Article published In: French Syntax in Contrast
Edited by Karen Lahousse, Béatrice Lamiroy and Kristel Van Goethem
[Lingvisticæ Investigationes 33:2] 2010
► pp. 253–266
Il pleut des idées reçues
NP expansions of weather verbs
Published online: 3 December 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/li.33.2.08pay
https://doi.org/10.1075/li.33.2.08pay
This article reassesses N. Ruwet’s (1988) attribution of the label “unaccusative” to weather verbs across the board. Through a cross-linguistic analysis of NP expansions (in French, English and Russian), we argue that only metaphorically used French weather verbs and English weather verbs in personal constructions, followed by a directional particle or a PP, behave as genuine unaccusatives and can have their NP expansions qualify as internal arguments. All other NPs of weather verbs function rather as adverbial adjuncts, modifying the meteorological predicate. Moreover, our study shows that unlike a widely accepted belief, the class of weather verbs is far from being homogeneous.
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2021. Vietnamese expletive between grammatical subject and subjectivity
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