How to Set the Lexicon in Motion

Abstract

It has been one of the most central debates in modern linguistics which component, syntax or lexicon, should be defined as more reasonably (or economically) accessible one to such systematic alternations as active-passive and causative-inchoative alternation. The proposal, lexicalist approach, defended in this paper is based on three empirical observations: resultative complex predicates, verbal noun complex predicates, and individual-level/stage-level alternation of evaluative adjectives. I will pay special attention to the alternation of evaluative adjectives: stage-level (That is stupid of Jane) and individual-level variants (Jane is stupid). By elaborating the headed aspectual structure originally developed by Li (1993), I propose that lexicon can provide a reliable tool for the dual status of evaluative adjectives, departing from such scholars as Rothstein (1999), Maienborn (2004, 2005), and Arche (2006), who have attempted to derive the stage-level variants from the individual-level counterparts in terms of the presence of the copula verb BE in the syntax. I hope this study makes a strong case for the lexicalist claim that UG must allow derivational operations to be available even in the lexicon.