Rolf Noyer: Unaccusatives with special meaning (reply to Martha McGinnis)

[Martha McGinnis]

Martha,
those are good examples!  Here is what I can think of, but some cases are
uncertain and colloquial so I expect some people would not have these
judgments.
--Rolf

1. a. In these unfortunate circumstances, John collapsed. ("had a nervous
breakdown")
    b. ?? In these unfortunate circumstances, stress collapsed John.

2. a.  After the robbery, the three gunmen split ("fled").
    b.  ?? Fear of being captured split the three gunmen.

3. a.  The air grew cold in the evening.
    b.  *The evening grew the air cold.

4. a.  At first Victoria was quiet and calm, but then she exploded. ("raged")
    b.  *Feelings of anger exploded Victoria.

5. a.  The summer passed uneventfully.
    b.  *No noticeable events passed the summer.

5. a.  After he heard the news, Valentinian just flipped. ("lost control,
went crazy")
    b. *The news just flipped Valentinian.

Other cases seem to have ellipsis, at least, the idiomatic reading must
have arisen from the omission of a modifier or complement of some kind.
These cases remind me a little of Levin & Rappoport's "John flossed" cases
-- "his teeth" is a covert object; these are distinct from "Fido bites"--
which is only habitual.

1. a. Regardless of how hard Alice tried to be accepted, she found that she
just didn't rate.  ("wasn't esteemed highly enough")
    b. ?? Regardless of how hard Alice tried to be accepted, the others
didn't rate her.

2. a. I'm afraid that in this hot weather this chicken salad will never
keep. ("will spoil")
    b. ?? I'm afraid that this hot weather will never keep this chicken salad.

3. a. After three hours in the sun, the chicken salad has surely turned.
("spoiled")
    b. ?? After three hours, {the sun's rays/bacteria} have clearly turned
the chicken salad.

4. a. During the mating ritual, when the male animal wants to display
itself to the female, it is said to "be presenting."
    b. ?? The mating ritual "is presenting" the male animal to the female.

There are also may be cases of unaccusatives which have idiomatic readings
with particles or prepositions where the corresponding causative has no
such idiomatic reading. I haven't thought about what these might tell us.

1. a. Instead of providing practical advice, the counsellor just told
Gawain to hang in there.
    b. *The counsellor tried to hang Gawain in there, instead of giving him
practical advice.

2. a. Instead of listening to the lecture, the student just tuned out.
    b. ?? The lecture was so boring it tuned the student out. (cf. "The
student tuned the noise out."

3. a. When a teacher is ill, the main office finds a substitute to fill in
for the day.
    b. ?? When a teacher is ill, the main office {fills in a
substitute/fills a substitute in} for the day (cf. perhaps: "fill in a
form", but note also "fill in for" purely intransitive).

4. a. The gunmen raided a convenience store, then took off ("fled").
    b. Fear of being captured took off the gunmen.

In some cases one has the sense that we are dealing with "two" verbs,
whatever that means:

5. a. Despite great odds, Marcia at last succeeded.
    b. Marcia succeeded Fritz as president of the club.

This may hold true of (4) "took off", etc.  But I find it hard to
understand what "two verbs" means in DM.  Must think more.