Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in Hungarian

The paper systematically investigates operators in post-head positions within the three constructions referring to states of affairs in Hungarian, that is, within verbal, deverbal nominal and infinitival phrases. Hungarian is well-known to be a language in which all types of operator can be, and ar...

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Main Authors: Judit Farkas, Gábor Alberti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin 2022-12-01
Series:LingBaW
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Online Access:https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/14957
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author Judit Farkas
Gábor Alberti
author_facet Judit Farkas
Gábor Alberti
author_sort Judit Farkas
collection DOAJ
description The paper systematically investigates operators in post-head positions within the three constructions referring to states of affairs in Hungarian, that is, within verbal, deverbal nominal and infinitival phrases. Hungarian is well-known to be a language in which all types of operator can be, and are usually, spelt out in the pre-head zone. However, it has not been discussed in a systematic and comprehensive way earlier whether operators can appear in post-head positions. The paper points out that this is partially possible via a systematic overview of six basic operator types. It also illustrates that while spelling out operators in the pre-head zone results in unambiguous constructions, placing them in post-head positions yields different types of ambiguity. As for the acceptability of scope taking arguments, finite verbal constructions show a black-and-white picture while infinitival and deverbal nominal constructions can be characterized by gray zones in respect of the readiness of arguments to take scope from post-head position. In these “gray zones”, a somewhat speaker-dependent variation can be observed, presumably with underlying microvariation. To represent and interpret our findings, we use Grohmann’s (2000, 2003) phase-theoretic approach with its pragmasemantics-based three Spell-Out domains per cycle.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2450-5188
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spelling doaj-art-919d7f52f226400287dd663996ff820d2025-01-21T05:13:45ZengThe John Paul II Catholic University of LublinLingBaW2450-51882022-12-01810.31743/lingbaw.14957Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in HungarianJudit Farkas0Gábor Alberti1University of PécsUniversity of Pécs The paper systematically investigates operators in post-head positions within the three constructions referring to states of affairs in Hungarian, that is, within verbal, deverbal nominal and infinitival phrases. Hungarian is well-known to be a language in which all types of operator can be, and are usually, spelt out in the pre-head zone. However, it has not been discussed in a systematic and comprehensive way earlier whether operators can appear in post-head positions. The paper points out that this is partially possible via a systematic overview of six basic operator types. It also illustrates that while spelling out operators in the pre-head zone results in unambiguous constructions, placing them in post-head positions yields different types of ambiguity. As for the acceptability of scope taking arguments, finite verbal constructions show a black-and-white picture while infinitival and deverbal nominal constructions can be characterized by gray zones in respect of the readiness of arguments to take scope from post-head position. In these “gray zones”, a somewhat speaker-dependent variation can be observed, presumably with underlying microvariation. To represent and interpret our findings, we use Grohmann’s (2000, 2003) phase-theoretic approach with its pragmasemantics-based three Spell-Out domains per cycle. https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/14957(de-)verbal phrasesHungarianoperatorsSpell-Out positions
spellingShingle Judit Farkas
Gábor Alberti
Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in Hungarian
LingBaW
(de-)verbal phrases
Hungarian
operators
Spell-Out positions
title Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in Hungarian
title_full Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in Hungarian
title_fullStr Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in Hungarian
title_full_unstemmed Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in Hungarian
title_short Spelling out of scope taking arguments in (de-)verbal constructions in Hungarian
title_sort spelling out of scope taking arguments in de verbal constructions in hungarian
topic (de-)verbal phrases
Hungarian
operators
Spell-Out positions
url https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/14957
work_keys_str_mv AT juditfarkas spellingoutofscopetakingargumentsindeverbalconstructionsinhungarian
AT gaboralberti spellingoutofscopetakingargumentsindeverbalconstructionsinhungarian