A constructional account of English small and nonfinite clauses

Abstract

Kim, Jong-Bok and Rui P. Chaves. 2020. A constructional account of English small and nonfinite clauses. Linguistic Research 37(3): 389-438. The proper treatment of so-called Small Clauses (SC) including nonfinite clauses has been rather controversial in theories of English grammar. There are arguments for – as well as arguments against – the postulation of SCs, and multiple analytical alternatives thereof. Drawing from Pollard and Sag (1994) and Culicover and Jackendoff (2005), we argue that only a small set of English verbs allow SC complements, and that there is a large family of constructions where [NP Predicate] sequences form a constituent. We depart from the latter, however, in including in this set of constructions gerundive phrases, absolute constructions, and – most notably – subject-auxiliary inversion constructions and SCs. We formalize a general account of these families of constructions in HPSG (Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar). (Kyung Hee University ∙ University at Buffalo)