[Lingtyp] Distinction between semantic arguments and semantic adjuncts

[Pier Marco Bertinetto]

The attached PhD may be found relevant to this topic.
Sorry for joining the thread so late. I was on holiday.
Best regards
Pier Marco


Il giorno lun 8 lug 2024 alle ore 03:12 Chao Li via Lingtyp <
lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> ha scritto:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>
> The distinction between argument and adjunct is crucial for many
> linguistic analyses and much linguistic theorizing. However, how to define
> the argument and the adjunct and how to clearly distinguish between the two
> are controversial. Further complicating the issue is the existence of two
> related levels, semantic and (morpho)syntactic (e.g. what is semantically
> considered an argument may be (morpho)syntactically realized as an adjunct,
> as evidenced by passive formation in English). To be clear, this query is
> about the distinction between semantic arguments and semantic adjuncts (or
> semantic non-arguments). Specifically, in the case of verbs like *buy*
> and *sell* and in the context of a business transaction that generally
> involves a buyer, a seller, a transfer of goods, and a transfer of money,
> how many semantic arguments does each verb have, what are they, and what is
> the rationale behind the analysis? Similarly, in the case of *cut*, how
> many semantic arguments does it have and will that include the tool used in
> the cutting too? After all, isn’t the tool a necessary participant of the
> cutting action and how often do we cut something without using any tool?
> Likewise, how many semantic arguments in the case of *bring*?
>
>
>
> Particularly, without looking at the different syntactic frames and
> constructions where these verbs occur or without paying any attention to
> how they are really used, on what (semantic) grounds can we say that
> Participant X is an argument of *buy*, *sell, cut, *or* bring* or that
> Participant Y is an adjunct of the same verb? For colleagues who’d like to
> make a further distinction between core arguments and peripheral arguments
> in addition to the distinction between arguments and adjuncts, then the
> following questions arise. Namely, if without looking at the different
> syntactic frames and constructions where these verbs occur, on what
> (semantic) grounds can we say that Participant X is a core argument, a
> peripheral argument, or an adjunct (of *buy*, *sell*, *cut*, or *bring*)
> and what is the difference between a peripheral argument and an adjunct?
>
>
>
> Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance for
> your time and help!
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Chao
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>


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