Linguistic Inquiry Monographs Samuel Jay Keyser, general editor 1. Word Formation in Generative Grammar Mark Aronoff 2. X Syntax: A Study of Phrase Structure Ray Jackendoff 3. Recent Transformational Studies in European Languages Samuel Jay Keyser, editor 4. Studies in Abstract Phonology Edmund Gussmann 5. An Encyclopedia of A UX: A Study in Cross-Linguistic Equivalence Susan Steele 6. Some Concepts and Consequences of the Theory of Government and Binding Noam Chomsky 7. The Syntax of Words Elisabeth Selkirk 8. Syllable Structure and Stress in Spanish: A Nonlinear Analysis James W. Harris 9. CV Phonology: A Generative Theory of the Syllable George N. Clements and Samuel Jay Keyser 10. On the Nature of Grammatical Relations Alec Marantz ON THE NATURE Alec Marantz OF GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 1984 by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in VIP Times Roman by Village Typographers, Inc., using disks prepared by the author ori an Apple III computer, and printed and bound by Halliday Lithograph Corporation in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Marantz, Alec. On the nature of grammatical relations. (Linguistic inquiry monographs; 10) Revision of thesis (Ph.D.) — MIT, 1981. Includes bibliography and index. 1. Grammar, Comparative and general. I. Title. II. Series. P151.M3 1984 415 83-43018 ISBN 0-262-13193-5 ISBN 0-262-63090-7 (pbk.) Contents Preface xi Chapter 1 The Nature of Grammatical Relations 1 Chapter 2 Levels of Syntactic Analysis 13 Logico-Semantic (1-s) Structure 14 2/2__________________________________ Syntactic Structure 46 213_________________________ Surface Structure 69 Chapter 3 Bearing Multiple Relations 91 Raising 92 3^2_______________________ _ Null Constituents 108 33_______________________ The Move Alpha Relation Between Projected Positions 115 Chapter 4 4.1 Affix-Mediated Alternations in the Passivization 126 Expression of Arguments I 121 T2________________________________ Antipassivization 149 -4,3 --------------------------------------------- .t Ijftxfitcal Reflexivization 152 Contents vi Chapter 5 5T__________________________________ Alternations in the Expression Alternations in Semantic Role of Arguments Not Mediated Assigning Properties: Dative by Affixation 166 Shift 167 5.2 Alternations in Argument Structures 179 Chapter 6 6T__ _________________________ The Ergative Parameter 196 Passive in Ergative Languages 200 6^2___________________________ Dative Shift in Ergative Languages 203 63_________________________ Lexical Reflexives in Ergative Languages 211 6^4_____________________ Unmarked Intransitive Forms of Eskimo Transitive Verbs 218 63_________________________ On the Scarcity of Ergative Languages 220 Chapter 7 7A _______________ Affix-Mediated Alternations in the Applied Verbs 231 Expression of Arguments II: 7. 2 Morphological Merger 222 Causative Constructions 261 73__________________________________ Merger at Surface Structure 286 1A__________________________ Potential Extensions of Morphological Merger 290 Chapter 8 8J_________________________ Theories of Grammatical Theories with Projection Relations 292 Principles 293 8.2 Alternate Theories of Grammatical Relations 304 Contents Notes 313 References Index 335 Series Foreword We are pleased to present this monograph as the tenth in the series Linguistic Inquiry Monographs. These monographs will present new and original research beyond the scope of the article, and we hope they will benefit our field by bringing to it perspectives that will stimulate further research and insight. Originally published in limited edition, the Linguistic Inquiry' Mono­ graph series is now available on a much wider scale. This change is due to the great interest engendered by the series and the needs of a grow­ ing readership. The editors wish to thank the readers for their support and welcome suggestions about future directions the series might take. Samuel Jay Keyser for the Editorial Board Preface This book is a heavily revised version of my 1981 MIT doctoral dis­ sertation. Although the topics discussed and the order of their presen­ tation remain almost unchanged from the earlier work, substantial improvements have been made throughout. Chapter 3, including my analysis of raising and Move Alpha constructions, is entirely new, as are sections 7.3 and 7.4. The details of morphological merger in chapter 7 differ conceptually and technically from the earlier version. The ma­ terial in chapters 4 and 5 is basically unmodified, as is most of chapter 6, with the exception of the analysis of Dyirbal dative shift. In the two years it took to get things straight, I had the assistance of numerous individuals and audiences. Noam Chomsky, my thesis ad­ viser, read everything in countless versions and insisted I get it right. But my debt does not end there: more by example than instruction, Noam showed me how to do linguistics. To single out some individuals who provided particular help with the manuscript, I would like to thank Paul Kiparsky, Ken Hale, Marion Johnson, R. M. W. Dixon, Tony Woodbury, Lori Levin, K. P. Mohanan, Joan Bresnan, Mamoru Saito, Barry Schein, Malka Rappaport, Jeremy Benstein, D.-W. Yang, Paula Pranka, Richard Sproat, Richie Kayne, and Kasuko Inoue and her stu­ dents. Providing challenging questions and insightful (even devastating) criticism at presentations of material from this book were audiences at MIT, Harvard, the University of Texas at Austin, UCLA, UC Irvine, Tsukuba University, and ICU in Tokyo. For assorted support and en­ couragement I thank the organizers of the San Francisco marathon, Jay Keyser and the MIT Linguistics Department, Bruce Katz at MIT Press, the Harvard University Society of Fellows—especially my fellow Ju­ nior Fellows, and, in position ofjitmost emphasis, my parents.