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Article published In: Transitivity and Valency: From theory to acquisition
Edited by Georgia Fotiadou and Hélène Vassiliadou
[Lingvisticæ Investigationes 40:1] 2017
► pp. 25–42

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A competition-based analysis of French anticausatives

 | Johns Hopkins University
 | Johns Hopkins University
Published online: 8 December 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/li.40.1.02leg
Abstract
Some long-standing questions surrounding anticausatives in languages like French include whether the morphological marking (presence/absence of se) correlates with interpretational differences and/or different syntax. We examine the three anticausatives classes (optional se, obligatory se, no se) in three aspectual contexts and formulate a generalization whereby a default morphological form (reflexive-/non-reflexive-marked) can be identified for each context, plus an interpretive anti-blocking effect: if the lexicon does not provide the default form then the other form (regardless of morphology) preserves the aspectual interpretation of its transitive source. French anticausative se is tied to lexical aspect (rather than syntax), but the distribution is complex and non-transparent. We argue that the grammar allows bidirectional competition among forms and interpretations and the formalize analysis in Bidirectional OT (Superoptimality).
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Default and antiblocking effects in anticausativization
    • 1.1Completion interpretation
    • 1.2Result state interpretation
    • 1.3Partial completion interpretation
  • 2.A formal account in terms of bidirectional optimization
    • 2.1Ingredients of the analysis
    • 2.2Optimization for completion interpretation
    • 2.3Optimization for partial completion interpretation
    • 2.4Optimization in neutral contexts
  • 3.A brief comparison with (a sample of) alternative analyses
  • Notes
  • References
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