Open AccessInstrumental with, locatum with and the argument/adjunct distinction
Author(s) -
Lilia Rissman
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
lsa annual meeting extended abstracts
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2377-3367
DOI - 10.3765/exabs.v0i0.502
Subject(s) - adjunct , argument (complex analysis) , verb , proposition , complement (music) , variety (cybernetics) , linguistics , psychology , philosophy , epistemology , computer science , artificial intelligence , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , complementation , gene , phenotype
The objects of the proposition 'with', as in 'I cut the bread with a knife' and 'I covered the ground with a blanket', have received conflicting analyses as to whether they are arguments or adjuncts of the verb. Utilizing a variety of semantic and syntactic diagnostics of argumenthood, I argue that the first kind of participant, an instrument, is an adjunct/modifier and the second kind of participant, what I call a locatum, is an argument/complement of the verbal head.