parameter includes the description of the set of obligatory arguments (participants) of the causative situation and the detection of the formal features of arguments – the corresponding formal semantic roles which correlate with the communicative relevance of the information in the semantics of the whole sentence. The second parameter is the detection of the taxonomic category which forms the functional-semantic type of the particular causative situation. The author reveals two obligatory arguments in all minimal contexts – causer and causee. The range of semantic roles varies for these arguments: causer can act as an agent, a force, an instrument or a source; causee can act as a patient or counteragent. The analysis showed that the functional-semantic potential of the verb is highly correlated with the taxonomic category. Acting as specific semantic roles in different extralinguistic situations causes the affiliation of the verb with several taxonomic categories: «action», «causative incident with the background causer», «causative incident with the party liable», «process».

Keywords: causative verb; causative situation; predicate-argument structure; taxonomic category; causer; causee; semantic role

Download article in PDF format