The lexical representation of English verbs of action. Complex predicates and structures

Abstract

<p>This article aims at proposing a lexical representation for a set of English verbs of action. The analysis is carried out on the grounds of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) and includes aspects like <em>Aktionsart </em>type, macrorole and syntactic function assignment, linking, as well as nexus and juncture. Against this background, the meaning components of the verbs in question are analysed, in such a way that a logical structure based on a lexical representation is defined for each verbal class. Conclusions fall on both the descriptive and the theoretical side. From the descriptive point of view, <em>Fail </em>and <em>Try </em>verbs constitute a unified verbal class as regards their meaning components and grammatical behaviour and, thus, they are represented by means of a unified logical structure. Conversely, <em>Prevent </em>verbs and <em>Forbid </em>verbs require different logical structures that account for their divergent grammatical behaviour, corresponding to the Causative Activity and Causative Achievement <em>Aktionsart </em>types respectively. On the theoretical side, the logical structures of <em>End </em>verbs, <em>Fail </em>verbs, <em>Try </em>verbs and <em>Prevent </em>verbs stick to the canonical representations of RRG, while those of <em>Hinder </em>verbs and <em>Refrain </em>verbs require complex predicates and complex logical structures which allow to incorporate extra meaning components and to combine different <em>Aktionsart </em>types.</p>